Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Real Madrid to an entertaining 6-2 victory over Villarreal that moved it two points behind leader Barcelona in La Liga Sunday. The Portuguese forward was a constant threat throughout and led the way with a thunderous freekick after 17 minutes before having a hand in four more goals. Kaka scored from the penalty spot soon after, and although Marcos Senna put Villarreal back into the game with a superb freekick in the 30th minute, Ronaldo set up Gonzalo Higuain for the third after the re-start. Again, Villarreal scored against the run of play through Nilmar in the 65th minute but Ronaldo helped set up Higuain and Kaka for their second goals, and finally won a penalty netted by Xabi Alonso at the end. Barcelona crushed Racing Santander 4-0 Saturday to move on to 58 points from 23 games. Real has 56 and third-placed Valencia, which hosts Getafe Monday, has 43. Earlier, Athletic Bilbao kept up its push for the European places with a 4-1 victory over 10-man Tenerife at San Mames. In other games, Sporting Gijon won 3-1 at Real Zaragoza, Malaga was 2-1 home winner over Espanyol and Osasuna drew 1-1 with Real Valladolid. Inconsistent Atletico Madrid, which last weekend was the first side to beat Barcelona in the league this season, fell 1-0 at Almeria, Pablo Piatti grabbing a winner in the 87th minute. Roma slashes Inter's lead AS Roma reinvigorated the Serie A title race by beating Catania 1-0 Sunday and cutting the gap with leader Inter Milan to five points. Champion Inter had its third straight draw when it was held 0-0 by Sampdoria Saturday after having two players sent off and second-placed Roma made sure it took advantage despite some late nerves. Montenegro striker Mirko Vucinic, up front alone with Francesco Totti suspended and Luca Toni injured, prodded in an 18th-minute corner to overcome the lowly visitors. Claudio Ranieri's side, which lost for the first time in 21 matches in Thursday's Europa League defeat at Panathinaikos, has stormed up Serie A after a sticky start and hosts Inter in late March in one of its 13 remaining games. Asked if the title race had been reopened, Ranieri told Sky TV: “No, no. Honestly no. You still can't say it, but we move forward. Our mind is on the Europa League campaign. Inter are a great side.” Third-placed AC Milan, seven points behind Inter and with a game in hand at Fiorentina Wednesday, triumphed 2-0 at Bari thanks to Marco Borriello's stunning volley and an Alexandre Pato goal. Juventus moved up to fourth after a patchy 2-1 victory at Bologna, its third win in a row under Alberto Zaccheroni. Napoli and Palermo are one point behind Juve after the Naples club was held 0-0 at bottom side Siena and the Sicilians easily beat coach Delio Rossi's former club Lazio 3-1. Cagliari lies two further back following a 2-0 victory over Parma while Alberto Gilardino headed the winner in inconsistent Fiorentina's 2-1 comeback win over third-from-bottom Livorno. Toothless Atalanta lost 1-0 at home to Chievo to stay in the drop zone.
