Real owe Ronaldo two

A classy double from Ronaldo helped Real Madrid to a 2-1 win over Valencia that saw them return to the top of the table on Saturday as title rivals Deportivo Coruna slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Celta Vigo.

The results mean that Real lead the first division on 71 points, two ahead of Real Sociedad, although the Basque side can reclaim top spot if they win their match at Malaga on Sunday.

Deportivo, who led the table two weeks ago, are now in third place on 66 points, and with just three games left to play Javier Irureta's side have to rely on major slip-ups by their two rivals if they are to have a chance of taking the title.

Celta's victory means that they gain the edge in the race for the final Champions League berth and move a point ahead of Valencia.

World and European Player of the Year Ronaldo lived up to his billing with a sparkling performance at the Mestalla.

The Brazilian opened the scoring on 26 minutes with a rare headed goal, lurking among the Valencia defence before nodding in a swirling Luis Figo cross.

Valencia struck back six minutes later when midfielder Fabio Aurelio guided in past keeper Iker Casillas after slick work by Pablo Aimar and John Carew.

But Ronaldo sealed a precious away victory for Vicente del Bosque's side with a brilliantly taken winner midway through the second half.

Controlling a long ball from Figo with his toe, the Real striker burst past Valencia defender Miroslav Djukic, rounded keeper Santiago Canizares and clipped home to score his 19th goal of the season.

Deportivo's defeat, their second loss in successive weeks, was the heaviest suffered in first division encounters at their Galician rivals for 47 years, with all of Celta's goals coming in the second half.

"We now have to rely on Real Madrid and Real Sociedad slipping up," said Deportivo coach Javier Irureta, all but admitting that his team's title hopes had been lost aong with the match.

Celta's Jesuli Mora opened the scoring with a header just before the hour and three minutes later turned provider for Edu to nod Celta further in front.

Edu then used his quick-fire wits to pounce after Deportivo goalkeeper Juan Francosco Molina had badly fumbled a cross from Alexandr Mostovoi, the Brazilian scoring his 11th goal of the season 11 minutes from time.

The win means that Celta Vigo move up to fourth place with 57 points, one point ahead of Valencia, in the contest for the remaining place in next season's Champions League.

The pair are well clear of Athletic Bilbao in sixth, whose last minute penalty from Ismael Urzaiz gave them a 2-1 win over Racing Santander and kept them ahead of the pack in the race for the last UEFA Cup place.

Athletic have now gone eight games without defeat but they had to come from behind after Racing's Pedro Munitis put the visitors in front just a minute after the break.

Former Spanish international defender Aitor Karanka got the equaliser after 56 minutes, stabbing the ball home with his right foot after a Joseba Etxeberria corner.

Urzaiz then sealed the winner - his 13th goal of the season - from the spot as regulation time ran out after Joseba Arriaga had been brought down by Racing's Ismael Ruiz.

Atletico Madrid are right behind Athletic, at least overnight, after Fernando Torres showed just how much the team had missed him during his six-week absence through injury.

Torres scored twice in Atletico's 3-2 win over Villarreal.

"I don't think it is exaggerating to say that Torres gave us this victory. We conceded two first half goals and could have let in others, as we were nervious and committed errors. The second half was a different story after he came on following the interval," said Atletico coach Luis Aragones.

Villarreal were much the better side during the first 45 minutes and held a 2-1 lead at the break thanks to goals from Javier Calleja and Josico Moreno.

Atletico had to rely on an own goal from Villarreal's Reuban Arruabarrena to keep in the game before the arrival of Torres.

The 19-year-old striker, nicknamed El Nino, sent home a tremendous shot from the edge of the area to level the score after 69 minutes.

Five minutes later, he got the winner by latching onto a Luis Garcia cross in front of goal.

Bottom-club Rayo Vallecano staved off relegation for another week by grinding out a dour 0-0 draw with fellow strugglers Osasuna.

Spanish radio station Cadena SER provided appropriate epitaph on the encounter, with its commentator saying on the whistle, "With two teams of this calibre, it was no surprise that this was a truly horrible match."