Soccer / Football : Spain : Primera Liga 2011/2012

Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets may have suffered a knee injury, after being stretchered off during his side's 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad on Saturday. The 23-year-old collided with visiting defender Carlos Martinez in the 83rd minute, but it is the Blaugrana man who has come off the worst after a deep cut in his right knee was caught by television cameras. The extent of the injury is currently unknown but looks to be very serious.

Gijon have dismissed coach Manuel Preciado after a run of six defeats in their last eight games put them in the relegation zone. The 54-year-old took over at Gijon in 2006 and led the club back into the Spanish top flight for the first time in ten years and was hailed as a hero by the fans. Under Preciado, they finished tenth last term but have struggled this season, securing just 18 points from their opening 20 games. Assistant Inaki Tejada will coach Sporting on Sunday against Osasuna.

Real Madrid moved seven points clear at the top of La Liga after their 3-1 triumph over basement side Real Zaragoza was followed by an unexpected goalless draw involving Barcelona at Villarreal. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 31st goal of the season. Third-placed Valencia are nine points behind Barcelona after a 2-2 draw with Racing Santander. Getafe clinched their fourth win in six league games as they beat fourth-placed Levante 2-1.

Espanyol maintained their push for a top four finish with a 1-0 win over Mallorca. Fernando Llorente scored a hat-trick in Athletic Bilbao's 3-2 win over Rayo Vallecano. David Zurutuza scored twice in the opening three minutes as Real Sociedad thumped Gijon 5-1 to pile the pressure on visiting coach Manuel Preciado. Meanwhile, new coach Abel Resino enjoyed a great start to life on the Granada bench as his side defeated Betis 2-1 to climb out of the bottom three.

Andres Iniesta will be sidelined for three weeks with a muscle tear in his left thigh. The 27-year-old midfielder suffered the injury during Barcelona's 2-2 draw against Real Madrid in the King's Cup on Wednesday. Iniesta joined a growing list of absentees for coach Pep Guardiola who lost Chile forward Alexis Sanchez to a shoulder injury for two weeks in the same game. David Villa, Ibrahim Afellay and Andreu Fontas are all injured, while Seydou Keita is competing with Mali at the African Nations Cup.

Diego Costa has joined Rayo Vallecano on loan from Spanish league Atletico Madrid until the end of the season. The Brazilian forward will stay at Rayo until the end of the season but the club do not have an option to purchase him on a permanent deal. Costa, 23, injured ligaments in his right leg last year and has yet to play a game this campaign, although he has already trained with his new club. He scored eight goals last season, his first with Atletico. Meanwhile, on-loan Arsenal defender Pedro Botelho has left Rayo Vallecano and agreed to join their league rivals Levante until the end of the season.

Senegalese striker Baba Diawara has completed his move to Sevilla from Maritimo. The 24-year-old passed his medical before penning a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Spanish side. Sevilla have struggled for goals this season and they will be hoping Baba can boost their hopes of a top six finish. Baba has impressed with Maritimo this campaign and scored 10 goals in the Portuguese league.

Granada have charged Abel Resino with the task of keeping them in La Liga after appointing the 51-year-old coach until the end of the season. Resino replaces Fabricio Gonzalez, who was fired after a third straight loss left the promoted club just above the relegation zone at the midway point of the campaign. Resino last coached Real Valladolid and his only prior topflight experience was spending eight months in charge of Atletico Madrid in 2009.

Granada have sacked coach Fabricio Gonzalez after the three straight loss left the club only one point above the relegation zone at the midway point in the Spanish league season. The 56-year-old Spaniard led Granada to La Liga for the first time in 35 years courtesy of successive promotions, taking the club from the third division. Granada, however, lost 3-0 to Espanyol on Saturday and they have the league's worst attack with just 12 goals from 19 games. Spanish media reported that that Nestor Gorosito, Juan Antonio Anquela and Esteban Vigo are the leading candidates for the vacant role.