Real Madrid celebrated their league title triumph in style by crushing arch-rivals Barcelona 4-1 at the Bernabeu on Wednesday and helping deprive the Catalans of an automatic place in the Champions League. First-half goals from Raul and Arjen Robben, a classy strike from Gonzalo Higuain and a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty earned Bernd Schuster's side an emphatic win that delighted the home fans packed into the rain-soaked stadium.
Luis Suarez could become Barcelona's highest scoring Uruguayan in Saturday's La Liga match at Granada, having equalled in only two seasons what compatriot Ramon Alberto Villaverde Vazquez aggregated in his decade-long stint with the club.
Atletico Madrid fell to their heaviest league defeat of the season
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action in La Liga.
La Liga champions Barcelona slumped to a shock 2-1 defeat at struggling Leganes and Real Madrid were resoundingly beaten 3-0 by Sevilla on Wednesday as Spain's two biggest clubs lost on the same day for the first time since January, 2015.
Karim Benzema made history at Real Madrid, the battle for the top four continues to heat up
Marco Asensio's strike earned Real Madrid a 1-0 win over Espanyol to send them top of La Liga and Thomas Lemar scored his first goal for Atletico Madrid in a 2-0 victory at Getafe on Saturday.
Barcelona have been frighteningly good at home this season, scoring 15 goals in three games at the Nou Camp.
Lionel Messi scored a penalty for the third Champions League game in a row with the Spaniards maintaining their winning start to the group stage.
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.
A second-string Barcelona side were beaten 2-0 at Deportivo Coruna in the Primera Liga on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde's conservatism was cited by the Spanish media as the main reason for their 3-0 defeat at AS Roma on Tuesday that led to a shock Champions League quarter-final elimination being regarded as 'a historic debacle'.
World number one Rafael Nadal won his fifth consecutive Barcelona Open title on Sunday with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Spanish compatriot David Ferrer.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday night.
The Indian ace was involved in a 20-move draw with the Israeli Grandmaster, which kept his half point lead intact at the World Chess Championship.
Barcelona will attempt to give Luis Enrique his 100th victory in his 125th game in charge of the team when they play at Athletic Bilbao in la Liga on Sunday. A former Barca player, the 46-year-old led them to a La Liga, King's Cup and Champions League treble in his first year in charge and the domestic double last season. The Catalans started the campaign with a 5-0 aggregate triumph over Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup and a 6-2 victory over Real Betis in La Liga.
The Frenchman, voted the world's third best player of 2016, has been the subject of intense transfer speculation since signing a new contract with Atletico in May 2017.
Barcelona's star striker Lionel Messi, who completed a decade at FC Barcelona on Thursday, used social media to reach out to his fans, thanking them for their support.
Barcelona will meet Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-finals following the draw on Friday while Manchester City face Tottenham Hotspur in an all-Premier League clash.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has recognised that former World Player of the Year Ronaldinho needs to leave the club if he is to revive his career. Laporta admitted that the club might find it difficult to sell the 28-year-old Brazilian, who suffered a series of injury and fitness problems this season.
Leaders Real Madrid beat Barcelona 1-0 at the Nou Camp to take a vice-like hold on the Spanish Primera Liga title race.
Barcelona struck early through teenager Bojan Krkic and survived a series of late scares to claim a 1-0 win over Schalke 04 in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Barcelona surrendered a two-goal lead to slump to a shock 3-2 defeat at Real Betis in the La Liga.
Barcelona defender Dani Alves has agreed a two-year contract extension to the end of the 2016-17 season with an option for a further year, the Spanish and European champions said on Tuesday.
Barcelona closed to within four points of Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga after the leaders lost 3-2 at home to Valencia.
Barcelona talisman has become just as dangerous from dead ball situations too
Real Madrid's reliance on their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo was more evident than ever on Tuesday as the Spanish and European champions meekly lost 1-0 at Espanyol in La Liga.
Spanish soccer's 'El Clasico' encounters between Barcelona and Real Madrid will happen in December and April, two of the most anticipated games of the 2016-17 Primera Division season whose fixtures were announced on Friday. Defending champions Barca host Real on Dec. 4 at the Camp Nou. The reverse fixture will take place on April 23, at the Bernabeu stadium, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirmed after the draw. As the La Liga season kicks off, Barca will begin their title defence at home to Real Betis on Aug. 21.
Second-placed Barcelona failed to keep the pressure on leaders Real Madrid after scrambling a 1-1 draw at Sevilla in the Primera Liga.
A lethargic-looking Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw by 10-man Racing Santander in their opening match of the season.
Madrid-based daily Marca added that the group of supporters were also heckling ex-River player Mascherano, criticising him for "forgetting" his roots
Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick, including an exquisite second goal, as Barcelona strolled into the Club World Cup final with a 3-0 win over Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande on Thursday.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been involved in a new row with Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez, according to reports in the Spanish media. The reports claim that the Portuguese striker was left fuming and walked out of the room after he was asked by Benitez to undergo a biometric analysis in order to improve his free-kick scoring rate.
Real Madrid stretched their lead at the top to four points after beating Racing Santander 3-1 at home while arch-rivals Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw at Espanyol in the Catalan derby. Real skipper Raul steered his side to their seventh win in seven games at the Bernabeu when he took his tally for the season to eight goals with a classy double.
Neymar's record-breaking 222 million euros (198.82 million pounds) transfer from Barcelona to French side Paris Saint-Germain appeared close to completion on Wednesday, when his agent predicted he could be unveiled by the weekend.
Lionel Messi scored yet another hat-trick and surpassed 400club goals as Barcelona came from behind to win the Catalan derby 5-1 against Espanyol.
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