Barcelona and AC Milan each secured 1-0 wins ahead of their Champions League ties against Arsenal and Tottenham.David Villa, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets started on the bench as Barca beat Real Zaragoza thanks to Seydou Keita's 43rd-minute strike.
The victory put Pep Guardiola's side 10 points ahead of Real Madrid, who have played a game less than the champions.
AC Milan warmed up for the tie against Tottenham with a 1-0 win at Juventus courtesy of a Gennaro Gattuso shot.
The Milan midfielder will miss the Spurs game due to a four-match European for his headbutt on Spurs assistant boss Joe Jordan in the first leg which the Rossoneri lost 1-0.
Gattuso's shot surprised Juve keeper Gianluigi Buffon midway through the second half as Milan stretched their Serie A lead to eight points on Saturday.
Champions Inter Milan can cut Milan's advantage back to five points with 10 games left if they beat Genoa on Sunday
Barca might have won by a greater margin had it not been for Zaragoza goalkeeper Toni Doblas, who made a string of brilliant saves.
Coach Pep Guardiola eventually brought on Villa and Iniesta, though Busquets was not used.
Arsenal won the last-16 first-leg tie 2-1 at the Emirates.
Earlier on Saturday in Spain Real Betis defender Miki Roque, a former Liverpool youth player, announced he needs surgery on a
malignant tumour in his pelvis.
The 22-year-old was at Liverpool between 2005 and 2009 and was part of their FA Youth Cup winning team in 2006.
He also appeared as a first-team substitute in a Champions League match against Galatasaray in December 2006.
Meanwhile in France, referees from the third division were brought in to officiate the day's Ligue 1 games after a row between the French football federation and the usual referees, who had wanted to delay the kick-offs in protest at recent criticism from players, coaches and pundits.
Stades Rennes returned to the top of the league with a nervy 1-0 win at Montpellier.
source : bbc.co.uk
