MADRID, Jan. 5 -- FC Barcelona and Real Madrid reach the halfway point of the season in Spain's Liga Santander neck and neck at the top of the table after this weekend's matches.

Chinese striker Wu Lei denied Barcelona three points from their short trip to place local rivals Espanyol in Cornella-El Prat.

Wu Lei fired home from the edge of the Barca area in the 88th minute when it looked as if the league leaders were set for the win after goals from the impressive Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal had overturned David Lopez's opening header for Espanyol.

It was a positive start for Abelardo Fernandez in the Espanyol dugout, but Barca boss Ernesto Valverde will be annoyed at Frenkie de Jong's error which left his side with 10 men for the last quarter of an hour.

Real Madrid didn't produce much attractive football in their visit to play Getafe, but defender Raphael Varane and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois were vital as they claimed a 3-0 win.

While Courtois saved everything Getafe threw at Real Madrid, Varane scored Madrid's first two goals - the first after a bad error from home keeper David Soria and Luka Modric gave the win an extra sheen with Madrid's last goal deep into injury time

Atletico Madrid moved into third place, five points behind Barca and Real Madrid after their 2-1 win at home to Levante, although Diego Simeone's men have goalkeeper Jan Oblak to thank for a flying save to deny Enis Bardhi's header in the last minute of extra time.

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