MADRID, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid surrendered their leadership of the La Liga Santander after just a week following their defeat away to Betis on Sunday night. Here are some things we learned on a weekend when Barcelona were the only side in the top nine teams in the table to win in Spain.

1. Bad habits return to undo Real Madrid's Clasico win

A week ago Real Madrid were celebrating a 2-0 win at home to Barcelona which saw them outplay their rivals in the second half and end a run of three games without a win, however, this Monday they are lamenting undoing all that good work after a 2-1 defeat to Betis saw them slip behind Barca once again in the table.

All of Madrid's bad habits returned: a slow start to the game, poor finishing and without Dani Carvajal at right back, the side struggled to contain Betis at times in attack.

The win against Barca is Madrid's only victory in five games and fans must be wondering what is the true face of their team: the one that beat Barca or the one that lost to Betis and Levante and failed to beat Celta?

2. Few reasons for Barca to celebrate against impressive Real Sociedad

Even though Barcelona returned to the top of the table, they would be well advised in the Camp Nou not to get too carried away. Although Barcelona sneaked a 1-0 win at home to Real Sociedad thanks to a controversial Leo Messi penalty, had the game gone the other way, nobody could have complained.

Barcelona once again failed to perform anywhere near their best and better finishing would have seen Real Sociedad take all three points back to San Sebastian. Barca are failing to dominate games the way we are used to seeing them in the past and if they carry on like this, another slip up is just around the corner.

3. Perfect week for Athletic Club

It has been a perfect week for Athletic Club Bilbao who last weekend ended a run of nine games without a win with a 1-0 victory over Villarreal before scoring 4 times on Sunday in a 4-1 triumph in Valladolid.

Those two games came either side of Athletic booking their place in the final of the Copa del Rey on Thursday, where they will face local rivals Real Sociedad on April 18th.

The Basque side have certainly left points along the wayside due to their involvement in the Cup, but now they are returning to just one game a week and with a massive confidence boost, there is every reason for their fans to enjoy the rest of the season.

4. Mallorca, Celta and Leganes dragging other teams into relegation dogfight

The battle against relegation is getting tighter all the time at the bottom of the table with Mallorca and Leganes both winning away from home and Celta extending their unbeaten run to five games with a 0-0 draw away to Getafe.

The results of the three teams have now drawn Eibar (Mallorca's victims on Saturday) and Valladolid into the relegation dogfight, although it is looking increasingly grim for Espanyol, who remain bottom, six points from safety after their 1-0 defeat to Osasuna. Enditem

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