Real Madrid earned a crucial 2-1 win against Valencia on Saturday.
A late goal from Marcelo gave Real Madrid a win over Valencia at the Bernabeu.
Real recovered from their El Classico defeat by winning 6-2 at Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday night and were in front on 27 minutes through a close-range header from Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portugal forward, however, saw his second-half penalty saved by Diego Alves after Dani Parejo was ruled to have pulled down Luca Modric.
Valencia midfielder Parejo made amends when he crashed in an angled free-kick from 25 yards which looked to have earned the visitors a point with just eight minutes left.
However, there was still time for Real to conjure a winner as Brazil defender Marcelo surged to the edge of the penalty area before cutting back inside and curling a low shot into the bottom corner with four minutes remaining.
Real coach Zinedine Zidane said: “I'm pleased with everyone's performance. Valencia kept playing their game and we couldn't find the second goal to kill the game off. We're going to have to dig in until the end. We weren't clinical enough right from the start, perhaps we're a bit anxious or tense but we didn't let it get the better of us, we played our game and did a good job."