Last weekend should have been one that produced a whole entire SportsCenter Top 10 plays, as Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid were playing against two sides that will be lucky to stave off relegation this campaign. However it turned out the two power clubs largely played down to the level of their opponents, both escaping with a win although with slimmer margins than expected.

Both squads were on the road with Barcelona in Andalucia to play Levante and Real Madrid also in the province to play Granada. 

League leaders Barcelona went up early thanks to a fairly lucky goal that deflected off a Levante defender after a Jordi Alba cross into the area. Levante, whom sit at the complete opposite end of the league table from Barça, were unable to equalize, despite a couple chances in front of goal in the second half. The final nail in the coffin came when Luis Suarez calmly slid one past the goalkeeper to put Barcelona up 2-0 with time nearly expired.

Playing later in the day a little farther north, Real Madrid scored the same number of goals, although had to withstand slightly more drama before they could pull out their own three points.

In the 30th minute Frenchman Karim Benzema continued his torrid hot streak, opening up the scoring for Madrid and the game. Granada put Youssef El-Arabi in the game and he sooned pulled the home side even, and it seemed that each team would come away with one point in a 1-1 draw.

However Croatian international Luka Modric gave the Madrid faithful even more reason to hold him in the highest regard as he put Real ahead with a 25-yard rocket as time was just about to expire. 

Copa del Rey

Barcelona didn't need to put forth their best effort in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal match up. In the first leg, Barça absolutely wiped the floor with Valencia 7-0, making Gary Neville's time in the Costa Blanca even more unsettling. Neville arrived in Valencia to much fanfare, as he was one of England's hottest coaching propects, but thus far he is yet to bring home three points in any competition.

While Neville is yet to win in 12 matches, Barcelona ironically is on an unbeaten run that does not look like it will end any time soon. Luis Enrique's squad is in the midst of a 29-match unbeaten streak across all competitions, and will face Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final. Both teams played each other earlier in the year in the Spanish Supercopa, with Barcelona taking that trophy home. Sevilla manager Unai Emery said of the match, "I'd prefer the final to take place in China rather than the Camp Nou."

Photo: Flickr/El Renzo