Real overcome Sevilla 3-1 and Barcelona lose again

Real Madrid beat Sevilla 3-1 at the Bernabeu in the Spanish League to move six points clear at the top of the Primera Liga on Sunday. Gabriel Heinze headed them in front early on and Raul restored the lead just before the break, a minute after Frederic Kanoute had levelled for the visitors. Gonzalo Higuain sealed a relatively comfortable victory in the second half, to leave the champions on 65 points with eight games left to play. Their closest challengers are now Villarreal on 59, after they leap-frogged Barcelona with a convincing 3-0 home win over fourth-placed Atletico Madrid on Saturday. Barca slipped down to third with 58 points after letting slip a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 away to Real Betis, also on Saturday. Racing Santander beat Espanyol 3-0 away to close on the Champions League places in fifth.