Joseba Llorente (left) scores past Atletico Madrid’s goalkeeper Leo Franco in Villarreal on Sunday. (AFP)

Madrid: Atletico Madrid grabbed the unlikeliest of points when they came back with ten men to draw 4-4 at Villarreal in the Primera Liga on Sunday.

Javier Aguirre’s side entered the game on a three-match losing streak but stormed into a two-goal lead before Villarreal made the most of Ever Banega’s red card just before the break.

The home side were cruising at 4-2 after 67 minutes when Atletico were brought back to life as Simao Sabrosa and then Raul Garcia scored near the end to level.

Unbeaten Villarreal were fourth with 18 points from eight games, two points short of leaders and near neighbours Valencia, who needed David Villa to score an equaliser for a 1-1 draw at lowly Recreativo Huelva.

Six victories and two draws signified Valencia’s best start to a league season, surpassing the record set by Rafael Benitez’s side in the 2003/4 season by one point.

Barcelona are second with 19 points after they trounced Almeria 5-0 at the Nou Camp on Saturday, ahead of arch-rivals Real Madrid on goal difference.

The champions survived a wobble in a bad-tempered game at the Bernabeu to beat Athletic Bilbao 3-2.

Early strikes from Wesley Sneijder and Gonzalo Higuain were cancelled out before the break by Joseba Etxeberria and an Andoni Iraola penalty.

But Argentine Higuain notched the winner in the second half as both sides hit the woodwork, and it came as little surprise when Bilbao were reduced to 10 men after Fernando Amorebieta earned a deserved red card.

Atletico had left Sergio Aguero on the bench again but Portugal winger Simao made that irrelevant inside the first minute crashing a stunning shot in off the underside of the bar.

Villarreal dominated but were hit on the break again when Simao crossed for Uruguay striker Diego Forlan to score against his former club.

Atletico made life easier for the home side as Argentine midfielder Banega collected his second yellow card before the interval and then Leo Franco gifted them a goal fumbling Marcos Senna’s long-range shot into his own net.

Llorente sprinted clear to level in the 51st minute and Argentine defender Gonzalo volleyed them in front, before Italian striker Rossi made it 4-2.

Out of nothing, Simao burst clear to pull one back for Atletico in the 82nd and three minutes later substitute Garcia headed in at a free kick to set up a frantic finale.

“Football is like this. When we were out of it and they were turning on the style, we found out that with pride we could get something from the game,” said Atletico coach Aguirre.

“At the end Forlan almost earned us a greater prize”

Atletico are 10th with 10 points.

Sevilla slipped to fifth on 17 points after a 1-0 home defeat by Malaga, conceding their first goal in nine matches in all competitions when Adrian Lopez netted early on at the Sanchez Pizjuan.

Promoted Malaga made it four consecutive wins with the victory over their Andalucian rivals and are sixth with 13 points.

Inter Milan were held to a 0-0 draw by 10-man Genoa on Sunday, and Napoli and Udinese both won to join the three-time defending champions at the top of the Serie A standings, say reports from Rome.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic had chances for Inter but couldn’t find the target at the San Siro, even after Genoa midfielder Ivan Juric picked up his second yellow card on the hour mark.

“I’m always responsible for my team’s results, and in the second half some players still didn’t understand what they needed to do,” Inter coach Jose Mourinho said.

“On Tuesday, I’ll discuss it with them and clear it up. We put Genoa at ease and two or three of my players were not up to the task.”

Napoli beat Lazio 1-0 in Rome with an own-goal by defender Sebastiano Siviglia, and Antonio Di Natale scored twice in Udinese’s 3-1 win over AS Roma, who lost their third straight match.

Udinese top the table on goal difference with 17 points. Inter and Napoli also have 17 points and surging AC Milan, who beat Atalanta 1-0 in Bergamo, are next with 16.

Milan playmaker Kaka scored his second goal of the season in the 80th minute, lifting the ball over Atalanta goalkeeper Ferdinando Coppola after receiving a pass inside the area from Marco Borriello.

“There’s no use hiding it, Milan didn’t deserve to win,” Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said.

“Atalanta played very well, with passion and rhythm, but we were very attentive and waited for our opponents to slow down to strike the winning blow.”

After losing their opening two games, Milan have won five and drawn once.

Also, it was: Cagliari 2, Chievo Verona 0; Reggina 2, Lecce 0; and Sampdoria 2, Bologna 0.

On Saturday, Brazilian forward Amauri scored his third goal in three games to lead Juventus over Torino 1-0 in a derby. It was Juve’s first league victory in more than a month.

Also, Catania drew 1-1 at Siena.

Mourinho brought on forwards for all three of his substitutions — Julio Ricardo Cruz, Mario Balotelli and Victor Obinna — but Genoa’s defence held tight even though a man down.

Genoa threatened twice midway through the first half, with Argentine striker Diego Milito freeing himself for a dangerous shot in the 35th and Giandomenico Mesto missing the rebound.

A minute later, Mesto hit the crossbar from 30 metres (yards).

“Inter was undisciplined and Genoa did what it had to do. At the end, I congratulated their coach and team,” Mourinho said. “They were very aware in defence.”

Inter midfielder Sulley Muntari was carried off on a stretcher in the 53rd with an apparent thigh muscle problem and Mourinho said he would miss Wednesday’s game at Fiorentina.

“We have problems in midfield right now,” Mourinho said.

Napoli went ahead in the 61st, with Siviglia deflecting in a cross from forward Ezequiel Lavezzi with his chest. Lazio’s Goran Pandev hit the post in the 86th.

Roma was routed 4-0 by Inter last weekend and lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday.

This time, the team was beaten by coach Luciano Spalletti’s former club.

Udinese forward Antonio Floro Flores earned a penalty that Di Natale converted in the 10th, then added a goal of his own in the 22nd, seven minutes after having a shot deflected off the post.

Di Natale scored again in the 52nd on a counterattack. Roma argued to no avail for penalties on two occasions in the first half, and forward Mirko Vucinic was shown a yellow card for diving in the 29th.

Roma captain Francesco Totti converted a penalty in the 74th, his first goal this season following a slow start after knee surgery.