Real Madrid winning run halted

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A review of the weekend's action in Spain's Primera Division.

Valencia ended Real Madrid's winning streak two shy of the world record as they came from behind to win 2-1 on Sunday.

Cristiano Ronaldo gave Madrid the lead with an early penalty, but Valencia turned the match on its head with goals from Antonio Barragan and Nicolas Otamendi early in the second half.

Madrid were hunting a 23rd straight win as they closed in on Coritiba's world record of 24 in a row, but Valencia's impressive home record - only Barcelona have won at the Mestalla this season - proved their undoing.

Gareth Bale was fouled on the wing after 11 minutes, and the resulting free-kick was flicked on before striking Alvaro Negredo on the arm. It was a case of ball-to-hand but the referee pointed to the spot and Ronaldo once again made no mistake with his penalty kick.

But Barragan levelled with a deflected shot early in the second period, before a towering header by Otamendi from Dani Parejo's corner put the hosts ahead in the 66th minute.

Ronaldo missed chances late on, including a superb save from Diego Alves at point-blank range.

Rayo Vallecano recovered from conceding after only two minutes to end a three-match losing run with a 2-1 victory at Getafe.

In their first game back after the winter break Rayo got off to a terrible start as Alvaro Vazquez fired home a 25-yard free-kick.

Jozabed levelled before the break, though, and Raul Baena converted from close range shortly after the hour mark to complete the turnaround.

On Saturday, Antoine Griezmann scored a brace as Atletico Madrid got off to a fine start in 2015 with a 3-1 win at home to Levante.

The Frenchman had hit a hat-trick at Athletic Bilbao just before the winter break and scored two headers either side of half-time to put the champions in command at the Vicente Calderon.

Substitute Nabil El Zhar gave the visitors brief hope of getting back into the game with a close-range effort just after the hour mark but Diego Godin scored Atletico's third header of the afternoon to ensure the three points remained in the capital and keep the pressure on title rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona, who play on Sunday.

Returning local hero Fernando Torres was in the Calderon after securing a loan move from AC Milan but had to watch from the stands as he is not permitted to play for Atletico until the Italian transfer window opens on Monday.

The former Liverpool and Chelsea striker is expected to make his second debut for the club in Wednesday's Copa del Rey quarter final tie with local rivals Real Madrid.


Sevilla moved up to fourth in the Primera Division after limping to an unconvincing 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo, who were forced to play most of the game with 10 men.

Carles Planas was shown a straight red card with just 20 minutes on the clock at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium and shortly afterwards Nico Pareja gave Sevilla the lead from a free-kick.

But the fact the hosts were unable to build on their lead despite their numerical advantage should be of concern to Unai Emery's side as they prepare to battle Valencia, Villarreal and Malaga for the final Champions League spot in the coming months.

Celta gave a good showing of themselves given the circumstances but were unable to avoid a fifth straight defeat and have taken just one point from their last seven matches.

Villarreal lost ground in the race for fourth spot as they threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at struggling Elche.

Marcelino's side looked to be heading for a sixth straight Primera Division victory when Luciano Vietto and Ikechukwu Uche scored inside the opening 20 minutes.

However the hosts got back into the game through top scorer Jonathas de Jesus, who then provided the assist for Victor Rodriguez's impressive equaliser after 35 minutes.

Villarreal squandered the chance to go level on points with Sevilla in fourth place while Elche remain bottom of the table despite picking up their first point in five matches.

Tomer Hemed's brace made it three consecutive wins for new Almeria boss Juan Ignacio Martinez as they beat high-flying Malaga 2-1 at La Rosaleda Stadium.

Hemed opened the scoring five minutes before half time with an opportunist strike and he made sure of the win from the penalty spot in the second half, minutes after Samuel Garcia struck back for Malaga.

Ivan Cavaleiro scored for the first time since August as Deportivo La Coruna fended off Athletic Bilbao 1-0 to climb clear of the relegation zone.