A 54th minute goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, his 29th of the season so far, was enough to see Real Madrid overcome a stubborn Rayo Vallecano.
Barcelona, meanwhile, went to the Vicente Calderón stadium and left with the three points, beating Atletico Madrid 1-2.
Dani Alves opened the scoring for Barcelona late in the first half but Falcao grabbed an equaliser shortly after the restart. Barcelona, as they often do, dominated possession and with nine minutes to go, Lionel Messi put the Catalans into the lead. And that’s where they stayed.
So, it is still a ten point gap at the top of the table with Real leading the way.