Juventus? Pavel Nedved (right) in an aerial duel with Lazio?s Giuliano Giannichedda during their Serie A match in Rome on Sunday. (AFP)

Madrid: Two goals from Ludovic Giuly and one apiece for Oleguer and Gerard gave Barcelona a 4-0 win over Malaga on Sunday and moved them a step closer to their first league title in six years.

Barcelona move up to 75 points with five games left to play, six points clear of Real Madrid, who beat Villarreal 2-1 in the Bernabeu on Saturday.

Oleguer fired in from close range to put the visitors ahead after 21 minutes and Giuly headed a second in the 33rd.

The French midfielder made it 3-0 midway through the second half and Malaga?s resistance crumbled completely when striker Marcio Amoroso was sent off 16 minutes from time. Gerard headed the fourth in the final minute.

Sevilla climbed up to third on 55 points as Julio Baptista scored either side of a wonderful individual goal from Jesus Navas to condemn Athletic Bilbao to a 3-1 home defeat.

The fourth Champions League place is filled by Espanyol on 53 points after they beat Real Zaragoza 3-1 with two goals from Raul Tamudo.

At the foot of the table, 18th-placed Real Mallorca?s 2-1 win at rock-bottom Numancia kept their survival hopes alive, as they closed to within seven points of 17th-placed Levante, who lost 1-0 at Getafe. Second-from-bottom Albacete lost 2-0 in Valencia.

Barcelona were boosted by the surprise inclusion of leading scorer Samuel Eto?o in the starting line-up, having recovered from a knee injury, but it was the home side who made the early running.

Malaga, who beat Barcelona 5-1 in La Rosaleda last year, made life difficult for the visitors with Fernando Baiano coming close to scoring twice before Barcelona took the lead.

Deco?s near-post corner in the 21st minute broke to defender Oleguer three metres out and he swivelled to fire the ball home.

Baiano continued to get into good positions but it was Barcelona who found the net again in the 33rd minute, when Giuly rose to head Ronaldinho?s cross in at the near post.

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard withdrew Eto?o early in the second half as a precautionary measure but the Catalans did not miss him.

Giuly was on target again after 68 minutes when he raced clear onto Xavi?s precise pass to fire under Malaga keeper Francesc Arnau.

The game ended as a contest soon after when Amoroso was dismissed for a dangerous tackle on Carles Puyol, and Gerard completed the scoring by heading home Giovanni Van Bronckhorst?s cross in the final minute.

Meanwhile, Pavel Nedved struck five minutes from time to give Juventus a 1-0 win at his former club Lazio on Sunday and keep the Turin side in step with AC Milan at the top of Serie A, add reports from Milan.

Milan?s 3-0 win over Parma on Saturday had moved them three points clear of Juventus but Nedved?s precious late goal leaves both sides on 73 points with five games to go. One of those five games is the clash between the two title contenders at Milan?s San Siro on May 8.

In the battle for the other two Champions League slots, third placed Inter Milan suffered a 1-2 loss at Messina, ending their unbeaten away record this season. Sampdoria take over from Udinese in fourth place after they defeated AS Roma 2-1 in Genoa.

United triumph

Manchester United needed a stunning second-half equaliser from Wayne Rooney and a rare goal from Wes Brown to beat Newcastle United 2-1 and keep the pressure on Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday, add reports from London. United?s victory moved them on to 70, one point behind Arsenal. (Reuters)