Real Madrid fought back to beat Sporting Gijon 3-1 to move three points clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga Saturday. The visitors stunned the Bernabeu when David Barral scored against the run of play in the 53rd minute but it only took Manuel Pellegrini's side two minutes to equalize. Rafael van der Vaart and Xabi Alonso struck in quick succession before Gonzalo Higuain calmed the nerves with a superb solo effort in the 68th minute as Real claimed its 14th win in 14 home games this season. Real has 68 points from 27 games, three points ahead of champion Barcelona which visits Real Zaragoza Sunday. Athletic Bilbao climbed to sixth on 42 points, above Deportivo Coruna on goal difference, despite being held 2-2 by visiting Getafe in a stormy encounter. The Basque side took the lead through Pablo Orbaiz after 12 minutes before Getafe levelled through Manu Del Moral in the 32nd. Bilbao had Orbaiz sent off soon after but then took the lead with a penalty from Fernando Llorente in the 78th minute, just after Getafe had been reduced to 10 men following a red card for Miguel Torres. Pedro Leon grabbed a late equalizer for the visitors. Struggling Real Valladolid and Xerez won to fire its hopes of avoiding relegation. Valladolid was 2-0 victor at seventh-placed Deportivo. Early strikes from Mario Bermejo and Aythami gave Xerez a 2-1 home victory over Tenerife. Xerez stayed bottom with 18 points, eight short of safety. Tenerife is second from bottom with 23 points, the same as Valladolid in 18th. Inter's lead at risk In Milan, Inter Milan risked surrendering its Serie A lead after drawing 1-1 at Palermo Saturday. AC Milan, two points adrift in second, can overtake Inter with a win over Napoli Sunday while third-placed AS Roma is four points behind the leader after Mirko Vucinic's hat trick in a 4-2 victory at home to Udinese. Inter went ahead through Diego Milito's 11th-minute penalty but Edinson Cavani struck for the Sicilians midway through the first half to leave the champion with just one win in its last seven league matches. Fiorentina earlier boosted its hopes of a Europa League berth by overcoming Genoa 3-0 in Florence.
