BARCELONA, Spain – Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the 73rd minute to send Barcelona to its first loss in 55 home games and put Real Madrid on the cusp of breaking the Catalan giants' three-year hold on the Spanish league crown with a 2-1 win Saturday.
Sami Khedira opened the scoring in the 17th minute with Madrid's league-record 108th goal of the season. Ronaldo sealed the victory with his league-record 42nd goal moments after Alexis Sanchez tied it for Barcelona.
Madrid's 19th league game without a loss lifted it seven points ahead of Barcelona at the top of the standings with four rounds to go.
"This was a crucial step forward, now we have to finish it off," Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso said. "We barely suffered. We controlled the game to perfection."
This was Madrid's first victory at Camp Nou since 2007 and coach Jose Mourinho's first career win in the stadium in 10 visits with three different teams. Barcelona's previous home defeat was 2-0 to Hercules on Sept. 11, 2010.
The game had been hyped as a duel between Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Madrid's Ronaldo, but this time the Portugal forward came out on top and moved one goal ahead of his Argentine rival in their duel to see who is the top all-time scorer in a single Spanish league season.
"Those of us who work with (Ronaldo) every day are not surprised at him coming through in the key moments," said Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka, who spoke in place of Mourinho. "For me, he is the best player in the world."
___
BERLIN (AP) — Borussia Dortmund retained the Bundesliga title when it beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0. It was Dortmund's eighth German league championship.
Ivan Perisic scored in the 23rd minute and Shinji Kagawa got the celebrations under way in the 59th.
Dortmund has an unassailable eight-point lead over Bayern Munich with two rounds to play. The team also sealed the title at the same stage last season.
Dortmund stretched its record unbeaten run in a season to 26 games. It became the first team other than Bayern to retain the title since it last did so 16 years ago.
Franck Ribery kept Bayern's slim hopes alive hours earlier when he scored in the 90th minute to earn his team a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen.
Elsewhere, U.S. under-23 player Andrew Wooten scored his first Bundesliga goal for Kaiserslautern, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead in the 38th minute of a 2-1 win at Hertha Berlin.
___
LONDON (AP) — Newcastle capitalized on a stalemate between Arsenal and Chelsea to maintain its surge toward qualification for next season's Champions League. It defeated Stoke 3-0 to claim a sixth straight victory and climb into the English Premier League's top four.
Papiss Demba Cisse scored for the sixth match in a row and Yohan Cabaye had two goals for Newcastle, which is now just three points behind third-place Arsenal and has played one less game.
"That is a big, big achievement by us, make no mistake," said Newcastle manager Alan Pardew, whose team was projected by many to struggle this season.
Tottenham continued its freefall by dropping a place to fifth following a 1-0 loss at relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers, which left Harry Redknapp's team three points outside the Champions League positions.
Chelsea rode its luck to escape with a 0-0 draw at Arsenal, which struck the goal frame twice, and is now four points behind Newcastle with only four games left.
The Blues' entry to the Champions League for a 10th straight season may now hinge on winning this year's competition. It is 1-0 ahead going into the second leg of the semifinal against Barcelona on Tuesday.
The battle against relegation took another twist thanks to Blackburn's 2-0 win over Norwich that lifted Steve Kean's team above Bolton, which fell to next to last with a 1-1 draw against Swansea.
Fifth-from-last-place Wigan's stunning run, which included wins over league leader Manchester United and Arsenal, ended with a 2-1 loss to Fulham. Aston Villa drew 0-0 with Sunderland in the other match.
___
ROME (AP) — Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic saved a penalty in a 0-0 draw at Chievo Verona to keep his club in contention for Champions League qualification as Serie A resumed a week after Piermario Morosini's death.
Handanovic dived to his right and blocked Cyril Thereau's penalty kick in the 43rd minute, and Chievo was also unlucky when U.S. player Michael Bradley hit the post with a long shot four minutes in.
Udinese moved within two points of third-place Lazio, which on Sunday hosts a Lecce team battling to avoid relegation. Chievo remained in the middle of the standings.
Parma coach Roberto Donadoni got a measure of revenge in a 3-0 win over Cagliari, which fired him before the season began.
Sebastian Giovinco gave Parma the lead in the 24th and Sergio Floccari and Stefano Okaka added penalty kicks in the 73rd and 90th. Parma moved seven points clear of the drop zone, while Cagliari remained just four points above danger.
On Sunday, Juventus hosts Roma looking to protect its one-point lead over AC Milan, which is also at home against Bologna.
___
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Rangers edged closer to securing second place in the Scottish Premier League with a 3-0 win at Hearts, moving the financially stricken Glasgow giants 11 points ahead of Motherwell.
Sone Aluko's free kick and two goals by Andy Little at Tynecastle earned Rangers a fourth straight victory.
If Motherwell fails to beat newly crowned champion Celtic at home on Sunday, Rangers will clinch runners-up spot with a win in next weekend's Old Firm match against its fierce city rival.
Rangers' hopes of defending its title were virtually ended in February when it was docked 10 points for going into bankruptcy.
Dunfermline drew 4-4 with St. Mirren to close the gap to next-to-last Hibernian to six points.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.