Barcelona: Pedro Rios scored twice to lead Getafe to a 3-0 win over Mallorca and Malaga downed Racing Santander 4-1 after a brace by Jose Rondon on Sunday in the Spanish league.
Getafe bounced back from its midweek Europa League elimination with a second straight league win to move to 20 points, one behind Mallorca, which remained sixth after its first defeat in four weeks.
Getafe went ahead in the 20th after an individual effort by Rios that culminated with a sharp strike from the edge of the area.
Rios added the second eight minutes later, firing home a backheeled pass from Nicolas Fedor. It was Rios' fourth goal in three games.
Daniel Parejo added Getafe's third in the 79th.
Malaga's second home win at La Rosaleda stadium lifted it out of the relegation zone into 17th place and 13 points, one behind Racing.
Eliseu Pereira scored Malaga's 29th-minute opener, volleying a corner from Sergio Barbosa sent low to the edge of the area where the Portuguese forward struck.
Jose Luis Garcia doubled Malaga's advantage in the 43rd, converting a pass from Sebastian Fernandez.
Two minutes later, Markus Rosenberg pulled one back for Racing. The Swedish striker blasted in a pass from Pedro Munitis with his left foot.
But Eliseu linked up twice with Rondon early in the second half to put the game beyond Racing.
Rondon fired a cross from Eliseu past Racing goalkeeper Antonio Rodriguez for Malaga's third in the 52nd and three minutes later Eliseu set up the Venezuelan striker to seal the win.
Also, 10-man Espanyol beat Sporting Gijon 1-0 to move into third place.
After a drab first half, Espanyol was reduced to 10 men in the 52nd when defender Raul Baena was shown his second yellow card.
But Luis Garcia broke the deadlock in the 70th. Pedro Osvaldo put the Espanyol forward through and Garcia fired low into the net.
Espanyol has won all seven of its games at Prat-Cornella stadium and climbed to 28 points, one point ahead of Villarreal, which plays eight-place Sevilla later on Sunday.
At the other end of the table, last-place Zaragoza and 19th-place Almeria drew 1-1.
Gabriel Fernandez put Zaragoza ahead with a 67th-minute penalty after Almeria defender Baltasar Rigo fouled Zaragoza's Angel Lafita in the area.
Pablo Piatti equalised for Almeria in the 77th, heading in a cross from Nigeria striker Kalu Uche.
On Saturday, Barcelona beat Osasuna 3-0 to remain top of the league with 37 points, while Real Madrid stayed two points back after beating Valencia 2-0.
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