A CORUÑA, Feb 4 (SW) - Valencia maintained their second place in the Spanish Primera División with a 0-1 win at Deportivo, while Real Madrid had an easy win over Espanyol.

Deportivo la Coruña - Valencia 0-1

Deportivo and Valencia met each other for the second time in 4 days after Wednesday's cup tie, where Deportivo went through to the next round following a 2-1 win on aggregate.

Again it was David Villa to score Valencia's only goal, in the 22nd minute, but this time it was enough for the visitors to defeat the Galician side.

Real Madrid - Espanyol 4-0

Real Madrid convinced against Espanyol at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the capital city. Guti opened the score after 14 minutes and French midfielder Zinedine Zidane added a second in the 42nd.

Just before the half time whistle, Ronaldo hit the net for Madrid's third goal, and Zidane scored another, five minutes into the second half.

Malaga - Athletic de Bilbao 2-1

The loser of the match between Malaga and Athletic would end up in the relegation zone, and Athletic eventually were the ones on the wrong side of the line.

Carlos Litos' 30th-minute goal was cancelled out by Aritz Aduriz in the 39th minute, but Salva restored Malaga's lead in the 72nd minute. The winning goal came three minutes after Nacho's red card, which left the hosts with ten players.