Pepe was the saviour for Real Madrid as they shared the points in a 2-2 draw at Osasuna. Isco was the other scorer for Real and Oriol Riera scored two for the home side.

A late goal by Muniain saw Barcelona suffer their first league defeat of the season, losing 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao.

A hat-trick for Gareth Bale and one for Benzema saw Real Madrid thump Valladolid 4-0 on Saturday evening.

A strike in the very last second of injury time earned Málaga a valuable point against Villarreal on Friday night.

Málaga took the lead in the first half against Athletic Bilbao through Juanma but succumbed in the second half, eventually losing 1-2.

Both Real and Atético Madrid kept up their challenge in what is either a three-way battle for the title or, as things seem look at the moment, a two-way duel for second place.

Two penalties, converted by Iniesta and Fabregas, and goals from Sanchez and Pedro were sufficient to see Barcelona cruise past Granada on Saturday evening. Granada were reduced to ten men in the 66th minute when Chilean midfielder Iturra was ordered from the pitch after picking up a second booking.

A hat-trick for Ronaldo, one from the penalty spot, one from Benzema and one from Khedira saw Real Madrid cruise past Real Sociedad 5-1, Griezmann replying for the visitors.

Granada are up to eighth place in La Liga, albeit probably temporarily, after a decisive 3-1 victory over Málaga on Friday night, El Arabi grabbing himself a hat-trick and Juanmi getting a consolation goal for the Blue and Whites.

Nine yellow and one red card as Atlético beat Athletico Bilbao 2-0 with goals from David Villa and Diego Costa.