A clinical finish from defender Marcelo gave Real Madrid a 1-0 win at relegation-threatened Recreativo Huelva in the Primera Liga on Saturday and trimmed the gap to leaders Barcelona back to six points.
Barca had put pressure on the champions with a 1-0 win at Getafe earlier in the day, a sixth straight victory that moved them to 78 points with seven matches remaining and put them a step closer to a first Spanish title in three years. Lionel Messi struck his 20th league goal this season after 19 minutes in a dominant display at Getafe's Coliseum stadium.
The Argentina forward picked up Xavi's pass in the area, skipped around a group of defenders and struck a deflected shot that had enough power to beat goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic. The home side hardly threatened the Barca goal and Pep Guardiola's side had several other clear scoring chances but were denied by a string of superb Stojkovic saves. The Serb stopped Thierry Henry when the Frenchman seemed certain to score after five minutes, kept out Gerard Pique's acrobatic volley and palmed away a curled Messi effort shortly before halftime.
Messi had the ball in the net again in the second half, and television replays suggested the officials were wrong to rule the effort out for offside. Samuel Eto'o struck a post shortly before the end when through on goal.
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Guardiola deployed free-scoring forwards Messi, Henry and Eto'o from the start against 14th-placed Getafe and said his squad was in good physical shape despite their recent efforts in qualifying for the last four of the Champions League.
"All wins are important but it's a fact that there are only seven matches left and every victory gives us a great deal," he told a news conference.
"We came here after a very hard match in Munich (against Bayern) and we played well in the first half. Atletico Madrid won 3-0 at home to struggling Numancia and moved up to fourth place, above Valencia on goal difference, thanks to goals from midfielder Ever Banega, striker Diego Forlan and winger Simao Sabrosa.
Atletico and Valencia have 49 points although Unai Emery's side have a chance to cut the eight-point gap to third-placed Sevilla when they host the Andalucians on Sunday.