FC Barcelona retained their eight point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish La Liga after both sides won their corresponding matches on Sunday.

Leo Messi scored twice and Thiago Alcantara scored another goal for the reigning champions as Barcelona came back from a goal down to defeat bottom team Almeria 3-1 in the Camp Nou stadium.

Miguel Angel Corona had briefly looked as if he was going to give Roberto Olabe a winning debut as Almeria coach when he scored the first goal of the game after 49 minutes, but Messi equalized from the penalty spot a minute later, before Alcantara put Barca ahead 10 minutes later.

The bad news for Barcelona was that striker Bojan Krkic suffered a knee injury that will keep him out of action for the season.

Kaka scored two penalties as Real Madrid won 3-0 away to Athletic Club Bilbao and Cristiano Ronaldo added a third in a game where Madrid coach Jose Mourinho made some squad rotations and was rewarded with a serious defensive display.

Both Athletic President, Fernando Macua and coach Joaquin Caparros complained later about the performance of referee Clos Gomez.

Meanwhile Sevilla coach Gregorio Manzano enjoyed mixed fortunes on his return to former club, Mallorca. An Ivan Rakitic goal after 68 minutes following an error from Mallorca keeper Dudu Aouate assured a 2-2 draw and keeps Sevilla in the hunt for a return to Europe next season.

Sunday saw Valencia take a huge step towards confirming third place in the table and an automatic qualification for next season' s Champions League with a 5-0 win over fourth placed Villarreal.

Roberto Soldado scored twice as did Juan Mata, while Ever Banega also scored as Valencia took advantage of Villarreal's tiredness from Thursday night's Europa League efforts to achieve an easy win.

Valencia have a six point lead and a superior goal difference over fourth placed Villarreal.

Meanwhile Atletico Madrid scored an easy 3-0 win over Real Sociedad thanks to goals from Felipe Luis, Mario Suarez and Kun Aguero.

Sunday's afternoon kickoffs produced rather less entertainment with four matches producing just three goals, two of which were in Racing Santander's 1-1 draw at home to Levante.

Nano headed past his own keeper after 33 minutes to give Racing the lead, but substitute Rafa Jorda took advantage of some poor defending in the last minute of the game to equalize and take Levante's unbeaten run to seven games.

David Barral scored after 60 minutes to give Sporting Gijon a 1- 0 win at home to Osasuna. The win lifts Sporting clear of danger and helps build on last weekend's away win against Real Madrid.

Meanwhile Hercules and Espanyol and Malaga and Deportivo produced two turgid 0-0 draws, which mean Hercules, and Malaga remain in the relegation zone, while Espanyol maintain their hopes of playing in Europe last season.