MADRID (AFP) - Defending champions Real Madrid went nine points clear at the top of La Liga on Sunday with a 3-2 win over Villarreal.

Barcelona's 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao gave Real the perfect chance to extend their points advantage and they took it with both hands courtesy of a brace from Brazilian winger Robinho, who celebrated his 24th birthday on Friday, and a Wesley Sneijder strike.

"This has been a great birthday for me," said Robinho.

"The title race is not over yet because there are lots of games left but we have taken an important step for sure."

It was an eighth consecutive win for Real who have not dropped a single point at home and are ruthless are on the road.

"We won at Camp Nou, at the Calderon and other tough venues to put this pressure on our rivals," said Real coach Bernd Schuster.

"We can afford to slip up but we can't relax and think that the title is won because you can drop points and things can change quickly in football."

Last season, they were six points behind Barcelona at a similar stage and went on to win the title but nine points now looks too tall an order for their rivals to chase.

Real have made a habit of scoring early goals this season and they did it again with Robinho racing onto Guti's brilliant defence-splitting pass to put his side in front after eight minutes.

With the 5-0 drubbing by Real earlier this season still fresh in their memories Villarreal could have feared the worse but showed real character to equalise through Guiseppe Rossi on the quarter-hour mark.

It was the first league goal Real keeper Iker Casillas had conceded in 564 minutes.

But Villarreal always looked fragile at the back and Robinho put the champions back in the lead after goalkeeper Diego Lopez had produced two fine saves.

Joan Capdevila then equalised after some awful marking from a corner but the lead lasted barely sixty seconds as Sneijder scored the winner.

However, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard refuses to throw in the towel despite watching Bilbao peg back his team through a Lilian Thuram own-goal cancelling out Bojan Krkic's first half opener.

"We are not going to give up," said Rijkaard.

"Psychologically it is a big blow for the team but it doesn't mean that we have given up. The team fought a lot and if we continue like this we can cut the gap.

"We couldn't score the second goal but I don't think it was a question of a lack of ambition or physical problems. We did everything to make it 2-1 after they equalised but it didn't happen for us."

Rijkaard is having a difficult period but he can take some comfort that he is not in compatriot Ronald Koeman's shoes.

Koeman's three-month grip on power at Valencia looked to be slipping as fans called for his head after the embarrassing 1-0 home defeat against Almeria.

Valencia defeated Atletico Madrid 1-0 in their quarter-final Kings Cup match in midweek but their league form is awful and Almeria, a region better known for its food than football, became the sixth team to win at the Mestalla this season.

Koeman arrived in October with the task of pushing Valencia nearer the top but the team have gone backwards failing to win in nine league games and crashing to 11th in the standings.

"I am not going to run away after a few months," said Koeman. "The club is in a crisis but now is not the time to look for someone to blame.

"If you lose at home you know that the coach comes in for criticism. I accept that and will continue to work hard. I am calm but concerned."

It was a day of surprises in the Spanish top-flight with Champions League contenders Athletico Madrid and Espanyol both falling to defeats.

Atletico, who rested top-scorer Kun Aguero, lost for the third time in a week with Mallorca coming out 1-0 winners thanks to a Juan Arango goal.

Espanyol could have gone above Atletico into fourth but fell to a late 2-1 home defeat against Real Betis.