Week 17 Matches
Barcelona 0- 1 Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid 1 - 2 Espanyol
Villarreal 1 - 1 Recreativo Huelva
Sevilla 4 - 1 Racing Santander
Zaragoza 2 - 2 Valencia
Osasuna 3 - 1 Mallorca
Almeria 0 - 2 Getafe
Athletic Bilbao 1 - 1 Murcia
Valladolid 0 - 0 Betis
Levante 0 - 1 Deportivo La Coruna
Standings :
1 Real Madrid 41 
2 Barcelona 34 
3 Espanyol 33 
4 Villarreal 32 
------------------
5 Atlético Madrid 31
6 Racing 26
------------------
7 Valencia 26 
8 Sevilla 23
9 Zaragoza 21 
10 Mallorca 21
11 Getafe 21
12 Osasuna 20
13 Recreativo 20
14 Athletic Bilbao 19
15 Almería 19
16 Murcia 19
17 Valladolid 18
---------------------
18 Betis 18 
19 Deportivo 17
20 Levante 7
Week 18, Jan 5, 6. Matches:
Real Madrid vs Zaragoza !!
Mallorca vs Barcelona !!
Espanyol vs Villareal (3rd vs 4th) !!
Deportivo vs Atletico Madrid
Racing vs Athletic Bilbao
Valencia vs Levante -derby- !!
Sevilla vs Betis -derby- !!
Getafe vs Valladolid
Murcia vs Osasuna
Recreativo vs Almeria
Thanks conchita, fantastic weekend for Real Madrid and what a great christmas they'll enjoy now!
You're welcome, Chris! Espanyol will also enjoy great chritsmas, 3rd in la liga, in champions league, 1 point behind city rivals Barcelona and Espanyol undefeated in la liga for the 13th consecutive match! 
Big drama for relegation for 12 teams, especially Levante! (from 9th Zaragoza to 19th Deportivo only 4 points)!!!!
2008 Action starts Jan 2 with Copa del Rey!
La Liga - Real grind out Clasico win!
A first-half Julio Baptista goal gave Real Madrid a 1-0 win over arch-rivals Barcelona at the Camp Nou in La Liga's final round of matches before the Christmas break.
The Fabio Capello-esque, notably un-classic Clasico performance - where Barca dominated the possession but were constantly threatened by the compact and quick Real on the counter attack - put Real seven points clear of their second-placed rivals at the top of the Primera Division.
Real played the better football and deserved to win a nervy encounter, Barcelona looking sluggish and lacking the creativity that has become their trademark in recent seasons.
The match got off to a thunderous start and the visitors should have taken the lead when Ruud van Nistelrooy was sent clean through by a Raul flick, but the occasion even got to him as he fired wide with just Victor Valdes to beat in what would have been a controversial goal as the Dutchman was offside.
Defender Pepe then went close with a header, while Ronaldinho forced a quite brilliant stop from Iker Casillas just before the half hour.
Real took the lead soon afterwards, a swift counter-attacking move seeing Van Nistelrooy and Raul combine to release the late run of reborn midfielder Baptista, who sent a sweet finish into the top right.
Ronaldinho was restored to the starting eleven in what can only have been a psychological ploy by Frank Rijkaard as his form and fitness looked no better than it has been for almost two years now - poor.
His frustration at being unable to glide past Real defenders for fun or open their back four up with a killer pass was tangible, at one point uncharacteristically resorting to a dive when Fabio Cannavaro had stood off making the challenge.
The second-half saw the hosts exert more pressure on Real's goal, Samuel Eto'o and young substitutes Giovani and Bojan both going close with long range efforts and Yaya Toure sending a spinning volley just the wrong side of Iker Casillas' left hand post after Bernd Schuster's men failed to clear a corner with six minutes remaining.
But Barca lacked any real urgency to get a result and slumped to a disappointing defeat, their third in La Liga so far this season, leaving Real comfortable leaders and on course for a consecutive title.
-------------------------
Espanyol move up to third in La Liga after win at Atletico!!!
(Espanyol unbeaten for 13 match in a row, since Sep 23)
Second half goals from Raul Tamudo and Luis Garcia gave Espanyol a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday and helped the Barcelona-based side move up to third place in La Liga.
Atletico created many of their own problems in the crucial match with their visitors to determine the closest challenger to the Spanish giants of Real Madrid and Barcelona, the neighbours of the two protagonists.
Kun Aguero was sent off after 30 minutes to leave Atletico a man down, the Argentine striker retaliating to a crude tackle by Marc Torrejon.
Yet the hosts quickly bounced back from the blow with Simao Sabrosa putting Atletico ahead with a stunning free kick seven minutes later.
Espanyol made their numerical advantage tell in the second half.
Raul Tamudo put Espanyol back on level terms eight minutes after the break when he connected with a Luis Garcia corner.
Atletico were reduced to nine men when Mariano Pernia picked up his second yellow card just before the hour.
After several near misses, Espanyol then got the winner from time when Luis Garcia hammered home an Ivan De La Pena cross
Espanyol now have 33 points from their 17 games, one ahead of Villarreal who moved up to fourth despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Recreativo Huelva
--------------------------------------
VILLARREAL 1 RECREATIVO HUELVA 1
Recre's Javier Camunas slotted away Florent Sinama-Pongolle's pass in the 37th but two minutes later Santi Cazorla released Turkish striker Nihat Kahveci to level with a low drive.
Villarreal twice hit the woodwork but were unable to secure the three points.
-----------------------------------
ZARAGOZA 2 VALENCIA 2
Valencia came back from two goals down to snatch a dramatic late 2-2 draw at Real Zaragoza in the Primera Liga on Saturday evening.
Diego Milito put the home side ahead from the penalty spot early on and Valencia goalkeeper Juan Luis Mora scored a comical own goal on the half-hour mark to give the home side a two-goal advantage at the break.
But Valencia hit back late on through Nikola Zigic and David Silva to earn a point from this pulsating encounter.
--------------------------
SEVILLA 4 RACING 1
Sevilla signed off for 2007 with a 4-1 beating of Racing Santander.
Ezequiel Garay, who was later sent off, equalised Frederic Kanoute's early strike before goals from Ernesto Chevanton, Jesus Navas and Adriano sealed the win for the Andalusians
-------------------------
OSASUNA 3 REAL MALLORCA 1
Hector Font took advantage of hesitant defending to fire Osasuna in front after nine minutes and Czech striker Jaroslav Plasil finished off a swift counter-attack in the 47th to double the lead.
Mallorca's Daniel Guiza pulled one back with a close range shot two minutes later but Portugal midfielder Hugo Viana sealed the points for the home side in the last minute. Mallorca's fourth game without a win continued their slide.
----------------------------------
ALMERIA 0 GETAFE 2
Getafe moved further up the table after they claimed a 2-0 victory over 10-men Almeria in a bad-tempered match at the Estadio del Mediterraneo.
Defender Lucas Licht put Michael Laudrup's side ahead with a close-range finish in the 37th minute and a header from striker Ruben De la Red five minutes from time wrapped up the points.
Almeria, who slip to 12th in the table, had midfielder Albert Crusat sent off in the 79th minute when he received a second yellow card.
-------------------------
ATHLETIC BILBAO 1 REAL MURCIA 1
Bilbao were on course for only their second home win of the season when Koikili steered home the ball, after Pablo Orbaiz's penalty had been saved by Antonio Notario in the 45th minute.
But promoted Murcia's Brazilian striker Fernando Baiano levelled from a dubious penalty in the 54th. Bilbao finished with 10 men after defender Aitor Ocio was sent-off near the end.
---------------------------------
VALLADOLID 0 REAL BETIS 0
Valladolid peppered the visitors' goal with shots but new Betis coach Paco Chaparro made it seven points from a possible nine since he took over the ailing Andalucian club.
---------------------------------
LEVANTE 0 DEPORTIVO 1
Sergio scored from the penalty spot five minutes from time to give second-bottom Depor a 10 point lead over bottom club Levante and ease the pressure on their coach Miguel Angel Lotina.
