Barcelona came from a goal down to defeat Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 at Camp Nou last night. The Catalonian side conceded a Cristian goal after three minutes but equalised with four minutes to go in the first half when Ronaldinho converted a penalty.

Barca then took the lead through a Xavi goal on 71 minutes to keep the pressure on Primera Liga leaders Real Madrid, who maintain their four point advantage at the top after beating Athletic Bilbao 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a Ruud van Nistelrooy goal.

Atletico Madrid moved up to third with a 1-0 win over neighbours Getafe in a bad-tempered match at the Calderon in which four players were sent off.

Javier Aguirre's side clinched a barely deserved victory thanks to a well worked goal from Diego Forlan in the first half but the win was overshadowed by the dismissal of two players from each side in the space of 12 second-half minutes.

Atletico striker Sergio Aguero was the first to go when he picked up a second booking and Getafe defender Lucas Licht followed him for the same reason. Getafe goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri was given his marching orders for a handball outside the area and Atletico winger Jose Antonio Reyes was shown a straight red.

Villarreal dropped to fourth after they went down 1-0 at home to struggling Real Betis who replaced Hector Cuper with reserve team manager Paco Chaparro after last weekend's defeat at home to Atletico.