Real keeps heat on Barca after Almeria stroll

Real Madrid's Alvaro Arbeloa blows a kiss as he celebrates after scoring a goal against Almeria during their Spanish first division soccer match at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, April 29, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

The Portuguese forward failed to add to his tally and stayed on 39 for the season, one more than Barca's Lionel Messi who struck twice on Tuesday.

Full back Alvaro Arbeloa netted a rare goal to make it 3-0 five minutes from time, his third in 167 La Liga games for Real, when he turned the ball past goalkeeper Ruben Martinez from a Javier Hernandez centre.

"We are not sure that Barca will drop any points but we are certain that we can win our last four games," Real coach Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference.

"Now we begin a very important phase of the season, when every game is the most important," added the Italian, whose side face a tough trip to Sevilla on Saturday and play at Juventus in their Champions League semi-final, first leg three days later.

Malaga's hopes of catching sixth-placed Villarreal and securing a place in the Europa League suffered a setback when they lost 1-0 at Celta Vigo.

Elche pulled away from the relegation zone and dealt a stinging blow to Deportivo La Coruna when they thumped the visiting Galician side 4-0.

Deportivo are 18th, two points behind Almeria and four ahead of 19th-placed Granada, who host Espanyol on Thursday.

Cordoba, beaten 1-0 at Levante on Tuesday, are five points adrift at the bottom and on the brink of relegation.