The league table was admittedly looking tight at the beginning of the Easter weekend, but tricky fixtures for the top four teams in La Liga have blown the Spanish title race wide open.

First up were reigning champions Barcelona, who travelled to La Romerada missing striker Samuel Eto'o. Without the Cameroon international, Barca were outclassed by a Zaragoza side making a push for a Champions League place. The Catalan outfit were completely dominated and went down to a single Diego Milito goal.

Continuing the trend, Valencia came up against an Athletic Bilbao side now putting up a fight to stay in the Primera division. With one eye firmly on their Champions League tie with Chelsea, Valencia coach Quique Sanchez Flores left a host of first-choice players on the bench - and paid the price. They conceded to a clever back-heel by Igor Gabilondo to delight the crowd at the San Mames, lift Bilbao out of the relegation zone, and push Valencia into fifth.

Sevilla, meanwhile, fell back into their familiar routine of failing to take advantage of Barcelona’s slip-ups when they were held to a goalless draw at home. All season it seems Sevilla have been suffering from a case of vertigo - and Sunday proved no different.

The opportunity to be league leaders was on a plate for them but despite dominating the game against Racing Santander, Fredi Kanoute’s absence told, with Javier Chevanton and Luis Fabiano missing a string of chances in front of goal to leave them a point behind Barcelona.

Finally, the stage was set for Real Madrid. Since the 3-3 draw against Barcelona at the Nou Camp last month, the Madrid-based media and the club itself have been propagating a belief that the remaining games are all cup finals; win them all and we win the league.

With other results having gone their way, anticipation hung in the air at the Bernabeu as the crowd waited to see whether the team could finally take advantage and close the gap to two points.

Starting brightly, Madrid took the lead in the 24th minute after a rare strike by captain Raul Gonzalez. Putting in a convincing performance despite a few scares and the usual heroics by Iker Casillas in goal, the victory was sealed in the 80th minute when Robinho scored his third goal in as many matches.

The victory did not affect Real's league position; they are still in third place. But this win moved them to within two points of leaders Barcelona and one point from Sevilla in second. Easter weekend could prove to be a pivotal moment in the race for the title.

Suddenly, with three consecutive wins under their belt, momentum is growing in favour of the capital club. It has been yet another drama filled season at Real Madrid. There has been intense media pressure on coach Fabio Capello from day one. The notoriously demanding fans at the Bernabeu have never warmed to the Italian and his defensive style of play and are continuously calling for his head. He has been on the brink of being sacked on countless occasions this season, but still he lives to fight another day at the Bernabeu

The president himself, Ramon Calderon, has been no more secure in his job, with no assurance of his position until February with the postal votes from last summer’s election in dispute.

However, instead of lying low, he filled his time by publicly humiliating his team and then grovelling for forgiveness from the very players he called “vain” and “uneducated” whilst giving a lecture to University students. The lecture was recorded by a journalist and subsequently aired.

David Beckham, Antonio Cassano and Robinho, among others, have all been dropped at some point or another, but all have made comebacks. Ronaldo, Madrid’s main goalscorer of the past four years, was sold to Milan at a time when Real were going through a vast goal drought and Roberto Carlos, a tireless Madrid veteran, has announced he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.

Yet despite all of this, despite Real playing unconvincingly all season, with nine games to go in the Spanish title race, they are two points off the top and could be celebrating their first title win in four years come June.

True, Madrid do seem to have a more difficult run-in with games against Valencia, Sevilla and Zaragoza still to come and they will have to ensure they do not drop a point until the end of the season. But the win at the weekend seems to have restored some much-needed player confidence and belief is growing in the capital.

Whatever the outcome, the weekend’s results have added some spice to La Liga and it will make for an exciting finale.

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