<p>Real Madrid were left to rue a series of near misses Sunday as they stumbled to a 0-0 home draw with Athletic Bilbao, dropping two points adrift of Barcelona in a tight Spanish title race.</p>.<p>Real also drew 0-0 in midweek at Barcelona but Sunday's result leaves Madrid on 37 points at the half-way stage of the season, two points off Barcelona who top the table on 39.</p>.<p>Toni Kroos hit the bar, Karim Benzema saw an effort cleared off the line with a back-heel and both Rodrygo and Vincius Junior forced snap saves on a frustrating night for Madrid.</p>.<p>For Bilbao, Kenan Kodro's thunderbolt shot was ruled out for off-side in the first half while the Santiago Bernabeu lived on its nerves when Athletic flooded forward deep into added time.</p>.<p>Barcelona go into the brief Spanish winter break on top of La Liga after a glittering show led by Lionel Messi saw the defending champions beat Alaves 4-1 on Saturday.</p>.<p>Messi hit his 50th goal of the year with Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal also on target.</p>.<p>Sevilla are third on 34 points after their 2-0 win at Real Mallorca.</p>.<p>Earlier Sunday Angel Correa came off the bench to score one and make another as Atletico Madrid climbed back into the top four with a 2-1 win at Real Betis.</p>.<p>The red-and-white half of Madrid were in the doldrums after a home defeat to Barcelona a month ago but have since qualified for the Champions League last-16 where they can savour the chance of measuring themselves against Liverpool.</p>.<p>European champions Liverpool travel to Madrid in February for the Champions League first leg match and will have noted the commitment inspired by Atletico's feisty Argentine coach Diego Simeone.</p>.<p>"Correa showed what he's made of today, we've been training him hard. He put on good pressure to get the first goal and a nice pass for the second," said Simeone.</p>.<p>"But I was just as pleased to see him fighting for the win right at the end, when the team needed him."</p>.<p>The goals all came after the break as second-half sub Correa came on for struggling France international Thomas Lemar on 56 minutes and scored with his first touch of the game to set Atletico on the road to a third straight win.</p>.<p>Former Real Madrid, Juventus and Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata gave Atletico a 2-0 lead late on before a stoppage time consolation strike for the home fans came from Marc Bartra.</p>.<p>It also ended five straight away draws for Atletico, who have managed just 20 goals in the first half of the season since they sold Griezmann to Barca in the summer.</p>
<p>Real Madrid were left to rue a series of near misses Sunday as they stumbled to a 0-0 home draw with Athletic Bilbao, dropping two points adrift of Barcelona in a tight Spanish title race.</p>.<p>Real also drew 0-0 in midweek at Barcelona but Sunday's result leaves Madrid on 37 points at the half-way stage of the season, two points off Barcelona who top the table on 39.</p>.<p>Toni Kroos hit the bar, Karim Benzema saw an effort cleared off the line with a back-heel and both Rodrygo and Vincius Junior forced snap saves on a frustrating night for Madrid.</p>.<p>For Bilbao, Kenan Kodro's thunderbolt shot was ruled out for off-side in the first half while the Santiago Bernabeu lived on its nerves when Athletic flooded forward deep into added time.</p>.<p>Barcelona go into the brief Spanish winter break on top of La Liga after a glittering show led by Lionel Messi saw the defending champions beat Alaves 4-1 on Saturday.</p>.<p>Messi hit his 50th goal of the year with Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal also on target.</p>.<p>Sevilla are third on 34 points after their 2-0 win at Real Mallorca.</p>.<p>Earlier Sunday Angel Correa came off the bench to score one and make another as Atletico Madrid climbed back into the top four with a 2-1 win at Real Betis.</p>.<p>The red-and-white half of Madrid were in the doldrums after a home defeat to Barcelona a month ago but have since qualified for the Champions League last-16 where they can savour the chance of measuring themselves against Liverpool.</p>.<p>European champions Liverpool travel to Madrid in February for the Champions League first leg match and will have noted the commitment inspired by Atletico's feisty Argentine coach Diego Simeone.</p>.<p>"Correa showed what he's made of today, we've been training him hard. He put on good pressure to get the first goal and a nice pass for the second," said Simeone.</p>.<p>"But I was just as pleased to see him fighting for the win right at the end, when the team needed him."</p>.<p>The goals all came after the break as second-half sub Correa came on for struggling France international Thomas Lemar on 56 minutes and scored with his first touch of the game to set Atletico on the road to a third straight win.</p>.<p>Former Real Madrid, Juventus and Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata gave Atletico a 2-0 lead late on before a stoppage time consolation strike for the home fans came from Marc Bartra.</p>.<p>It also ended five straight away draws for Atletico, who have managed just 20 goals in the first half of the season since they sold Griezmann to Barca in the summer.</p>