Atlético Madrid played one of their most inspired performances of the best performances of the Quique Sánchez Flores era as they ended Barcelona's 22-week unbeaten streak in La Liga by continuing the Culé woes at the Vicente Calderón 2-1.

Barca killer Diego Forlán opened the scoring for Atlético while Simão scored off a brilliant freekick. Although the Blaugrana were able to get a goal back and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was able to end his long scoring drought, the Barca attack was limited and the Atlético Madrid defense played brilliantly in the process cutting off all avenues of attack.

What made this worse for Josep Guardiola's side is the absence of both Seydou Keita and Xavi in the lineup after both starters were knocked out for an extended period of time. Keita will be out of action for 3-4 weeks while Xavi will be gone for two weeks with muscle tears in their thighs.

This gave Madrid a two-point deficit as they were able to overcome a brave challenge by cellar-dwellers Xerez 3-0. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his third brace of the season while Álvaro Arbeloa opened the scoring for the Merengues.

The big upset of the weekend was probably relegation-embattled Tenerife defeating the surprise team of the tournament of the league, Mallorca, in the first edition of Monday Night Fútbol by the score of 1-0. The worst part for the Islanders was the fact that they weren't able to take advantage of the one point that Valencia earned after they drew with Sporting.

Also Espanyol were able to earn three vital points at their new fortress after beating Deportivo 2-0 in one of the most impressive wins of the year for Mauricio Pochettino's boys.


Xerez 0-3 Real Madrid
Valencia 1-1 Sporting
Villarreal 2-1 Athletic

Racing 0-3 Málaga
Espanyol 2-0 Deportivo
Getafe 2-2 Alméria
Valladolid 1-1 Zaragoza
Sevilla 1-0 Osasuna
Atlético 2-1 Barcelona

Tenerife 1-0 Mallorca


Standings