Atletico Madrid Lose to Malaga, Waste Chance to Top La Liga

Atletico Madrid missed a golden chance to go top of the Spanish La Liga after a shock 1-0 loss to Malaga. (Gareth Bale Scores Four as Real Madrid Rout Nine-Man Rayo Vallecano 10-2 in La Liga)

Atletico would have gone top of the league given Barcelona's preoccupation with the FIFA Club world Cup in Japan. (Lionel Messi Scores as FC Barcelona Beat River Plate to Win FIFA Club World Cup)

Brazilian striker Charles scored the only goal of the match in the 82nd minute on Sunday, reports Efe.

The expulsion of Gabi Fernandez on two yellow cards at the 56th minute added to Atletico's woes.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, moved to 33 points - two points behind Barcelona and Atletico Madrid after running riot against Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid's Gareth Bale celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal against Rayo Vallecano in a La Liga match.

© AP

Real Madrid were trailing 2-1 inside 12 minutes of the game but two sending off for Rayo players saw the floodgates open and Gareth Bale have a field day.

The Welshman scored four, Karim Benzema a hat-trick and a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo saw Madrid romp home with a 10-2 scoreline.

Celta Vigo and Villarreal continued to fight for fourth position in the standings and a spot in the Champions League. Celta Vigo beat Granada 2-0 while Villarreal defeated Real Sociedad 2-0 in San Sebastian.

Chilean player Fabian Orellana opened the scoring for the Eduardo 'Toto' Berizzo-managed Celta while Iago Aspas sealed their win.

Denis Suarez sculpted Villarreal's win with a goal in each half to take his team within a point of Celta.

Atletic Bilbao also remained in the fight for European places at the cost of Levante, with a 2-0 win against the bottom placed team with both goals, by Mikel San Jose and Inaki Williams, coming in the second half.

Meanwhile, both Sevilla and Valencia failed to win their respective matches on Saturday.