Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo reacts during the match between Real Madrid and Las Palmas at Gran Canaria stadium, Spain on Sept 24, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

MADRID - The top of the Spanish Liga Santander got a lot tighter following the sixth round of games over the weekend which saw Barcelona and Atletico Madrid win, while Real Madrid were held to a draw for the second time in four days.

Real Madrid twice took the lead away to Las Palmas thanks to goals from Marcos Asensio and Karim Benzema, but their rivals fought back each time, with goals from Tana and Araujo coming six minutes from time.

The main talking point of the game was Cristiano Ronaldo's clear annoyance at being substituted with 18 minutes remaining after another poor personal performance.

Zinedine Zidane explained that he wanted to conserve the striker ahead of Tuesday's Champions League trip to face Borussia Dortmund, but Ronaldo's performance was anything but impressive.

It was a case of 'no Messi-no problem' for Barca away to Sporting Gijon as the reigning champions produced a solid display to take a 5-0 win in which three goals came in the last 10 minutes.

Sergi Roberto provided a hat-trick of assists as Neymar scored twice, along with Luis Suarez, Arda Turan and Rafinha.

Antoine Griezmann's fifth goal of the season was enough to move Atletico Madrid into third with a 1-0 win at home to Deportivo la Coruna.