Atletico Madrid turned up the heat on champions Barcelona when they fought back to secure a 2-1 win at home to Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Sunday as Real Madrid slipped off the pace with a 1-0 loss at Villarreal.
Atletico's battling victory put them level at the top on 35 points with Barca, who surrendered a 2-0 advantage and were held 2-2 at home by Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday, their second consecutive draw after last weekend's 1-1 stalemate at Valencia.
Barca are ahead on goal difference, while Real are five points adrift in third after Roberto Soldado scored against his former club to give Villarreal, who are a point off fourth spot with 27, the spoils at the Madrigal.
Real fielded their famous attacking trident of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema but could not make a host of chances count and the defeat heaps more pressure on under-fire coach Rafa Benitez.
Bilbao took a 27th-minute lead at a typically boisterous Calderon stadium when defender Aymeric Laporte netted at a corner before Atletico midfielder Saul Niguez levelled with a header from a corner at the other end on the stroke of halftime.
A closely-fought encounter appeared destined for a draw until the ball broke kindly for Antoine Griezmann in the 67th minute and the France forward curled a superb shot into the corner of the net from just outside the penalty area.
At Villarreal, midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos had already hit a post before Soldado, a graduate of Real's youth academy, struck to put the home side ahead in the eighth minute.
Real laid siege to the Villarreal goal in the second half but despite a string of efforts they only managed one on target and slipped to a third league defeat of the season.
They were a shadow of the side that demolished Malmo 8-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Ronaldo and Benzema particularly wayward.
"We were not switched on at the start," Real centre back Pepe told Spanish television.
"We are still in the fight but it's true that we have to start games differently and better," added the Portugal international.
