Barcelona took complete control of the La Liga standings, after their comfortable 5-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao was followed by a 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid at the hands of Real Madrid.
Lionel Messi scored two goals in the 5-1 rout, which took him to within one goal of the record 85 set by Gerd Muller in a calendar year for club and country. Now that mark looks like a walk in the park for the world's best player, with Gerard Pique, Adriano and Cesc Fabregas scoring the other three.
Messi's brace also took him to 21 goals from 14 matches for the season, eight ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
"We enjoyed it a lot and we got the best out of everyone," Fabregas told Canal Plus. "It was extremely challenging physically but it was worth the effort."
Real remained 11 points behind their greatest rivals as Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil scored to earn their side a deserved 2-0 win over their Madrid rivals Atletico, and with it putting behind their disappointment of last week, when they went down 1-0 to Real Betis.
The loss meant, Atletico are now six points adrift of Barcelona.
"We controlled the match more because we scored first to make it 1-0," Real assistant manager Aitor Karanka said. "We didn't have too many problems at the back and they didn't create chances.
"At halftime we talked about playing the same way and the team started off in much the same vein, by creating chances. It was a hard-fought game, but we were in control at all times.
"It was a hard match in the sense that they have been playing well and with a lot of confidence," Karanka added. "Everyone thought this was going to be the year that they could beat us.
"But the team has showed character. In the first half we controlled the game and in the second we created chances". Furthermore, he stated that a win such as today's always boosts morale: "Wins always strengthen the group but a team like Real Madrid is strong in character by nature."
Meanwhile, Valencia fired their coach Mauricio Pellegrino, after they suffered a 5-2 defeat to Real Sociedad, which left them languishing in 12th place.
Results: Getafe 1-0 Malaga; Valencia 2-5 Real Sociedad; Barcelona 5-1 Bilbao; Real Madrid 2-0 Atletico Madrid; Granada 0-0 Espanyol; Deportivo 2-3 Betis; Celta Vigo 1-1 Levante; Mallorca 1-1 Zaragoza.
