BARCELONA — Real Madrid went five points clear at the top of La Liga after coming through a testing game at Athletic Bilbao to win 2-1 thanks to Brazilian midfield lynchpin Casemiro's strike Saturday.
Karim Benzema fired Real ahead in the 25th minute with an exquisite first-time finish from a Cristiano Ronaldo cross after Casemiro had begun the move with a clever long ball from the halfway line.
Athletic worked hard to get back into the game and, after Real keeper Keylor Navas produced a brilliant save to deny Inaki Williams, veteran striker Aritz Aduriz headed the home side level from close range in the 65th minute.
Casemiro restored Real's lead in the 68th, however, by controlling a Ronaldo's flicked header from a corner and calmly taking his time to tuck the ball into the net from close range thanks to some careless defending.
Real leads on 65 points from second-placed Barcelona, which has also played 27 games and hosts Valencia Sunday.
In an early match, Eibar and Espanyol ddrew 1-1.
Leipzig collapses again
Second-placed RB Leipzig crashed 3-0 at Werder Bremen Saturday to suffer a shock second consecutive Bundesliga defeat which allows Bayern Munich the chance to extend its runaway lead.
Carlo Ancelotti's Bayern started the weekend 10 points clear in its seemingly unstoppable march to a fifth straight German league title, which will become 13 points if it wins at Borussia Moenchengladbach Sunday.
Having begun its first Bundesliga season with a record 13-match unbeaten run, Leipzig's title challenge has collapsed following four defeats in its last seven games, taking a meager seven points.
After losing 1-0 at home to Wolfsburg last weekend, Leipzig folded again in Bremen as Werder's Austria international Zlatko Junuzovic scored one and made one.
The dead-ball expert crashed home a curling, thunderbolt goal from outside the area on 34 minutes, then provided the freekick which saw relegation-threatened Bremen double its lead.
Junuzovic spotted Florian Grillitsch unmarked on the edge of the area and the attacking midfielder beat Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi on 59 minutes.
Leipzig's humiliation was complete as its defense capitulated when Bremen's Fin Bartels led a counterattack and Florian Kainz tapped home on 90 minutes.
All three Bremen goals were scored by Austrians — an extra-bitter pill for RB, which is sponsored by Austria's energy drinks giant Red Bull.
Leipzig is now just three points ahead of third-placed Borussia Dortmund after Dortmund's lackluster 1-0 home win over Ingolstadt Friday.
Anthony Modeste claimed a hat trick as Cologne broke into the top six with a 4-2 win over Hertha Berlin.
Fresh from their mid-week Champions League exit at Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen suffered a 1-0 defeat at Hoffenheim thanks to Sandro Wagner's second-half goal for the hosts.
Mario Gomez scored Wolfsburg's winner for the second week running when he slotted home on the stroke of half time to seal a 1-0 victory over bottom side Ingolstadt.
Mid-table Augsburg was held to a 1-1 draw at home to Freiburg.
