The 29-time league champions took over sole possession of first place Saturday for the first time this season, and they did it by scoring three second-half goals in a 4-3 win over Espanyol. The win was the team's seventh in its last eight games.

If Madrid can hang on over the final four games, it would end its worst slump since the early 1950s.
Madrid went through a tough period shortly after Beckham announced in January he would leave the team and head to California. One win in seven league matches, plus elimination from the Champions League, contributed to the feeling that Madrid would stretch its trophyless streak to at least 2008.