THE Spanish championship was ripped wide open yesterday when leaders Real Madrid crashed 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao.

The defeat reduced their lead over Barcelona to just two points with three games to play. But Real will take the title if the two finish level on points because of results of games played between them during the season.

Barcelona beat third placed Deportive Coruna 1-0 on Saturday.

Carlos Garcia gave an inspired Athletic side a well deserved lead midway through the second half, but Fabio Capello's men nearly snatched a point five minutes from time when Roberto Carlos blasted a superb freekick against the post.

In a last ditch attempt to equalise, Real goalkeeper Bodo Illgner went forward for a corner but the Real goalkeeper nearly paid the price for his gamble when Bilbao broke and narrowly missed scoring a second.

"The league title still depends on what we do," said Raul Gonzalez, who was the only first choice Real Madrid striker to play because of the suspension of Pedrag Mijatovic and Davor Suker.

Next weekend Barcelona travel to Hercules, while Real Madrid entertain Extremadura, who held champions Atletico Madrid 1-1 yesterday.