Madrid, April 30 (IANS): Real Madrid were made to work hard for a 3-0 victory over relegation-threatened Almeria, keeping the Spanish football giants within striking distance of FC Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

Despite constant pressure from their lowly placed rivals, Real Madrid, who were still without Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, failed to open the scoring until the 45th minute when James Rodriguez hammered home a spectacular first time shot to put them ahead, reports Xinhua.

An own goal from Dos Santos, who turned the ball into his net under pressure from Cristiano Ronaldo, four minutes after the start of the second half, gave Real Madrid a comfortable cushion and Alvaro Arbeloa sealed the win five minutes from time.

Ronaldo gave the headline writers something to use when he left the pitch in an obvious bad mood after failing to score.

Elsewhere, two goals from Carlos Bacca after the seventh and 15th minutes got Sevilla quickly on track for a 3-1 win away to Eibar.

Federico Piovaccari got Eibar back into the game seven minutes after the break. But Jose Antonio Reyes restored Sevilla's two-goal lead just after the hour which allows them to maintain the pressure on Atletico Madrid and Valencia in the battle for third and fourth place.

Meanwhile, Celta Vigo striker Nolito scored a 90th minute goal against Malaga which gives his side a great chance of finishing seventh and qualifying for next season's Europa League.

Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez scored twice each while Neymar and Xavi Hernandez also got on the score sheet as Barcelona blasted six goals past a hapless Getafe in a impressive 6-0 win.

Aritz Aduriz and Alberto de la Bella each scored as Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Sociedad shared the honours in the Basque derby while David Barral's goal assured three points which gave Levante a massive chance of avoiding relegation with a 1-0 win at home to Cordoba, who could be mathematically relegated before the weekend if other results go against them.