Barcelona were gifted their 19th Primera Liga title without kicking a ball on Saturday when second-placed Real Madrid were beaten 3-2 at Villarreal. Robert Pires, Cani and Joan Capdevila scored for the hosts, delivering Barca's second piece of silverware in a week after the Catalans overcame Athletic Bilbao 4-1 in the King's Cup final on Wednesday. Barca can make it a treble by defeating Manchester United in the Champions League final in Rome on May 27.
Barcelona moved to within a whisker of a second straight La Liga crown when Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic and Pedro earned a nervy 3-2 win at 10-man Sevilla on Saturday.
Real coach Julen Lopetegui has come in for fierce criticism this season, having presided over a run of five games without a win -- the team going eight hours and one minute without scoring -- before Tuesday's unconvincing 2-1 triumph over Viktoria Plzen that saw the team whistled off the pitch by their own fans.
Midfielder Santi Cazorla gave the home side the lead in the fourth minute of the game, which was rescheduled due to Real's participation in last month's Club World Cup, by bending a wonderful shot into the bottom corner.
La Liga leaders Barcelona beat Real Madrid 1-0 to all but knock their rivals out of the title race on Saturday, while second-placed Atletico Madrid stayed seven points behind the Catalans with a 2-0 win at Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Argentine striker Lautaro Acosta scored an injury-time winner to give Sevilla a 2-1 victory at home to Athletic Bilbao in their King's Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday.
World champion Viswanathan Anand dropped out of contention for a top finish in the Bilbao Grand Slam final chess tournament after losing from a better position to Levon Aronian of Armenia in the eighth round.
Real Madrid's early-season woes deepened when they lost 2-1 at home to La Liga champions Atletico Madrid, while substitute Neymar struck twice in Barcelona's 2-0 win against visiting Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
Images from football matches played in La Liga and Serie A in Spain and Italy on Wednesday.
Viswanathan Anand settled for a draw with Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk in the first round of the Bilbao Grand Slam Final chess tournament.
With Vassily Ivanchuk and Magnus Carlsen eyeing his numero uno tag, World champion Viswanathan Anand, his pre-tournament favourite tag notwithstanding, just cannot afford to lower his guard in the Grand Slam Chess Final Masters starting in Bilbao, Spain, on Monday.
Sevilla secured third place in the Primera Liga and automatic qualification for the Champions League when a last-minute header from Diego Perotti earned them a 1-0 home win over Deportivo Coruna on Saturday.
Real Madrid will not take any risk in rushing forward Gareth Bale back from injury and the Wales international will only return when he is ready, manager Zinedine Zidane said. Bale has not played since Jan. 17 after damaging a calf muscle in a La Liga match against Sporting Gijon. Spanish media have reported that Bale, whose Real career has been blighted by a succession of injuries, suffered a setback in his recovery. Zidane said Real needed to be "calm" about an injury that has been "going on for a bit more time for him". "If he's uncomfortable and it hurts him, it's normal that he could have a setback," Zidane told a news conference on Friday. "He's a very important player for us and we're not going to take any risks. We want him at 100 percent, not at 80 or 85." Zidane said Bale was "in good spirits" although he is set to miss at least the first leg of Real's Champions League last-16 clash with AS Roma in Italy on Wednesday.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar struck twice to help Real Madrid register a 5-2 win at 10-man Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and cut Barcelona's lead at the top of the Primera Liga to three points.
The Manchester United keeper let a tame shot from Cristiano Ronaldo through his arms for Portugal's second goal on Friday and has been criticised in Spain for his badly positioned defensive wall when Ronaldo struck the late equaliser.
Barcelona returned to winning ways and extended their Spanish Primera Liga lead with a 2-0 home victory over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday while Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by city rivals Atletico at the Bernabeu. The win opened up a six-point gap over chasing Real, whose 10-match winning streak came to an end.
Barcelona and Sevilla claimed the final two places in the King's Cup semi-finals on Thursday, Barca knocking out city rivals Espanyol 3-2 and Sevilla coming through on away goals against holders Valencia. Sevilla, the 2007 winners, will play Athletic Bilbao for a place in May's final in Valencia, while Barca take on Real Mallorca.
Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a record 23rd La Liga hat-trick to guide leaders Real Madrid to a 3-0 victory over Celta Vigo. It also helped the European champions extend their club record winning streak to 18 matches in all competitions.
World champion Vishwanathan Anand could not get the better of Teimour Radjabov's defence and settled for his second successive draw as second day of the Bilbao Grand Slam Final Chess tournament did not see a single result in any of the boards.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar motored past 100 goals for the season.
Champions Barcelona lost 2-0 at Celta Vigo while Getafe earned an important 2-0 win over Girona in their bid to secure Champions League qualification.
World champion Viswanathan Anand on Tuesday fell from the top spot to be placed fifth in the latest world rankings issued by the game's world governing body FIDE. It is after a gap of over a decade that Anand is placed outside the top three.
World champion Viswanathan Anand will take on world number four Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the first round of the Bilbao Grand Slam of chess. The event, which was opened on Monday, will be a crucial test for Anand ahead of the World Championship match against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia slated next month.
Lionel Messi broke a Spanish hat-trick record and Luis Suarez struck twice as a rampant Barcelona took over top spot in La Liga with a 6-1 hammering of Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
Lionel Messi struck late to help Barcelona seal a place in the King's Cup final on Wednesday, a 1-1 draw at Real Mallorca completing a 3-1 aggregate victory for the Primera Liga leaders. Barcelona will play Athletic Bilbao in the May 13 final in Valencia after the Basque club beat Sevilla 3-0 at home to overturn a 2-1 defeat from last month's first leg.
Luis Suarez picked up a hamstring strain in Tuesday's Champions League match at Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid crushed Athletic Bilbao 3-0 at the Bernabeu on Sunday to edge closer to the Spanish title but Villarreal's 1-0 victory at Real Betis put their celebrations on hold for at least another week. Real's victory means that with four games left to play they remain 10 points clear of Villarreal at the top of the table on 75 points and will claim their 31st league title if they win next week's match at Osasuna.
Vietto slotted the ball home with seven minutes to go after Karim Benzema had given visitors Real the lead early on.
Cristiano Ronaldo is angry with his recent record in front of goal but not anxious about when he will find the net next, Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said on Friday.
Alexis Sanchez hit a hat-trick as Barcelona swept aside Elche 4-0 to return to the top of La Liga on goal difference ahead of Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
Barcelona reached the semi-finals of the King's Cup after a Thierry Henry earned them a 1-0 victory over 10-man Villarreal.
Real Madrid took full advantage of slip-ups from the chasing pack by beating Villarreal 3-2 to move nine points clear in the Spanish Primera Liga.
Gary Neville was sacked as Valencia manager on Wednesday as the club brought an end to his fraught four-month spell in charge after the former England and Manchester United defender had delivered only three league wins.
Real Madrid secured a club record 16th straight victory when Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale struck in a laboured 2-1 win at Malaga on Saturday that put them five points clear of second-placed Barcelona in La Liga.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Real Madrid charged seven points clear at the top of the Primera Liga after a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao.
Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri said the refusal of his goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to be substituted in Sunday's League Cup final was the result of a "big misunderstanding", adding that the Spaniard "was right but in the wrong way".
Chelsea agreed a deal to sign Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, subject to the Spain international agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.
The rest of Barcelona's squad will have to do "a little bit more" to make up for the absence of five-times World Player of the Year Lionel Messi for the next three weeks, according to captain Andres Iniesta. The Argentina forward faces a spell on the sidelines after sustaining a groin injury in Wednesday's 1-1 La Liga draw with Atletico Madrid. "There's no question we are stronger with Messi," Iniesta told Cadena Cope radio ahead of Saturday's match at Sporting Gijon. "When these things happen we all have to give a little bit more.
