Barcelona have moved at least temporarily to within three points of Real Madrid after a 4-1 victory over Zaragoza, Messi netting two, one from the penalty spot, to achieve sixty goals for the season so far in all competitions.
Puyol and Pedro grabbed the other two goals, Aranda scoring for Zaragoza and actually putting them into the lead in the thirtieth minute.
Elsewhere, Rayo Vallecano dealt Champions League hopefuls Osasuna a bit of a blow by scoring six without reply, four of them in the first half.
The scorers were Movilla, Michu with two, Diego Costa, Armenteros and Tito.
Getafe beat Sporting Gijón 2-0 with gaols from Miku and Castro and Espanyol drew 2-2 with Real Sociedad. Vela scored twice early in the first half to give Real Sociedad a good start but an own goal by Demidov and a strike by Weiss just after the restart meant that the points were shared.