MADRID: FC Barcelona dealt a massive blow to Real Madrid's Spanish league title hopes by defeating them 4-0 in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium here.
Playing on Madrid home ground on Saturday, Barca were better than Madrid in every area of the pitch and led 2-0 thanks to goals from Luis Suarez and Neymar, Xinhua reported.
It could have been 3-0 if Marcelo, who later had to go off injured, had not cleared Suarez's effort from the goal-line.
Andres Iniesta made it 3-0 early in the second half following a backheel from Neymar and Suarez completed the rout in the closing minutes.
While Barca celebrated the result with their supporters, Real Madrid left the pitch to jeers and whistles and coach Rafael Benitez is now in serious danger of losing his job after just 12 games.
The weekend kicked off with Eusebio Sacristan's debut as Real Sociedad coach when his side looked for their first home win of the season against a Sevilla side that had failed to win away in this campaign.
Eusebio's men took the points with a 2-0 win thanks to second half goals from Imanol Agirretxe, who volleyed in his ninth goal of the season, and Xavi Prieto, who scored from close range following a defensive error.
Meanwhile Sevilla's day was made worse by the Achilles tendon injury suffered by Marco Andreolli, which will keep him out for the rest of the season.
Two first half goals from Hernan Perez gave Espanyol a 2-0 home win over Malaga, who have only scored in two of their 12 games to date this season.
Former Valencia striker Jonathan Viera's second half goal cancelled out Paco Alcacer's opener in Mestalla to see a share of the points between Valencia and Las Palmas, while Lucas Perez's 23rd minute strike and an injury time own goal saw Deportivo la Coruna win the Galicia derby 2-0 at home to Celta Vigo.