Real Madrid kept La Liga's title race alive with a narrow win over Champions League-chasing Villarreal.
Karim Benzema's headed goal before half-time set them on their way, while brilliant second-half strikes from Lucas Vazquez and Luka Modric were enough to seal the win, and draw them back to within a point of the leading two.
Barcelona had earlier destroyed Deportivo La Coruña 8-0 at Riazor , before Atletico Madrid eked out a 1-0 win in Bilbao to pile pressure on Zinedine Zidane's men.
While they weren't dominant against a well-organised Villarreal side, a mistake from goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo gifted the hosts their opening goal.
And forced to push for an equaliser in the second half, the Yellow Submarine conceded to Vazquez's curling effort from 20 yards and Modric's first-time volley 15 minutes from time.Karim Benzema may be "more important than ever" to Real Madrid after continuing his goalscoring form against Villarreal, according to coach Zinedine Zidane.
The Frenchman opened the scoring in Madrid's 3-0 win over their Liga rivals on Wednesday, his fourth goal in as many La Liga games.
Benzema's strike took his league tally to 23 for the season and, with superstar Cristiano Ronaldo potentially sidelined due to injury, Zidane believes the striker's form could be crucial to Madrid's title chances.
"He is a very important player, perhaps he is more important than ever. He does an excellent job," he said.
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