Real Madrid's chances of retaining their La Liga title are hanging by the slimmest of threads, after the Spanish giants suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Real Betis, before Barcelona hammered Levante 4-0 Sunday.
Atletico Madrid, however, kept pace with the league leaders, staying just three points behind, following a 4-0 win over nine-man Sevilla.
Real will now need a minor miracle to win another La Liga title this season, as the weekend's results meant they are now a massive 11 points behind their biggest rivals. Benat scored the only goal of the game, as Real had a goal by Karim Benzema ruled out, as well as a debatable penalty not given.
"We started better than we finished the game," Real manager Jose Mouronho said. "I waved to the Betis fans because they are fantastic and after a difficult week and a week in which there has been conflict with some of their players, they were able to be fans and help their team win.
"That pleased me because they behaved correctly and supported their team. I congratulated the Betis players because it's not their fault that the Benzema goal was ruled out or that the penalty wasn't given in the last minutes of the match."
Mourinho insisted he was not giving up on the title, saying Real still had a chance. "Last season we had ten more points than our opponents in March and then we drew twice and the situation became more complicated," he added. "Maybe at the end of the year we are 11, 13, 9, 8 or 12 points behind.
"We are not going to be four, five or three points behind. It's wide open, but let's not be too optimistic nor too pessimistic. It's complicated, but I can't focus on just one competition. It's impossible.
"I think from one match to the next and the next match is the Spanish Cup, then La Liga and then it's the Champions League. But at this point last season our fans were optimistic, it's understandable that now they are pessimistic and think we can't go on to win."
Lionel Messi was again the main man for Barcelona, as he pulled to within three goals of Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals in a calendar year. The Barcelona superstar now has 82 to his name, with plenty more games still remaining to cross the German legend's mark.
Along with Messi, Andres Iniesta - who also had three assists -- and Cesc Fabregas also scored, with all four goals coming in the second half. There was also a unique record of sorts, as between the 13th minute, following an injury to Dani Alves which brought on Martin Montoya into the game, and the 75th minute, all of Barcelona's 11 players on the field were from the famed La Masia academy.
"It's very special for those of us that learned to play football at La Masia," Xavi Hernandez said.
"We're pleased that we have an eleven-point lead over Real Madrid, but we should only focus on how we perform on the pitch and try to create a bigger advantage over the team in second place," he added.
Atletico stayed three points behind Barcelona, thanks to goals from Radamel Falcao, Emir Spahic, Arda Turan and Miranda, in a game which saw Sevilla's Federico Fazio and Ivan Rakitic sent off.
Results: Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Mallorca; Valladolid 1-0 Granada; Malaga 4-0 Valencia; Real Betis 1-0 Real Madrid; Real Sociedad 0-0 Osasuna; Espanyol 0-2 Getafe; Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Deportivo; Atletico Madrid 4-0 Sevilla; Levante 0-4 Barcelona.
