Atletico Madrid have a chance to pile more King's Cup misery on neighbours Real after eliminating Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday to set up a last-four clash against the bitter city rivals they beat in last year's final.
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Premier League-based trio Diego Costa, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla were among a high-profile list of absentees when Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque named his provisional 25-man squad for Euro 2016 on Tuesday. Costa injured his hamstring against Liverpool in Chelsea's penultimate game of the season. Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres was also absent from the squad despite his improved form towards the end of the season, as were Arsenal midfielder Cazorla and Valencia forward Paco Alcacer, Spain's top scorer in their qualifying campaign.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque sprung three surprises in his 23-man squad for the World Cup in South Africa, including Barcelona pair Victor Valdes and Pedro plus Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez. Goalkeeper Valdes replaces Villarreal's Diego Lopez as Spain's third-choice behind number one and captain Iker Casillas of Real Madrid and number two Pepe Reina of Liverpool.
The win took Barca to the top of the standings on 68 points although Real Madrid, on 65, will reclaim their lead due to their superior head-to-head record if they beat Real Mallorca at home on Wednesday.
World champion Viswanathan Anand defeated Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and jumped to the top spot in the unofficial live ratings after the end of the second round in the ongoing Bilbao Final Masters chess tournament in Bilbao, Spain, on Sunday. The Indian chess ace cashed in on his chances with black pieces to take over the top ranking in live ratings.
World champion Viswanathan Anand played an easy draw with black against Spaniard Alexei Shirov while Vladimir Kramnik of Russia drew first blood defeating Elo favourite Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the first round of Bilbao final masters in Bilbao, Spain, on Sunday.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand played out a hard-fought draw with Magnus Carlsen of Norway to finish second in the Bilbao Final Masters chess tournament in Bilbao on Saturday.
Arsenal right back Hector Bellerin will be in Spain's Euro 2016 squad, the country's football federation said on Tuesday. The 21-year-old Bellerin and the other 18 players named to face South Korea in a friendly in Wals-Siezenheim, Austria on Wednesday, have been guaranteed spots in the European Championship squad. Bellerin was included after Real Madrid right back Dani Carvajal sustained a leg muscle injury in Saturday's Champions League final victory over Atletico Madrid. The Real Madrid and Atletico players in the squad will be named later on Tuesday when Spain coach Vicente del Bosque announces his final list.
First meets second as Barcelona host Atletico Madrid on Saturday looking to tighten their grip on the La Liga title race. The sides are level on 48 points at the top of the table, but Barca have a game in hand on Atletico and can take a huge step towards a fifth title in seven years with an eighth consecutive win in all competitions. Indeed, Luis Enrique's men remain on course for a repeat of the treble of La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey they won last season after progressing to the semi-finals of the Cup with a come from behind 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in midweek. Yet, the European champions have been far from their best in the past week as they were outplayed by Malaga and Bilbao in the first-half before being salvaged by individual moments of magic after the break. "We are aware of the errors we need to correct," said Luis Suarez after taking his tally for the season already to 30 with the equalizer against Bilbao.
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique blamed the club's pre-season trips to the United States and Japan for their shaky start to the season.
Juergen Klopp's Europa League nightmare came true on Friday when his Liverpool side was drawn to meet former club Borussia Dortmund in next month's quarter-finals.
Lionel Messi scored his 12th league goal of the season but Barcelona had to rely on exceptional saves from Marc-Andre ter Stegen as they rode their luck to win 2-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and stay four points clear at the top of La Liga.
Barcelona named former Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde on Monday as the successor to Luis Enrique and he will take charge of the La Liga runners-up on a two-year contract.
'We have to improve and become stronger in defence, which is the most important thing.'
The win increased Zinedine Zidane's side's advantage at the top of the standings to six points
Two goals from Lionel Messi and a poacher's strike from Bojan Krkic gave Barcelona a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in their Spanish Super Cup second leg on Sunday for a 5-1 aggregate victory.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Champions Barcelona begin their bid for a sixth La Liga title in eight years at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday knowing that fellow heavyweights Real Madrid could, unusually, be just one of several challengers for their crown.
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Viswanathan Anand's incredible winless streak continues unabated as the World Champion played out yet another draw with Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan to slip to the joint fifth spot in the Bilbao Grand Slam Final in Bilbao, Spain.
La Liga leaders Barcelona handed Real Madrid more hope in the title race as they drew 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, only avoiding defeat thanks to some outstanding saves by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Former world champion Viswanathan Anand's bad form continued as he finished 22nd in the World Blitz Chess championship, which concluded in Berlin on Thursday.
Liverpool added another fairytale comeback to the history books as they fought back from 3-1 down against Borussia Dortmund to reach the Europa League semi-finals after Dejan Lovren's towering stoppage-time header secured a 4-3 win on Thursday.
Spain and Portugal played out an entertaining 0-0 draw on Friday as both sides prepared for this month's European Championship.
Viswanathan Anand's wait for his maiden win in the Bilbao Grand Slam Final chess tournament got prolonged again as the world champion drew his fifth round game with Magnus Carlsen to be joint fourth in the ongoing Euro 4,00,000 prize money tournament in Bilbao (Spain).
World Champion Viswanathan Anand was stunned by Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the fourth round of the Bilbao Grand Slam final chess tournament in Bilbao.
Atletico Madrid took advantage of Barcelona's slip-up to go top of La Liga with a 4-0 victory over Real Sociedad as Real Madrid drew 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao and Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off on Sunday.
La Liga leaders Barcelona moved 10 points clear with a 4-1 win at Real Betis on Sunday after second place Atletico Madrid slipped up at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday in a 2-0 defeat.
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Eibar coach Jose Luis Mendilibar was also dismissed later for angry protests against referee Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez.
Bu Xiangzhi of China asserted his supremacy, winning the Bilbao Chess Blindfold World Cup, which concluded in Bilbao, Spain, on Sunday.
The defeat saw the Indian Grandmaster slip to fifth place in the Blindfold World Cup chess tournament.
Joao Miranda and new signing Mario Mandzukic led Atletico Madrid to a 2-1 home win in La Liga on Saturday as visitors Eibar were unable to cope with the aerial threat of the champions.
Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale has been ruled out of Saturday's La Liga game at Athletic Bilbao, coach Zinedine Zidane said on Friday, after the Wales international picked up yet another injury on his return to action on Tuesday after 63 days out.
Messi scored twice and created goals for Arturo Vidal and Luis Suarez as champions Barca moved top of the table with 22 points from 10 matches.
The European Commission will begin disciplinary action against seven Spanish clubs including Real Madrid and Barcelona over possible illegal state aid, Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo said on Monday.
The Indian ace thrashed former World champion Veselin Topalov 1.5-0.5 to jump to joint second place after the fourth round at the Blindfold Chess World Cup.
Barcelona, who are struggling for goals, host Olympique Lyon in Wednesday's Champions League opener in Group E.
