Madrid, April 7:

FC Barcelona were held by Getafe to 0-0 to leave them trailing Spanish league leaders Real Madrid by seven points in third place.

Barcelona have only one win in their last six games, and walked off Camp Nou to whistling and jeering from supporters.

The team was without Ronaldinho, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season after tearing thigh muscles on Thursday. Lionel Messi and Deco remained sidelined through injury. Villarreal stayed second in the standings despite losing ground with a 2-0 defeat at Sevilla, who also benefited Madrid’s hopes of a second straight title.

Also, Simao Sabrosa and Sergio Aguero scored two goals each to help Atletico Madrid beat nine-man Almeria 6-3 and retain fourth place. Antonio Lopez and Diego Forlan also scored for the home team, which took a three-point lead over fifth-place Racing Santander — defeated 3-1 by visiting Deportivo La Coruna — in the race for a Champions League place next season.

With seven matches remaining, Madrid lead with 66 points, while Villarreal and Barcelona have 59. Barcelona are behind on head-to-head results. Atletico follow with 53 points and Santander 50.

Also on Sunday, it was: Murcia 1, Valencia 0; Athletic Bilbao 1, Espanyol 0; Levante 0, Valladolid 3; and Zaragoza 0, Real Betis 3.

Luis Fabiano gave Sevilla the lead in the 18th minute with his league-leading 23rd goal of the season when he received Daniel Alves’ long pass and fired home.

Substitute Frederic Kanoute sealed Sevilla’s win with a penalty three minutes from fulltime, awarded after Villarreal goalkeeper Diego Lopez upended right winger Jesus Navas.

Italian Serie A

ROME: Mario Balotelli scored his first goal in Serie A and Inter Milan restored their four-point lead in the title race with a 2-0 win over Atalanta. Balotelli scored in the 74th after Patrick Vieira had put Inter ahead with a goal in the 21st.

On Saturday, second-place AS Roma defeated Genoa 3-2. Inter have 72 points, Roma 68 and Juventus, who lost to Palermo 3-2, has 58. Also, Amauri and Alessandro Del Piero each scored twice as Palermo edged Juventus 3-2. The goals gave both strikers 13 on the season.

With striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic out nursing a sore knee, coach Mancini turned to 18-year-old Balotelli to replace the Sweden international who is fourth in Serie A with 15 goals.

In Florence, Giampaolo Pazzini scored his ninth of the year and Adrian Mutu his 16th to lead Fiorentina to a 2-0 victory over last-place Reggina. The win puts Fiorentina four points ahead of AC Milan and Sampdoria in the battle for fourth place and the last Champions League berth.