this season after fullback Marcelo was allowed to surge into the box . Benzema made it safe in the 50th minute as the France forward controlled Xabi Alonso 's lofted diagonal pass and fired in a low shot for his 10th in La Liga and 16th overall . Ronaldo finally got on the scoresheet with a minute of regulation time remaining , as the world 's most expensive player -- who is on the shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award to be named on Monday -- fired in from the edge of the penalty area . That took the Portugal captain four goals clear of Barca 's Lionel Messi , who is hoping to win his third successive world player of the year title . Fourth-placed Levante face the prospect of losing ground on Valencia after being held to a 0-0 draw by visiting Real Mallorca . Valencia , who trail Barca by four points , can move six clear of their local rivals by winning at third-bottom Villarreal on Sunday . Levante did , however , stay four points clear of fifth-placed Osasuna , who also played out a stalemate at Real Sociedad as both those sides extended
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Real Madrid piled the pressure on Barcelona by moving six points clear at the top of Spain 's La Liga with a 5-1 thrashing of Granada on Saturday . Barcelona , seeking a fourth successive league title , now can not afford to slip up in Sunday 's trip to city rivals Espanyol . Jose Mourinho 's Real made the perfect start after the Spanish winter break as Karim Benzema netted twice and Cristiano Ronaldo extended his leading goal tally to 21 . It was Real 's 14th win in 17 league games for a total of 43 points from a possible 51 , with 61 goals for and 16 against . Benzema opened the scoring after 20 minutes after Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil combined well inside the box , but 14th-placed Granada surprisingly leveled soon after as Mikel Rico headed in a cross by Nigeria forward Ikechukwu Uche . Who will be January 's top transfer targets ? Spain defender Sergio Ramos restored the home side 's advantage as he powerfully nodded in Ozul 's 34th-minute corner , and Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain made it 3-1 straight after the break with his 13th league goal