(0-1) 13' Granero, (0-2) 40' Benzema (1-2) 86' Riki (p), (1-3) 91' Benzema
The last time they beat Depor in the Riazor, Raul was still working his way through the youth set-up at Atlético. Tonight Real Madrid put an end to 18 years of hurt in Galicia, and all without the main man, Cristiano Ronaldo. A two-match sanction robbed them of the man from Madeira, and an injury crisis robbed them of many more, but they put Deportivo La Coruña to bed with a scintillating first-half display which yielded goals from Granero and Karim Benzema. The Frenchmans goal was all down to a moment of cold-blooded genius from Guti, who was through on goal but decided to back-heel the ball back to Benzema who didnt fail from the middle of the area. The second half saw Madrid take their foot of the gas, and even though Riki converted from the spot after a dubious trip from Sergio Ramos, Benzema sealed the deal in stoppage time after a neat cutback from Arbeloa. The pressure was really on after Barca had beaten Sporting earlier, but Real Madrid had all the answers and proved they can do it without their €96 million man.
Sporting Gijon 0 - 1 Barcelona
(0-1) 30' Pedro
With the players at their disposal, Barcelona are always going to dominate possession, but in stark contrast to last year, this season they are finding it slightly more difficult to find the back of the net away from home. Pedro got the only goal of the match after a defence-splitting pass from Iniesta, racing forward from seemed an offside position to slot past Juan Pablo, but from then on it was wasted chance after wasted chance. Leo Messi and Ibrahimovic were the main culprits, and Guardiola will definitely be worried by a lack of composure infront of goal that Samuel Eto'o used to provide so effectively. Sporting contibuted to an entertaining encounter, but bar a few hairy moment towards the end of the match, they found little change from an organised Barca back four. Zlatan Ibrahimovic finds himself in the middle of a barren run, and Los Cules will certainly sleep easier when the big Swede starts finding the net once more. With Real Madrid earning three points, it's as you were at the top of La Liga.
Espanyol 1 - 0 Athletic Bilbao
(1-0) 58' Luis Garcia
A true battle at the Estadio Cornella, with Espanyol ripping up the form book to dispatch an Atheltic Bilbao side that was sent back to the Basque Country with a number of walking. This was Athletics chance to make a real surge towards the European positions, but were it not for another sterling performance from keeper Gorka Iraizoz, they could have been on the end of a thrashing. In the end a solitary goal from Luis Garcia was enough to give Espanyol a deserved win, lead admirably from midfield by youth-team product Javi Marquez. Fran Yeste was forced off with injury and Ustaritz, Gurpegui and Koikili all finished with niggles, in a game Bilbao will want to forget.
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