Real Madrid moved closer to retaining their Primera Liga title with a 2-0 win away at Racing Santander yesterday.

Raul tapped in Robinho's cross early on and Bernd Schuster's men withstood some sustained pressure from Champions League-chasing Racing, before Gonzalo Higuain stroked in a second in injury time.

Real's players swamped the Argentine to celebrate as the victory put them 10 points clear at the top of the standings with five matches left to play.

"It's not in the bag yet, but this was another important step forward in a difficult stadium ," Real coach Bernd Schuster told Radio Marca.

"This advantage should give us confidence for the remaining games."

Villarreal are now their closest challengers on 62 points after they leap-frogged Barcelona with a 2-0 win over struggling Valladolid at the Madrigal.

Turkish striker Nihat Kahveci sprinted on to Santi Cazorla's pass to open the scoring against the run of play in the first half and returned the favour for Cazorla to add the second just after the break.

Champions League semi-finalists Barca are third with 61 points, after being held 0-0 at home by city rivals Espanyol on Saturday.

Fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, on 54, slipped to a 3-1 home defeat against Real Betis on Saturday.

King's Cup winners Valencia put off celebrating the title they won on Wednesday night to focus on the trip to face Athletic Bilbao in yesterday's late game, but it was to little avail as they were torn apart 5-1 at San Mames.

The defeat piles the pressure on under-fire coach Ronald Koeman, whose side are left two points above the bottom three.

At the foot of the table, new Levante coach Jose Angel Moreno got off to a winning start with a 3-1 home win over King's Cup finalists Getafe, but his team remain 12 points from safety.

A Daniel Guiza hat-trick helped condemn second-bottom Real Murcia to a 4-1 home defeat against Real Mallorca that leaves them eight points adrift.

Recreativo Huelva are 18th, level on 37 points with 17th-placed Real Zaragoza, who have the edge over them in head-to-heads after Saturday's 3-0 home win.

(Agencies April 21, 2008)