The Catalans made a lethargic start and fell behind in the 16th minute when striker Joseba Llorente bundled the ball into the net but they salvaged a point when Ronaldinho equalised with a neat finish just before halftime.
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.
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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
The enduring image of Luis Enrique for many soccer fans is the Spain player with blood gushing from his nose after a vicious elbow from Italy defender Mauro Tassotti during the 1994 World Cup quarter-final in Boston.
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.
The Spanish champions have decided to stick with tradition and not have a sponsors logo on their team shirts.
Ronaldinho said on Friday he was determined to avoid the mistakes of last season and make this one his best at Barcelona.
Barcelona are convinced Brazil captain Neymar will commit his long-term future to the Nou Camp as protracted negotiations between the Spanish champions and the striker continue over an extension to his current deal, which expires in June 2018.
Unstoppable duo Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi helped Barcelona thrash Sevilla 5-0 to win the King's Cup final for the fourth consecutive season on Saturday as they close in on a likely domestic double.
Unzue is one of the two leading candidates to succeed Luis Enrique, who announced this month he will leave at the end of this season, along with Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde.
Viswanathan Anand played out an easy draw against Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in the first round of the Corus Chess tournament.
He claimed his fourth race victory of the season in a thrilling Catalan MotoGP on Sunday.
Barca's second-half stamina key to their massive lead in the standings this season
Atletico Madrid's faint hopes of chasing down runaway Liga leaders Barcelona suffered a fresh blow on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Girona, meaning they could fall 11 points behind the Catalans by the end of the weekend.
Manchester City swept aside second-tier Cardiff City 2-0 with first-half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling on Sunday to reach the FA Cup fifth round in their quest to win an unprecedented four trophies this season.
The defending champions knocked out Osasuna while Espanyol triumphed over Werder Bremen.
'I'm definitely not going to change, players have to know that when they face me that I have my own way of playing and that is dribbling, scoring goals and helping my team mates'
With seven games left to play in the Primera Liga, Barcelona are one point ahead of Sevilla and two clear of arch-rivals Real.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The to were shortlisted for FIFA's World Player of the Year award, which will be announced on December 19.
Barca have now won just one of their last nine away matches and although they remain top of the table on 56 points, they are only two clear of Sevilla and five ahead of arch-rivals Real Madrid who both have a game in hand.
Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa reignited his long-running war of words with Barcelona's Gerard Pique by suggesting that the Spanish League leaders manage to win only if opposing teams have had players sent off. La Liga leaders Barca surprisingly succumbed 1-0 to mid-table Real Sociedad on Saturday, a result that not only condemned the Catalans to their second successive league defeat but also blew the title race wide open. They now lead second-placed Atletico Madrid by three points and third-placed Real by four. "Look how difficult it is to win against 11 men," Arbeloa mocked on Twitter, referring to the fact that Barcelona have often benefited from opposing players being sent off. Barca were trailing 1-0 in last Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg with Atletico Madrid but secured a 2-1 win after Atletico goal scorer Fernando Torres was dismissed in the 35th minute.
Barcelona provisionally went top of La Liga for the first time since October after Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi scored in a 6-0 thrashing of Alaves on Saturday although the win was overshadowed by a serious injury to Aleix Vidal.
Atletico Madrid will have centre backs Diego Godin and Stefan Savic available again for Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg at Barcelona.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 750th goal of his remarkable career in a 3-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday
The Argentine is reportedly unhappy with coach Enrique's way of running the dressing room at Barcelona.
The two forwards have hit their strides ahead of Saturday's Clasico showdown between the two heavyweight clubs.
Barcelona's appeal against a FIFA sanction for an alleged breach of rules on the transfer of foreign Under-18 players has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Spanish club said on Tuesday.
Holders Barcelona will face fellow Spaniards Atletico Madrid, runners-up two seasons ago, in the Champions League quarter-finals following the draw in Nyon on Friday.
Zinedine Zidane cast doubt on his long-term future at Real Madrid by saying he is unsure if he will be in charge of the club next season. The former midfielder was named as Rafael Benitez's successor in January when he signed a contract until June 2018. But when asked what role he would have in the Liga club's transfer dealings for next season, Zidane said he did not know if he would still be at the Bernabeu. "I can't know what role I'm going to have if I don't know if I'm going to be here. We'll see what happens at the end of the season," Zidane was quoted as saying by Spanish newspaper Marca. The 43-year-old was also asked if Madrid would make another attempt to sign David de Gea after their move for the Manchester United and Spain goalkeeper fell through on the last day of the transfer window last August.
Champions Barcelona produced another sparkling display to crush Racing Santander 4-1 and reclaim top spot in the Primera Liga.
Real Madrid rested Cristiano Ronaldo and suffered a fifth Liga defeat of the season as Espanyol's Gerard Moreno struck late for a 1-0 win over the Spanish and European champions.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand inched closer to clinching the Candidates Chess tournament title after settling for an easy draw as black against Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the 11th round in Khanty Mansiysk.
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.
Ronaldinho's goal gave Barca a 1-0 win at home to relegation-threatened Cadiz.
