Barça restore order as Madrid stutter

FC Barcelona shrugged off their recent blip in form as they stretched their Liga lead to six points thanks to a 2-0 win against Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Madrid CF's 1-1 draw at home to Club Atlético de Madrid.

Consecutive reverses
The Catalan club had lost their last two league contests, after embarking on a 22-match unbeaten streak since their opening day defeat, and seen their advantage at the top cut to four points as a result but first-half efforts from Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi ensured they returned to winning ways. Busquets headed in a free-kick and Messi converted from the penalty spot after Andrés Iniesta had been felled to lift Barcelona spirits ahead of their visit from Olympique Lyonnais in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round decider – locked at 1-1 after the first leg.

Derby draw
Madrid, who travel to Liverpool FC 1-0 down in Europe's premier cup competition, were involved in a thrilling end-to-end match against their city rivals but ultimately had to settle for a point. Diego Forlán (38) scored his 18th of the season for the visitors after being released by strike partner Sergio Agüero on the counterattack but Klaas Jan Huntelaar drilled Madrid level 12 minutes into the second half from Gonzalo Higuaín's pass. Both sides spurned numerous chances to take the three points with Forlán arguably closest when his low shot rebounded to safety off the post.

Penalty miss
With Atlético gaining just a point, fourth-placed Villarreal prised a five-point margin on them thanks to a single-goal victory at home to RCD Espanyol. Fabricio Fuentes headed in from a corner although the Yellow Submarine rode their luck when Luis García failed to equalise from the penalty spot, hitting the underside of the bar with his spot-kick.