Getafe stuns Barcelona

Getafe, Spain – Getafe pulled off a major upset at home on 0 win over Barcelona.

Barca controlled the majority of the play but was unable to find a way past the Getafe defense. And the visitors were punished in the second half when Valera netted his first goal of the year, dropping Barca six points back of leaders Real Madrid at the top of the league.

Getafe was content to sit back and try to hit on the counter and the visitors came close a few times in the first half as David Villa nearly opened the scoring and Lionel Messi curled a free kick just over the crossbar.

Barcelona continued to dominate in terms of scoring chances but the hosts made the most of a rare opportunity when Valera headed home Pablo Sarabia's corner kick from eight yards.

It was a stunning blow to Barca and it set up a frantic finish that saw Messi put the ball in the back of the net, only for the goal to be waved off because Seydou Keita was ruled offside in the build up.

Messi then struck the post in stoppage time with Pedro firing the rebound on target and requiring a nice diving save from goalkeeper Miguel Moya to preserve the win.

Real Madrid 4, Atletico Madrid 1

Madrid, Spain - Cristiano Ronaldo converted a pair of penalty kicks as Real Madrid claimed a 4-1 win over Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

Atletico hadn't beaten Real in 12 years prior to the match, but things started well for the visitors as Adrian put them in front after 15 minutes.

But things went downhill quickly for Atletico as goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was sent off a few minutes later for bringing down Real's Karim Benzema inside the penalty area.

Ronaldo dispatched the penalty kick to level the score, and from there, Real took over with goals from Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain in the second half, putting the hosts on their way to victory.

Ronaldo added another penalty kick with eight minutes to play and Atletico finished the match with nine men as Diego Godin was sent off for a poor challenge on Higuain.

Real has now won its last nine games and takes a six-point lead on second- place Barcelona after the Catalan side was upset 1-0 by Getafe on Saturday.

Valencia 2, Rayo Vallecano 1

Madrid, Spain - Valencia strengthened its hold on third place with a 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano on Saturday as Los Che got goals from Jonas and Alberto Costa.

Jonas netted the opening goal after 20 minutes as he scored with a nice strike from 25 yards, while a good team goal early in the second half resulted in Costa doubling the advantage.

Substitute Raul Tamudo pulled a goal back for the hosts with six minutes to play, but a shot from Tito was blasted over the net as Rayo attempted to snatch a late point.

Valencia has won four of its last five games to move four points clear of third-place Levante.