Limping Beckham survives Osasuna rough house

David Beckham endured a fierce test of his composure and character before an ankle injury put an end to his participation in Real Madrid's 1-1 draw at Osasuna.

The England skipper had been mercilessly targetted by the Osasuna players as well as the crowd who booed him and pelted him with fruit and rubbish whenever he ventured near the touchline.

At one stage, as he prepared to take a corner, he turned to remonstrate with the passionate Pamplona crowd as another shower of debris headed his way.

However, he had the last laugh when he supplied the sublime defence-splitting pass for Ronaldo to score and equalise Ibrahima Bakayoko's opener.

Beckham came off four minutes from the end of the match with Real coach Carlos Queiroz anxious not to take any chances ahead of next week's Madrid derby against Atletico.

"I will see how the ankle feels on Sunday," said Beckham.

"They played well at the start and the pitch was not the best. I want to be fit to play against Atletico because I am sure it will be a great experience."

Former Marseille man Bakayoko had put Osasuna into an 11th-minute lead but Ronaldo equalised with a crisp low shot 16 minutes from time as Real escaped with a point to avoid a third league defeat of the season.

It was the Brazilian World Cup winner's 10th goal of the season but it came against the run of play against a team who had won this fixture for the last two seasons.

"It is an important point," said Ronaldo. "All points are good to take."

Real were a shadow of their usual selves as, even prior to Beckham's premature departure, they were missing injured 'galactic' trio Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos.

The point moved them briefly to the top of the table with 27 points from 13 games but they were later overtaken, on goal difference, by Valencia who beat Real Zaragoza 3-2.

First half goals from Jorge Lopez, Vicente and Pablo Aimar put Valencia in charge before they were stunned by a second half fightback.

However, Deportivo La Coruna can reclaim top spot on Sunday with a win over Villareal.

Real Sociedad twice surrendered the lead as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Murcia.

Igor Gabilondo, who found the net in the 2-2 Champions League draw at Olympiakos in midweek, opened the scoring in the 29th minute but Murcia, second from bottom in Spain, hit back two minutes after the interval through Luis Garcia.

Inside a minute, Sociedad, who were without influential Turkish midfielder Nihat Kahveci, were back in front courtesy of Oscar de Paula but Murcia refused to give up and hit their second equaliser of the night with David Karanka finding the net in the 68th minute.

"It's a shame. Again it's a missed opportunity," said Sociedad coach Raynald Denoueix.

"We could see victory but we lost two points. It's necessary to be able accept the result."

Meanwhile, a minute's silence was held before the match between Atletico Madrid and Malaga in memory of the seven Spanish intelligence officers who were killed in a terror attack in Iraq earlier Saturday.