Luis Figo is blocked by Edgar Davids during their Spanish League clash on Sunday. (AFP)

Madrid: Barcelona blew a gaping hole in Real Madrid’s hopes of retaining their Spanish title when they won 2-1 on Sunday, their first victory at the Santiago Bernabeu for seven seasons.

Although Valencia subsequently went top of the table, they failed to take full advantage of their rivals’ slip after only drawing 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao.

Valencia have 71 points from 34 games, with four left to play, while Real Madrid are one point behind. Barcelona closed the gap on the leading pair and are third with 66 points after going unbeaten for 16 games.

Xavi Hernandez got the Barcelona winner four minutes from time with a glorious volley after Ronaldinho had cleverly chipped forward and caught out a sleeping Real defence.

The key to the game was arguably the sending-off of Luis Figo , the former Barcelona player getting his marching orders after 68 minutes for a two-footed lunge at Carlos Puyol.

“Either side could have won prior to the sending-off of Figo,” said Frank Rijkaard. “We survived thanks to some wonderful goalkeeping by Victor Valdes,” added Rijkaard.

Real had the best first-half opportunities including Raul hitting the post with a header, but it was just an appetiser for a thrilling second half. Santiago Solari proved his worth as replacement for the injured Ronaldo when struck after 53 minutes.

The Argentine winger found the net with a clinical left-footer after Roberto Carlos had laid off a David Beckham corner.

However, Real’s advantage lasted only four minutes. Rijkaard sent on Luis Enrique Martinez and Patrick Kluivert to pep up the Barcelona attack and their tactic had immediate effect.

Giovanni van Brockhorst found Kluivert, who caught the Real defence square and scored with his first touch of the game.

However, Ronaldinho’s exquisite skill ensured that Barcelona eventually went home with three points when he provided the service for Xavi to find the net.

Valencia looked well on their way to opening up a three-point gap at the top when they took the lead from a Jorge Lopez penalty after 13 minutes, after Ricardo Oliveira had been brought down.

However, Athletic’s Asier del Horno equalised on the half hour and Valencia sat back in the second half, content to counter-attack.