Magical Madrid overpower Espanyol

Zinédine Zidane scored twice as Real Madrid CF stormed to their seventh straight win, seeing off RCD Espanyol 4-0 to stay in touch with second-placed Valencia CF following their defeat of RC Deportivo La Coruña.

Guti opener
David Beckham set up Guti for the opener on 14 minutes before two goals in two minutes from Zidane and Ronaldo just before half-time effectively ended the contest. A rout was in prospect when Zidane made it 4-0 after 51 minutes, but Madrid's scoring was over for the night.

Valencia victory

Basement battle
Meanwhile, Manuel Ruiz Hierro tasted success in his first league match in charge of Málaga CF, a 2-1 defeat of Athletic Club Bilbao which lifted the Andalusians off the
foot of the Primera División. After Arritz Aduritz had cancelled out Litos's opening goal, Salva Ballesta scored the winner in the 73rd minute to end a miserable run of nine winless games and lift Málaga out of the relegation zone, one point ahead of Bilbao.