A lacklustre Real Madrid lost further ground to Barcelona at the top of the table when they were held to a 0-0 draw at Villarreal in the Spanish Primera Liga on Sunday.

The home side, who had lost their previous three league games, dominated the encounter against Real who appeared to have their minds on next week's decisive Champions League clash against AS Roma.

The result means that Real are now nine points behind Barca, easy 4-0 winners over Malaga on Saturday, and level with Espanyol, who claimed a valuable 1-0 victory away to Real Zaragoza earlier on Sunday.

Espanyol striker Raul Tamudo marked his return from a month-long injury lay-off by scoring the winner on the half hour when he clipped in on the half-volley after controlling a fine cross from fellow forward Dani.

Last season's champions Valencia are a further point behind in fourth after a flattering 1-0 win at Albacete on Saturday.

Sevilla bounced back from their 4-1 defeat at Osasuna last week and moved into fifth place when they continued their fine run of form at home with a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.

Deportivo Coruna hung on to their eight-year unbeaten record at Racing Santander by the skin of their teeth when a last-gasp strike from Uruguayan centre-forward Walter Pandiani earned them a 2-2 draw.

Real Madrid headed to Villarreal without a string of first-choice players as they kept one eye on Wednesday's match against Roma.

Zinedine Zidane remained in Madrid to receive treatment on a back injury. Raul and Roberto Carlos spent the game on the bench.

CLEAR CHANCE

Although it was Villarreal who dominated the early exchanges it was Real's Michael Owen who created the first clear chance of the game midway through the first half.

The England striker darted into the area, went past two defenders and then slipped a neat pass through to the unmarked Ronaldo, but the Brazilian took too long over his shot and was closed down by the defence.

England team mate David Beckham hit the bar with a trademark free kick from two metres outside the area on the half hour, but Real never looked comfortable against their more organised opponents.

New signing Luciano Figueroa combined well with fellow Argentine Juan Roman Riquelme on several occasions as the two created problems for the Real defence and forward Antonio Guayre sliced wide 10 minutes before the break.

The home side continued to dominate in the second half and Real had keeper Iker Casillas to thank for keeping them in the game when he blocked a sharp volley from young midfielder Santi Cazorla after some fine work from Riquelme.

Beckham and Ronaldo were taken off midway through the half but Real continued to stutter and Villarreal thought they had grabbed the win 11 minutes from time when Figueroa had the ball in the net only to find the goal was disallowed for a borderline offside.

Real Mallorca produced the fightback of the day when they scored three goals in the final 10 minutes to claim a 3-2 win at home to fellow strugglers Numancia, a result that lifted them off the bottom of the table.