Barcelona registered their first La Liga win in three matches, but they had to come from behind and left it quite late in their game against Almeria.
Bifouma Koulossa put Almeria ahead in the first half and it wasn’t until the 73rd minute that Netmar, on as a substitute, grabbed an equaliser. Alba scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the 82nd minute.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, put five past Rayo Vallecano to stay top of La Liga. Bale opened the scoring in the 9th minute and this was followed by goals from Ramos, Kroos, Benzema and, inevitably, Ronaldo. Bueno got the goal for Rayo.
It was Ronaldo’s 18th goal in ten La Liga matches and he now has 23 in all competitions so far this season.
Málaga are up to sixth after a 2-1 victory against Eibar at La Rosaleda, Juanmi and Arrabal, from the penalty spot, scoring for the Blue and Whites, Arruabarrena responding for Eibar.