Malaga slipped to a 2-0 loss to visiting Espanyol on Sunday, wasting a chance to regain fourth place in the Spanish league.
On Wednesday, Malaga beat Porto to reach the last eight in the Champions League, but a disciplined Espanyol proved too much for Manuel Pellegrini's side.
After a subdued first half at La Rosaleda, defender Diego Colotto put Espanyol in front in the 49th minute when he fired in a corner kick spilled by goalkeeper Willy Caballero.
''(Caballero) is human and has the right to make a mistake,'' Pellegrini said. ''He has played some great games and just got unlucky this time.''
Espanyol had little trouble soaking up Malaga's pressure and doubled its lead in the 66th off a counterattack led by Wakaso Mubarak, who raced down the left side and crossed for Sergio Garcia to deftly sidefoot into the net.
Malaga was left in sixth place, while Espanyol rose 11 points clear of the drop zone.
Also on Sunday, Sevilla rolled to a 4-0 win at home over 10-man Real Zaragoza, leaving the visitors just two points above the relegation zone and winless in 11 rounds.
Sevilla right back Jorge ''Coke'' Andujar opened the scoring in the 28th and added another goal in the 52nd- his first goals of the season- after Zaragoza's Stefan Babovic received his second booking in the 31st.
Jose Antonio Reyes combined with fellow forward Jesus Navas to add a third goal on the break in the 63rd, before setting up Alvaro Negredo to cap the rout five minutes later.
Sevilla has inched up into 10th place after winning its last six games at Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
