Title tussle goes down to the wire

MADRID - The fight for the La Liga title will go down to the last day of the season after convincing wins for Real Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday left them deadlocked at the top of the standings, each with 87 points.

Madrid remains in the driver's seat after the European champion saw off Sevilla 4-1, and it has two games remaining to Barca's one.

However, Barca stayed on top thanks to its better head-to-head record with Neymar scoring a hat-trick in a 4-1 triumph at Las Palmas.

Madrid visits Celta Vigo on Wednesday and then travels to Malaga, while Barca hosts Eibar on Sunday.

Sevilla's loss at Santiago Bernabeu also guarantees it will finish fourth and Atletico Madrid, which drew 1-1 at Real Betis, qualifies automatically for next season's Champions League in third.

Down at the bottom, Sporting Gijon joined Granada and Osasuna in being relegated despite winning 1-0 at Eibar as Deportivo la Coruna secured safety in a 0-0 draw at Villarreal.

"It is a long road. We know to win the league in Spain is not easy," said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.

"Every day we are getting closer, we keep winning but there are two games to go and we need to keep doing what we have until now."

However, two of Barcelona's four league defeats this season came at the two sides Madrid still has to visit, and that gives Barca boss Luis Enrique hope.

"We have one game left and the objective is to win it," he told TV station Movistar.

"If we have lost (at Celta and Malaga) then any team can."

Sevilla has now won just three of its past 13 matches as its season has petered out badly, although it has at least still made the Champions League.

Jorge Sampaoli's visitor gave Madrid more than a few scares on Sunday.

Nacho gave the host the lead in controversial fashion as he curled home a quick freekick with the Sevilla defense caught napping, but protests towards referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco fell on deaf ears.

That goal meant Madrid broke Bayern Munich's European record for scoring in consecutive games as their streak now stretches to 61 games.

Sevilla fired its first warning shot when Stefan Jovetic blasted a shot off the post from the edge of the area.

However, moments later it was 2-0 as Sergio Rico could only palm a James Rodriguez strike into the path of Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored his 400th Madrid goal.

Jovetic then saw a fine chipped effort come off the bar and was denied by Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas when played through by Joaquin Correa as Sevilla continued to threaten.

Sevilla finally got back in the game through Jovetic's neat finish from outside the box three minutes into the second half.

Yet, just as the host's nerves were becoming frayed, Ronaldo appeared once more by crashing home Toni Kroos' cut-back to restore Real's two-goal lead.

Kroos rounded off the scoring by poking a shot into the far corner six minutes from time.

Barcelona kept the pressure on despite a series of defensive absences that meant Brazilian 21-year-old Marlon Santos was handed a full debut in the Canary Islands.

Agence France-Presse