All too easy for Real and Barca

Barcelona ensured the La Liga title race will go on another week after a crushing 7-0 win at Rayo Vallecano last night.

In their first game since coach Pep Guardiola announced his intention to stand down, Lionel Messi opened the scoring on 16 minutes and a Rober own goal saw Barca two up. Seydou Keita got the third and two goals from Pedro and one from Thiago Alcantara and a second from Messi completed the rout.

Real Madrid closed in on their first Primera Division title in four years with a 3-0 victory over Sevilla.

Cristiano Ronaldo slotted his 57th goal of the season to open the scoring on 19 minutes and further goals from Karim Benzema killed off their opponents.

Racing Santander became the first casualties of the season as they bid farewell to their top-flight status after losing 3-0 at Real Sociedad.

Third-bottom Sporting Gijon look determined to avoid the same fate and they gave their hopes of survival a boost with a 3-0 win at Espanyol.

Second-half goals from Adrian Colunga, Oscar Trejo and substitute Mate Bilic earned Sporting a third victory in four games and they move onto 34 points — four behind Villarreal, who were held 1-1 at home by Osasuna.

Juventus moved a step closer to the Serie A title with a 4-0 win at struggling Novara yesterday.

Mirko Vucinic got two, opening and completing the scoring, while Marco Borriello and Arturo Vidal were also on target as Juve retained their three-point lead over AC Milan at the top.

Milan maintained their challenge with a thumping 4-1 win over Siena yesterday with three games to go.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was on target twice to extend his lead at the top of the Serie A scoring charts, while Antonio Cassano and Antonio Nocerino were also on target.

On Saturday Napoli edged ahead of Lazio in the race for third after an exciting 2-2 draw with hosts Roma.

Lazio, who trail Napoli on goal difference, went down 2-0 to Udinese yesterday.

In France, Lille cut the gap to second-placed PSG to two points with four games to go with a 2-1 victory against the Parisians last night. Javier Pastore put PSG ahead on 48 minutes but Eden Hazard equalised from a penalty on 71 minutes and on 79 minutes Nolan Roux grabbed the winner. Montpellier, who beat Toulouse on Friday night, have a five-point lead from PSG.