Real keeps nose in front of Barça

Real Madrid continued its seemingly inexorable march to the Liga title on Saturday at the Bernabéu, easily swatting aside the challenge of visiting Racing Santander to open a 13-point lead over Barcelona at the top of the standing, pending the result of the reigning champion's late Sunday match against Valencia.

Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring on six minutes to take his league tally for the season to 27, four more than his rival for the pichichi top scorer's trophy, Leo Messi. Racing arrived in the capital with a defensive mandate familiar to Real, which usually faces a wall of 10 players at its home ground, and for most of the remainder of the first half it held firm, limiting chances and stifling attacking invention.

However, a club with more than a passing paranoia about refereeing bias, real or imagined, could have no complaints on this occasion as the clock ticked toward half time. Racing defender Domingo Cisma, already on a caution for handball, made the slightest involuntary contact with a Ronaldo cross and was harshly dismissed. A few moments later, Karim Benzema bundled the ball over the line from an offside position, effectively ending the contest. "On the referee I will bite my tongue," said Racing coach Juanjo González.

Substitute Ángel di María and Benzema added the gloss after the break to wrap up a 4-0 win. The only negative point on an otherwise untaxing evening was a recurrence of Di María's knee injury, which had seen him sidelined for several matches. Mourinho described the Argentinean as a very important player after the match but will have to do without his number 22 for Real's midweek Champions League tie against CSKA Moscow.

Abel Resino, appointed to the Granada hot seat on January 22, masterminded a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad in another match marked as much by the performance of the match officials than the players. "If I can't talk about the referee it's difficult to talk about the match," noted Real coach Philippe Montanier, who saw influential midfielder Asier Illarramendi given his marching orders just before half-time with the score poised at 1-1. Franco Jara struck after the break to give the home side the lead before Ikechuwku Uche bagged a brace to compound Real's misery and lift Granada above its foe in a congested mid-table.

At the other end of the table, both Espanyol and Athletic took a stride toward European competition next season, moving to fourth and fifth respectively. Espanyol tied 1-1 with Getafe in Madrid, a point proving sufficient to lift it above Levante into the final Champions League spot, while Athletic, with Fernando Llorente rested, thumped Málaga 3-0 at San Mamés. Both sides have 33 points, with Levante, on 32, playing Rayo late on Sunday with a view to regaining fourth.