Esteban Granero rescued a point for misfiring Real Madrid in a 1-1 draw against bottom club Almeria yesterday, paving the way for Barcelona to extend their lead to four points. The Spanish champions duly obliged by beating Malaga 4-1 last night.

The talk in recent weeks has been over Real’s lack of firepower following an injury to Gonzalo Higuain and although they saw plenty of the ball in midfield they were unable to create any clear chances in the first half.

Karim Benzema was brought on for Kaka after the break but it was Almeria who broke the deadlock on the hour mark against the run of play through Jose Ulloa.

Substitute Granero fired Real level in the 77th minute and in an action-packed finish Cristiano Ronaldo hit the post for the visitors with a free-kick.

Valencia beat Deportivo 2-0 and their fourth consecutive victory means they remain two points behind third-placed Villarreal.

The game appeared to be heading for a draw until Jeremy Mathieu squeezed the ball home from a tight angle with 13 minutes to go. Then Pablo Hernandez added another with a breakaway goal in injury time.