Barcelona beat Numancia 1-0 at the Nou Camp to move two points clear at the top of the Spanish Primera Liga on Sunday, while Real Madrid's woes continued with a 1-0 defeat at home to Deportivo Coruna.
Barcelona dominated throughout against a defensive Numancia side but created few clear chances before Swedish international striker Henrik Larsson thumped in a header from Xavi's corner to make the breakthrough in the 70th minute.
Victory put Frank Rijkaard's unbeaten side top on 16 points from six games, two points ahead of champions Valencia following their 1-1 draw at Real Betis on Saturday.
Sevilla edged into third place on 11 points with a goalless draw at Racing Santander, while Malaga climbed to fourth after their 2-0 win at home to Osasuna.
Real Madrid slipped to 10th place on nine points after Albert Luque's brilliant strike in the final minute of the first half was enough to give Deportivo victory at the Bernabeu.
REAL SPIRIT
Real showed great heart to come back from two goals behind as they beat Roma 4-2 in a midweek Champions League match and they started in the same vain against Depor, hurling players forward at breakneck speed.
England striker Michael Owen, starting in place of the injured Ronaldo, missed a good chance to score his first Real Madrid goal early on but then disappeared from the game before being substituted seven minutes into the second half.
By that time, Real were behind through a lightning counter-attack from Deportivo.
Walter Pandiani piled a long ball forward and Luque outpaced Michel Salgado before chipping the ball past Iker Casillas and in at the far post.
Real peppered the Depor goal with shots and crosses throughout the second half but Zinedine Zidane looked short of full fitness and they lacked the guile to find a way through.
A second successive league defeat, and their first of the season at home, left them seven points behind Barcelona, who were hardly any better for much of their game against Numancia.
FRUSTRATING START
Barca have been in sparkling attacking form for most of the season but Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Ludovic Giuly and Larsson were collectively uninspired in a frustrating first half.
The introduction of Andres Iniesta after the break made the difference, with the young midfielder setting up chances for Larsson, Xavi and Rafael Marquez with his artful passing.
With 20 minutes to go, and the home crowd starting to get restless, Marquez forced a corner with a run on to a Ronaldinho pass and Larsson pounced to batter a header past Alvaro Nunez.
"Larsson showed his class once again with this goal," said Rijkaard. "He deserved it.
"Numancia did everything to make life difficult for us but we had a good attitude."
Larsson had a couple of good chances to put his side further ahead and Deco went close with a whipped shot across goal as Barca finished strongly.
The main worry for Rijkaard will be the loss of Brazilian midfielder Edmilson, who succumbed to a knee injury a couple of minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute.
Barcelona are already facing up to playing the rest of the season without Gabri and Thiago Motta because of knee injuries and they now have precious little cover in midfield.
Albacete, Getafe and Villarreal, the bottom three at the start of play on Sunday, all won, leaving Real Mallorca in last place on four points after they lost 2-0 at Levante.
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