La Liga wrap: Real lose ground to Barca

Real Madrid’s title hopes took a blow when they lost 1-0 at struggling Osasuna in La Liga action on Sunday.

The relegation-threatened club moved three points clear of the drop zone courtesy of a Javier Camunas strike in the 61st minute at Estadio Reyno de Navarra.

The home side could have sealed the win with a late goal but desperate Madrid defence on the goal-line prevented a second.

Jose Mourinho’s men sit seven points behind league leaders Barcelona, and their significant head-to-head deficit to the Catalans means they will most likely need to make up eight points on their rivals to claim the La Liga title this campaign.

Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor made his bow for Madrid when he was substituted for Angel Di Maria in the second half, but he could not find a face-saving goal for his new club.

Gaizka Toquero opened his 2010-11 campaign for Athletic Bilbao in their 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid, scoring a brace for the victors at the Estadio Vicente Calderon.

Fernando Llorente had the chance to open the scoring from the spot, but missed his penalty kick in the 40th minute, but Toquero made up for his team-mate’s miss by scoring in the 45th and 64th minutes.

Villarreal took all three points from their trip to Espanyol, winning 1-0, and moving to within six points of Real Madrid after their loss.

The third-placed side went ahead in the 45th minute from a Giuseppe Rossi wonder strike, which he hit from an acute angle that rocketed into the roof of Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni’s net.