Real Madrid are now only four points ahead of Barcelona in the Primera Division table after they were held to an entertaining goalless draw by Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The hosts hit the woodwork as early as the seventh minute when Cristiano Ronaldo lashed a shot against the frame of the goal from outside of the area.
Valencia came close minutes later, but Sofiane Feghouli's long-range effort flashed wide with Iker Casillas beaten.
Ronaldo was appealing for a penalty with 18 minutes gone after he looked to have been brought down as he attempted to get to the rebound of Karim Benzema's shot. However, replays showed that there was minimal contact with the defender.
The away side's best chance of the half came on 24 minutes as Ricardo Costa headed against the post following Casillas's save from Tino Costa's drilled strike.
Casillas was called into action again before the half-time whistle when he had to get down low to kick away Pablo Piatt's controlled shot from 12 yards.
Madrid nearly took the lead just a minute after the break, but Vicente Guaita did well to push Ronaldo's effort around the post.
Valencia showed similar attacking intent to that of the first half, and they hit the woodwork again before the hour when Tino Costa's 30-yard drive came back off the bar.
However, as the hosts began to get a grip on the game, Angel Di Maria had his effort saved by Guaita before Benzema could only drag his shot wide from the edge of the box.
The Valencia keeper had to pull off some more heroics with 10 minutes to play as he made a brilliant double save from Benzema.
There was still time for late drama when Guaita reacted to Benzema's close-range poke towards goal in injury time.
Jack Prescott
