Real Madrid brushed off the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale to beat Espanyol 2-0 away and maintain their 100 per cent start to the league season while matching the La Liga record of 16 consecutive victories.
Defending champions Portugal and the last two World champions, France and Germany, were thrown together in what German coach Joachim Loew described as the group of death following a lop-sided and complicated Euro 2020 draw on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The Real Madrid striker has been left out of the squad to play Athletic Bilbao this weekend because of a minor leg strain.
Real Madrid set up a King's Cup semi-final against holders Atletico Madrid or Athletic Bilbao when they beat Espanyol 1-0 in their quarter-final, second leg on Tuesday for a 2-0 aggregate success.
IMAGES from La Liga matches played on Sunday
Barcelona must wait a bit longer before they can claim their La Liga crown after drawing 2-2 with Athletic Bilbao, while Paris St Germain and Juventus continued to close in on the French and Italian titles.
That tiny blip aside, CR7, as he is fondly known by fans has had a spectacular season. As the handsome Portuguese rings in his 29th birthday, Rediff.com brings you all the exciting moments from the footballer's life over the last year.
Valverde's knowledge of Barca and his many years of experience of coaching in Spain saw him pip Argentine Jorge Sampaoli and Luis Enrique's assistant Juan Carlos Unzue to the top job.
Barcelona's 2-1 loss at Ajax Amsterdam in the Champions League last week was down to a lack of intensity while Sunday's 1-0 reverse at Athletic Bilbao in La Liga exposed their relative physical frailty.
Colombian pop star Shakira and Barcelona's Gerard Pique aren't afraid to show PDA!
Bringing you all the news from the summer transfer window and other snippets from the soccer world...
Mahindra Racing enjoyed its best result of the season as Efren Vazquez and Miguel Oliveira finished fifth and sixth respectively at the Catalunyan Grand Prix of the Moto3 World Championship, in Barcelona, on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid turned up the heat on champions Barcelona when they fought back to secure a 2-1 win at home to Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Sunday as Real Madrid slipped off the pace with a 1-0 loss at Villarreal.
Former Real youth player Joselu pulled a goal back for Alaves in the 59th minute, powering in a header from a free kick, but Benzema rounded off the victory for second-placed Real with an exquisite solo run and goal in the 70th minute.
Barca feel familiar February blues as tiredness sets in
World champion Viswanathan Anand notched up his first title of the year when he scored an emphatic victory over German Arkadij Naiditsch to lift the Grenke Chess Classic trophy in Baden Baden, Germany.
Holders Portugal must face Ukraine and Serbia in a tricky five-team Group B while world champions France drew Iceland and Turkey in Group H. The top two teams from each group qualify automatically. Unlike previous tournaments, the playoffs to decide the four other spots will be contested between the most successful teams from the four divisions of the Nations League who have not already qualified.
Cristiano Ronaldo proved too powerful for Athletic Bilbao as he scored with a fizzing free kick and a towering header in Real Madrid's bruising 3-0 victory at San Mames in La Liga on Sunday.
La Liga leaders Barcelona were held to a 2-2 home draw by Celta Vigo on Saturday as their former assistant coach Juan Carlos Unzue dented the title hopes of the Catalans, who dropped points for the second game in a row for the first time this campaign.
Substitute Fernando Torres scored his 100th Atletico Madrid goal as they rallied from 1-0 down to beat visiting Eibar 3-1 and go level with Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Saturday. Two headed goals from corner kicks seven minutes apart by central defenders Jose Maria Gimenez and Saul put Atletico on track after Keko had given Eibar the lead in the 46th. Coach Diego Simeone will be glad his side ended a run of four matches without a win in La Liga and the King's Cup while Torres, who netted in added time, had been waiting since a victory at Eibar in September to reach his century for the club. Atletico are unlikely to stay joint top on 51 points beyond Sunday as rampant Barcelona, who have a better goal difference and two matches in hand, visit bottom team Levante. Real Madrid, away to Granada on Sunday, are in third place, four points off the pace.
It went from bad to worse for Viswanathan Anand. The World champion suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Norwegian Magnus Carlsen in the ninth and penultimate round of fifth Final Chess Masters in Bilbao, Spain. Having drawn the first eight games in the tournament, Anand was expected to hold fort against Carlsen, but the Indian ace cracked under pressure and went on to lose his first game in the tournament.
Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid overcame German opposition to reach the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday while fellow Spaniards Valencia joined them by demolishing AZ Alkmaar.
Valencia climbed above Atletico Madrid and Sevilla into third in La Liga when Alvaro Negredo came off the bench to score a late winner in a 3-2 home victory over his former club Almeria on Saturday.
Playing without crowd will be peculiar: Suarez
An impudent individual goal from Philippe Coutinho steered Liverpool comfortably into the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday after a 1-1 draw at bitter rivals Manchester United completed a 3-1 aggregate win.
Holders Barcelona cruised into the King's Cup quarter-finals when a side missing several regulars beat city rivals Espanyol 2-0, with Munir El Haddadi netting both goals in a thumping 6-1 aggregate success on Wednesday.
Second half of abandoned Rayo-Albacete will kick-off proceedings on return.
Valencia have agreed to appoint Ernesto Valverde to replace Mauricio Pellegrino as their new coach until the end of the season, the Spanish club said on Monday.
Unbeaten leaders Barcelona pulled six points clear of chasing Atletico Madrid and set a record for the best start to a La Liga season when Lionel Messi scored twice in a 5-1 drubbing of Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
Lionel Messi scored a 50th freekick goal for Barcelona as he led his side to a quick-fire comeback to win 3-2 at Valencia on Sunday and keep the pressure on La Liga title rivals Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.
Midfielder Cesc Fabregas moved Barcelona a step closer to the La Liga title with a late strike in a laboured 1-0 victory at home to mid-table Levante on Saturday.
Costa, Alba excluded from Spain squad
AC midfielder Franck Kessie scored from a penalty to give AC Milan a 2-2 draw away to Napoli in Serie A on Sunday, sparing the blushes of his goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma whose mistakes provided the hosts with both their goals. Sevilla closed in on Champions League qualification by beating struggling Real Mallorca 2-0 at home to open up a nine-point gap in the race for fourth spot in La Liga.
Bikash Mohapatra salutes Radamel Falcao and Diego Simeone, the men who fashioned Atletico Madrid's Europa Cup triumph.
Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao should serve up a Europa League final to remember on Wednesday and remind the continent that Spain is not just about Real Madrid or Barcelona.
World champion Viswanathan Anand could not fetch a win till the very end as he settled for a draw with Russia's Sergey Karjakin in the 10th and final round of fifth Final Chess Masters to finish a lowly fifth, in Bilbao, Spain.
World champion Viswanathan Anand's hunt for an elusive victory continued as he was held to a draw by Fabiano Caruana of Italy in the eighth round of the fifth Final Masters here at the Alhondiga in Bilbao, Spain.
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