La Liga: Barcelona stay top, Ronaldo lifts Real Madrid gloom

MADRID: Barcelona shrugged off a hastily-arranged five-hour train and coach journey to clinch a 3-0 win at Osasuna on Saturday to stay top of the Spanish first division, two points clear of Real Madrid who beat 10-man Valencia 2-0.

Lionel Messi scored a second-half brace with his 14th and 15th league goals of the season after creating the 25th minute opener for Pedro Rodriguez as Barcelona built on Monday's 5-0 Clasico drubbing of Real by notching their eighth consecutive league win.

Real bounced back from that mauling, their first defeat under Jose Mourinho, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his 15th and 16th goals of the season on 72 and 86 minutes as Madrid made it a perfect seven home wins in the league.

In other matches, Atletico Madrid's poor form continued with a 2-0 loss at Levante.

It was a third successive loss for Atletico, the Europa League holders, following 3-2 home defeats by Espanyol and Greek side Aris Salonika and the club now lie in seventh place.

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