Real Madrid kept pace with Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table with a win over Villarreal while Atletico were beaten by Almeria.
A Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Real side answered their critics following the midweek Champions League defeat at Lyon and eased some of the pressure on coach Manuel Pellegrini with a thumping 6-2 victory over Villarreal.
Gonzalo Higuain and Kaka both netted braces but it was Ronaldo who caused all the damage with arguably his best display of the season to help Madrid bounce back from their poor showing in France and trim the gap to Primera Division leaders Barcelona back to two points.
The former Manchester United star netted a trademark free-kick with a Xabi Alonso penalty completing the rout.
Atletico Madrid were brought back down to earth as they were beaten 1-0 at struggling Almeria.
A week after outclassing Barcelona to inflict a first defeat of the season on the champions, Atletico could not find a way past Almeria keeper Diego Alves, who, along with opposite number Sergio Asenjo, kept the game scoreless in the first half.
Both sides hit the woodwork in the second period but the deadlock was finally broken three minutes from time by the industrious Pablo Piatti.
Malaga boosted their hopes of survival thanks to a narrow 2-1 win over Espanyol as the Catalans' miserable away form continued at La Rosaleda.
Fernando Fernandez gave the Andalusians the lead after 13 minutes, and although Victor Ruiz equalised shortly before half-time, the home side sealed a second consecutive victory thanks to Victor Obinna's winner a quarter of an hour from time.
Juan Ramon Lopez Muniz's side were reduced to 10 men late on, when Jesus Gamez was sent off for a nasty tackle on Raul Baena.
Real Zaragoza's recent revival came to an abrupt halt as Sporting Gijon recorded a first league win in six games with a 3-1 victory.
Goals either side of half-time from Mate Bilic and Luis Moran had the visitors cruising and, even though Javier Arizmendi halved the deficit in stoppage time, David Barral immediately snuffed out any thoughts of a comeback by netting a third.
Athletic Bilbao kept themselves in the mix for European qualification with a comfortable 4-1 win over 10-man Tenerife.
The visitors, who are currently languishing in the relegation zone, failed to recover after being reduced to 10 men in just the 17th minute as Jose Antonio Culebras was given his marching orders for an ugly challenge on Gaizka Toquero in the penalty area.
Fernando Llorente dispatched the resulting spot-kick and Toquero doubled the lead a few minutes later.
Andoni Iraola got the third after the break and, after Alejandro Alfaro had pulled a goal back for Jose Luis Oltra's side, Igor Gabilondo rounded off the scoring.
Osasuna denied Primera Division strugglers Real Valladolid a rare victory with an equaliser four minutes from time in Pamplona.
After the hosts had been denied by the woodwork three times, Valladolid took the lead through a screamer from Medunjanin Haris with only 10 minutes to go.
But Jose Antonio Camacho's side salvaged a point with an 86th-minute equaliser from Javier Camunas.
On Saturday, Barcelona strolled to an easy 4-0 victory over Racing Santander, Real Mallorca's perfect home record was brought to an end as Sevilla beat them 3-1 while Deportivo La Coruna beat Xerez 2-1.
Match Reports
Sunday
Real Zaragoza 1-3 Sporting Gijon
Saturday
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