Barcelona narrowed the gap to La Liga league leaders Real Madrid after the weekend's fixtures had been completed, following Barcelona's win away at Granada and Real Madrid's draw at home to Villareal. Barca now stand just two points behind their arch rivals in the chase for the title. Atletico Madrid lost further ground on the top two as they ground out a goalless draw at Sevilla, to allow Valencia to close to just a point behind them in the table. Valencia enjoyed a two-nil home victory over David Moyes' Real Sociedad side.
The star of the show in Barcelona's 3-1 victory at Granada was Luis Suarez, as the Uruguayan forward scored once and assisted in the two other goals for his side.
The first on 25 minutes for Ivan Rakitic came from a Suarez cross come shot, which provided the Croatian with an open net to shoot into. The ex-Liverpool star scored the second himself, three minutes after the break, prodding home. Granada sensed a chance to get back into the match five minutes later, when they halved the deficit from the penalty spot through Fran Rico. Their comeback was halted twenty minutes from the end, when Suarez went round the keeper to set up the easiest of tap-ins for Lionel Messi.
With Real to visit Barca later in the month, that match is looking likely to have a big say in the destination of the title this season.
Playing after their title rivals on Sunday, Los Blancos knew that a win would restore their four point advantage over Barcelona, but they were unable to get the better of Villareal.
The final scoreline was Real Madrid 1 Villareal 1. Although the home side managed 25 shots during the match and took the lead, they were slightly fortunate by the end to escape with a draw. Cristiano Ronaldo put them in front from the penalty spot after the interval, but their lead lasted just twelve minutes until Gerard Moreno fired the visitors level.
Had star striker Luciano Vietto been able to keep his feet when through on goal in the 77th minute, the away side may well have stolen all three points.
With Atletico only drawing, Valencia improved their Champions League aspirations for next season thanks to two goals from Pablo Piatti in a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad.