Real Madrid’s Robinho (left) and Real Murcia’s Richi Perez fight for the ball in Murcia on Saturday. (Reuters)

Madrid: Leaders Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw away to promoted Real Murcia in the Primera Liga on Saturday, allowing arch-rivals Barcelona to close to within two points in the standings.

Brazil forward Robinho headed Real in front early on but Murcia battled back to level through Enrique de Lucas at the start of the second half.

Earlier, Barcelona put a troubled few days behind them with a 3-0 home win over lowly Recreativo Huelva. Edmilson’s criticisms of the lack of commitment of some of his teammates had dominated headlines before the game.

But goals two minutes apart from Argentina’s Gabriel Milito and Bojan Krkic midway through the second half broke Recre’s resistance. Lionel Messi added a penalty to round it off near the end. They went second on 27 points with third-placed Villarreal.

In the day’s other game, Real Mallorca surprised Sevilla in the Sanchez Pizjuan, winning 2-1 thanks to first-half goals from Argentine Ariel Ibagaza and Fernando Varela.

Sevilla pulled one back after the break from the head of Frederic Kanoute, but they were unable to complete the comeback despite Mallorca finishing with 10 men.

Meanwhile, goals by David Suazo and Julio Cruz gave Inter Milan a 2-1 win over Atalanta on Saturday to keep the champions firmly on top of the Serie A standings, says a report from Rome. Unbeaten Inter have 28 points from 12 games, three more than second-placed AS Roma, who won 1-0 at Genoa earlier on Saturday. (REUTERS)