Real Madrid's hopes of catching Barcelona at the top of La Liga are hanging by a thread after they were unable to break down Espanyol before half time at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat.

Despite the visitors needing a win to keep their title hopes alive, it was the Catalan side who started brightly early on with Javi Lopez being denied by a Daniel Carvajal clearance before Keylor Navas raced out of his goal to thwart Felipe Caicedo.

Real's first opportunity came on 12 minutes when Carvajal's cross found Cristiano Ronaldo unmarked at the far post, but the Portuguese attacker somehow managed to miss the target with his header.

Moments later, Marcelo put Los Merengues on the front foot again with a sweeping pass towards the path of Gareth Bale before the Welshman was dispossessed by Diego Colotto.

As the game continued at a frenetic pace, ex-Barcelona midfielder Victor Sanchez almost did his old club a favour when he was played in by Caicedo before Carvajal managed to turn his shot behind.

Ronaldo then tried to force the issue with a shot from distance, but the forward looked frustrated as his effort meekly drifted wide of goal.

However, the ex-Manchester United star was presented with a better opportunity midway through the half as Bale's well-placed pass put him in a position to shoot, only for Alvaro to get in a timely block.

With the visitors desperate to forge a lead, Marcelo almost created the breakthrough moment as he tried to thread a ball through to Bale, but the former Tottenham Hotspur star was unable to bring it under his control.