BARCELONA, Mar 4 (SW) - FC Barcelona maintained their Primera Division lead with a 3-2 win over Deportivo la Coruña, while Real Madrid defeated Atletico de Madrid 2-1.

FC Barcelona - Deportivo la Coruña 3-2

Liga leaders FC Barcelona hosted Deportivo and took the lead through Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho in the 3rd minute. Juanma levelled in the 15th minute however and Jorge Andrade even put Depor ahead in the 28th.

But Swedish striker Henrik Larsson equalized for Barça in the 34th minute and a winning goal came from Samuel Eto'o in the 61st.

Real Madrid - Atletico de Madrid 2-1

Real Madrid had their first match after Florentino Perez' departure and defeated city rivals Atletico 2-1 at Bernabeu stadium.

Italian forward Antonio Cassano opened the score for the hosts in the third minute, but had his goal cancelled out by Mateja Kezman in the 27th.

Julio Baptista restored Real's lead in the 40th minute, and goalkeeper Casillas then kept a clean sheet despite high pressure from Atletico in the final phase.

Villarreal - Alaves 3-2

Alaves took the lead through John Aloisi in the 11th minute but Argentinian playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme equalized in the 20th.

Enrique De Lucas then scored for 1-2 in the 36th minute, but Riquelme again replied with an equalizer in the 64th. The winning goal came from Guillermo Franco with eight minutes left to play in regular time.

Cádiz - Espanyol 2-0

Cádiz left the relegation zone, at least temporarily, with a win over Espanyol. Abraham Paz broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute, and Jonathan Sesma added another in the 88th.