Inter Milan’s Materazzi celebrates at the end of their match against Juventus in Milan on Saturday. (Reuters)

Madrid: Wesley Sneijder earned champions Real Madrid a 1-0 home victory over Recreativo Huelva on Saturday, easing the pressure on coach Bernd Schuster.

The win took Real second above Villarreal whose 17-match unbeaten run in the Primera Liga ended with a surprise 3-0 home defeat by Valladolid.

Real, with 26 points from 12 matches, are two behind Barcelona who host Getafe on Sunday.

Villarreal are third on 25, one ahead of Valencia and Sevilla who drew 0-0 at the Sanchez Pizjuan in the late game.

Sevilla made the running throughout but were frustrated by Valencia’s massed ranks, as the visitors appeared content to play for a point.

Schuster received the public backing of Real Madrid at the beginning of the week despite poor recent performances but the side continued to labour against second-bottom Recreativo.

Dutch midfielder Sneijder scored with a deflected long-range shot after 39 minutes and although the visitors offered little in attack the narrow advantage made for a tense second half.

In Serie ‘A’ Sulley Muntari’s scrappy goal gave leaders Inter Milan a deserved 1-0 win over old rivals Juventus in a lively Serie A encounter on Saturday.

Inter, now four points clear at the top pending AC Milan’s trip to Torino on Sunday, dominated at a packed San Siro to end third-placed Juventus’ streak of seven wins in a row in all competitions.

Inter again lacked shape in midfield but the champions quickly began to dominate, the referee waving away appeals for a penalty after the ball clipped Giorgio Chiellini’s hand in the first minute.

In the day’s early game, Riccardo Montolivo struck twice to help Fiorentina go fourth with a 4-2 home win over Udinese.