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.
The win increased Zinedine Zidane's side's advantage at the top of the standings to six points
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.
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.
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.
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.
'We have to improve and become stronger in defence, which is the most important thing.'
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.
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.
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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.
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.
The league said last week that the deal, called 'Boost La Liga', would strengthen its clubs and give them funds to spend on new infrastructure and modernisation projects as well as increasing how much they could spend on players' salaries.
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.
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.
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.
Images from La Liga and German Cup matches played on the weekend.
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.
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.
Eibar coach Jose Luis Mendilibar was also dismissed later for angry protests against referee Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez.
Real Madrid were dumped out of the Copa del Rey at the quarter-final stage on Thursday after losing 4-3 at home to Real Sociedad, while record 30-times winners Barcelona were sent crashing out of the Copa del Rey in a 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao.
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.
Barcelona have emerged as favourites to be crowned champions after one defeat in their last 22 Liga games.
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.
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.
Barcelona rode their luck to come from behind and win 2-1 at Real Sociedad on Saturday, continuing to banish their awful record in San Sebastian and maintaining their perfect start to the La Liga season.
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.
Real Madrid beat Leganes 2-1 in La Liga on Saturday after coach Zinedine Zidane heavily rotated his side in preparation for Tuesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, including leaving out top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.
Here's what Hollywood stars have been up to.
Barcelona travel to newly-promoted Osasuna without their first choice front line.
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.
Barca lead the standings on 39 points from 18 games, three clear of second-placed Real Madrid who host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
The old format was skewed in favour of the bigger clubs, who could rest players for a first leg and swallow defeat before calling on their stars to turn the tie around in the return game.
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.
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A sloppy Real Madrid were held 0-0 at home to Real Betis on Saturday in a further blow to their hopes of retaining the La Liga title.
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