AC Milan stayed ahead in Serie A with a 3-1 win at lowly Cesena, one point clear of Juventus who won 3-1 at Catania.
In the English FA Cup, Liverpool eased into the last eight with a 6-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion but Arsenal lost 2-0 to Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur were held 0-0 by Stevenage and Chelsea drew 1-1 with Birmingham City.
Real Madrid maintained their relentless pace at the top of La Liga by thrashing struggling Racing Santander 4-0 at home on Saturday.
Karim Benzema scored twice, Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria adding the others, as Jose Mourinho's men climbed on to 61 points from 23 matches.
They were 10 points ahead of champions Barcelona who were led to a 5-1 comeback victory at home to Valencia by Lionel Messi, who scored four times at the Nou Camp.
Xavi added the fifth, leaving Valencia 11 points back in third.
London's three big clubs all struggled in the FA Cup fifth round with Arsenal losing 2-0 at Sunderland, Chelsea scraping a 1-1 home draw with Birmingham City and Tottenham Hotspur also being forced into a replay after a 0-0 draw at third tier Stevenage.
Liverpool battered Brighton 6-1, although three of the goals were own goals, to set up a quarterfinal with last season's runners-up Stoke City.
Tony Pulis's Stoke side overcame fourth tier Crawley Town 2-0 away despite having Rory Delap sent off for a dangerous tackle after 16 minutes.
Montpellier gave title rivals Paris St Germain a mighty scare but Carlo Ancelotti's side stayed a point ahead of the south coast outfit following a 2-2 draw at the Parc des Princes.
Surprise packages Montpellier were heading for a famous win to take them top until Guillaume Hoarau netted for the cash-rich hosts two minutes from time.
Girondins Bordeaux continued their pickup in form with a 1-0 win over stuttering Olympique Lyon, striker Yoan Gouffran grabbing the goal just before the break following a corner.
Third-placed champions Lille won 1-0 at Lorient while Olympique Marseille could only manage a 1-1 draw with Valenciennes at the Stade Velodrome before they prepare to greet Inter Milan in the Champions League next week.
Inter Milan fans chanted the name of former coach Jose Mourinho as their side slumped to a 3-0 home defeat against Bologna in Serie A, their third loss in a row.
Marco Di Vaio scored twice in as many minutes just before halftime and Robert Acquafresca added another late in the game to pile on the misery for Claudio Ranieri's team, who dropped to seventh in the table after taking one point from 15.
AC Milan, missing suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic, won 3-1 at bottom club Cesena to stay top with Sulley Muntari, Urby Emanuelson and Robinho sharing the goals.
The titleholders have 50 points from 24 games, one ahead of Juventus who beat Catania 3-1 to stay second with a game in hand.
Kevin Grosskreutz's 66th-minute bicycle kick gave champions Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 victory at lowly Hertha Berlin on Saturday and a three-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.
Dortmund, who extended their unbeaten run to 16 matches, have 49 points from 22 matches, three ahead of Borussia Moenchengladbach, who won 2-1 at Kaiserslautern.
Bayern Munich stumbled to a goalless draw at bottom club Freiburg to drop four points off the lead in third place.
Spaniard Raul scored his 400th goal as a professional to set Schalke 04 on the way to a 4-0 win over VfL Wolfsburg while Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored two and missed a penalty. The Gelsenkirchen side, who are fourth, moved within a point of Bayern.
Champions Porto overcame last-placed Setubal 3-1 to keep up their chase of Premier League leaders Benfica and climb to 46 points after 19 matches, two behind the Lisbon club who travel to Guimaraes on Monday.
Newly-arrived Austria striker Marc Janko nailed Porto's first chance of the match, heading the visitors' opener after just three minutes.
Brazilian holding midfielder Fernando fired the second 20 minutes later and Portugal winger Silvestre Varela cadded the third in the second half.
Braga, third on 43 points, defeated Gil Vicente 3-0.
