Barcelona remains top on Spain
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FC Barcelona remains top of the Spanish BBVA Primera Liga after the weekend's round of matches.
The side coached by Pep Guardiola had a relatively straightforward win at home to bottom of the table Xerez. Jeffren and Thierry Henry scored for Barcelona in the first half and although Mario Bermejo pulled one back for the visitors before the break, Zlatan Ibrahimovich assured the points ten minutes into the second half.
The game allowed Guardiola to rest players such as Leo Messi and Pedro Rodriguez ahead of Wednesday's Champions League semi-final against Inter Milan.
Real Madrid kept the pressure on Barcelona with a 2-1 win in Zaragoza. Raul and Kaka, who returned to action after six weeks out with a groin problem, scored for Real Madrid.
Adrian Colunga scored for the home side in a match that wasn't decided until Kaka's winner eight minutes from time. Real Madrid paid a heavy price for the win with Raul and Rafael Van der Vaart suffering ankle and groin injuries.
Saturday ended up with a dull 1-0 win for Valencia at home to Deportivo la Coruna. David Villa's first half penalty was enough to keep his side comfortable in third place.
Sunday's games saw things tighten up at the bottom of the table. Valladolid won 2-0 away to Sporting Gijon to give them eight points in four games following the arrival of Javier Clemente as coach. Manucho and Baraja scored the goals that keep Valladolid alive in the fight to avoid relegation.
Malaga are still in trouble following a dramatic last five minutes in Mallorca. Duda put Malaga ahead with five minutes left, but Aritz Aduriz equalized for Mallorca in injury time.
Villarreal fought back from a goal down to beat Racing Santander 2-1 away from home. Godin and Nilmar scored in the second half to cancel out Sergio Canales'opener for Racing.
Tenerife is still deep in trouble after losing 3-1 to Atletico Madrid. Atletico ended a three game losing streak in the league and prepared in the best possible manner for Thursday's Europa League trip to play Liverpool with a simple win.
Salvio, who made his first start for Atletico, scored twice inside half and hour to give his side a perfect start and although Roberto gave Tenerife hope midway through the second half, Kun Aguero sealed the win with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Getafe keeps its hopes of playing in Europe alive after winning the weekend's most exciting game 4-3 against Sevilla. Luis Fabiano scored twice as Sevilla went 3-2 ahead only for Getafe to overturn the result thanks to Manu del Moral and a Dani Parejo penalty seven minutes from time.
The home side moves up to seventh, while Sevilla missed the chance to go fourth.
Meanwhile Espanyol won 1-0 away to Almeria thanks to a goal from Luis Garcia.
Osasuna entertains Athletic Club Bilbao in the last game of the round on Monday night.
