Karim Benzema grabbed a double as Real Madrid thrashed Granada 5-1 at the Bernabeu to stretch their lead at the top to six points.
Racing beat Zaragoza; goalless draw for Levante and Mallorca
Karim Benzema grabbed a double as Real Madrid thrashed Granada 5-1 at the Bernabeu to stretch their lead at the top of the Primera Liga to six points.
Real looked in for a testing evening when Mikel Rico (22) cancelled out Benzema's 19th-minute opener to reward the visitors for an encouraging performance.
But Sergio Ramos headed Jose Mourinho's side back in front on 34 minutes and the game was over as a contest when Gonzalo Higuain and Benzema scored within five minutes of the start of the second period.
Cristiano Ronaldo then added further gloss to the scoreline with the fifth goal two minutes from time.
Goalless
Diego Simeone failed to get off to winning start on his debut as
Atletico Madrid coach after his side's trip to
Malaga ended in a goalless draw.
Atletico remain rooted in midtable after the La Rosaleda stalemate, while the point sees Malaga climb into sixth place ahead of Sunday's fixtures.
Manolo Jimenez also made a losing start to his tenure as
Real Zaragoza coach as
Racing Santander inflicted a narrow 1-0 defeat on the La Liga strugglers.
Jimenez took over a side rock bottom of the table after the departure from the hotseat of Javier Aguirre, four points behind 19th-placed Racing and five adrift of safety.
Yet it was Racing who gave themselves a shot in the arm at El Sardinero as Bernardo Espinosa's header in first-half injury-time proved enough to earn a welcome victory.
Real Sociedad and
Osasuna stretched their unbeaten league runs to six games in a goalless draw but it was the visitors who were happier as the hosts dominated almost the entire match.
Goalkeeper Andres Fernandes was the Osasuna's main man as he made a string of fine saves, the best coming just three minutes from time as he pushed away Diego Ifran's well-struck volley.
Carlos Vela had earlier hit the bar as Sociedad were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal and the Basque side could even have lost the game as Nino went just wide with Osasuna's best effort towards the end.
Disappointing
An inspired performance from goalkeeper Gustavo Munua secured a point for
Levante in a disappointing goalless draw with
Real Mallorca.
Both sides appeared a little rusty after the two-week Christmas break during a tepid first half, but it was Munua who came to the fore in the second to as he saved from Pablo Cendros, Victor and Jose Luis Marti.
Levante failed to create the same number of openings but were also slightly unfortunate as Arouna Kone's goal was ruled out for a very marginal offside decision.
In Saturday's late game,
Atletico Madrid travel to
Malaga to play their first game under new coach Diego Simeone, with his team still hunting their first away win of the season.
