Sunday 21 February 2016 22:57, UK
Atletico Madrid's hopes of catching La Liga leaders Barcelona suffered a setback on Sunday evening as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Villarreal at the Vicente Calderon.
Diego Simeone's side were shut out by the visitors' rock-solid defence and failed to carve out clear-cut chances, ending the weekend eight points behind Barca - who also have a superior head-to-head record - with 13 games remaining.
The result also saw Marcelino's men record a fifth straight clean sheet in all competitions. They still occupy the fourth Champions League spot, eight points ahead of nearest rivals Sevilla.
Valencia secured their third straight win in a week under head coach Gary Neville, this time in the shape of a 2-1 victory at Granada.
Daniel Parejo broke the deadlock early in the second half and substitute Santi Mina added a late second before Granada pulled one back through Edgar Mendez deep into stoppage time.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty as Real Madrid slipped further behind Barcelona in the title race by drawing 1-1 at Malaga.
The Portuguese headed Real in front late in the first half at La Rosaleda but just a minute later had a spot-kick saved by Carlos Kameni. In the second half, Malaga grabbed a deserved equaliser through centre-back Raul Albentosa.
The hosts might even have snatched a winner late on, had it not been for some great goalkeeping by Madrid's Keylor Navas, but Zinedine Zidane's side have fallen nine points behind top spot.
Brazilian striker Jonathas fired his fourth goal in three matches to clinch Real Sociedad a 1-0 win at Basque derby rivals Athletic Bilbao.
Jonathas struck the game's only goal in the first half with a thumping finish as Sociedad maintained their climb up the table with a fourth consecutive league win.
Victory lifted Sociedad up to ninth place and within two points of Athletic, whose third home league defeat of the season denied them a place in the top six.
Rayo Vallecano fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 and deny Sevilla a first away win of the season.
Unai Emery's men looked set to finally end their away hoodoo when Steven N'Zonzi opened the scoring after 10 minutes and Vicente Iborra doubled the lead in the 20th minute.
The visitors missed chances to add to their advantage and were pegged back before half-time through Manucho's goal. Miku then tapped in from close range midway through the second half to make it 2-2 and preserve Rayo's six-game unbeaten run.
Paco Jemez's side move three points above the relegation zone, while Sevilla stay fifth.
