In Seville, the hosts cruised to a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao - Aleix Vidal's third-minute goal added to by Carlos Bacca in the 21st minute.
Adding injury to insult for Bilbao was a left-knee sprain to attacker Iker Muniain, who was stretchered from the field late in the first half.
Diego Simeone's champions won 2-0 at Cordoba to move back into third place, with Antoine Griezmann and Saul scoring first-half goals.
The treble was Barral's second in his past eight appearances, and he has scored 10 goals in 11 matches in all competitions.
Real Sociedad's winning streak ended at three games, but they fought back to earn a point at Malaga in a 1-1 stalemate.
Recio's 55th-minute opener had looked to have given Javi Gracia's men all three points, which would have left them two points behind Villarreal - who occupy a UEFA Europa League spot.
Instead, they are four points outside of Europe - plus Villarreal have a game in hand - after Ruben Pardo's 83rd-minute equaliser for Sociedad.
