Barcelona leapfrogged Atletico Madrid to go top of La Liga after Lionel Messi's acrobatic volley secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory against tenacious Malaga on Saturday.
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.
Real Madrid moved four points clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring either side of a Gareth Bale strike in a 3-0 win at Getafe on Sunday.
Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos scored in the 90th minute to hold FC Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou on Saturday.
Barcelona's poor run away to Real Sociedad continued when the champions were held to a 1-1 draw at Anoeta on Sunday and slipped six points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid before next week's 'Clasico' against their arch rivals.
Barcelona came through a testing local derby at Espanyol, winning 3-0 to cling to their slender lead at the top of La Liga after rivals Real Madrid had set the challenge by beating Valencia 2-1 in the earlier kick-off.
Atletico Madrid made a typically aggressive start to lay the foundations for a 2-0 victory at home.
Barcelona's outlay of 20 million euros ($22 million) on Jeremy Mathieu last July prompted plenty of criticism but the France centre back has been worth his weight in gold in the La Liga leaders' last two outings.
From comments about the healthy relationship shared between Barca trio -- Messi, Suarez and Neymar, to questions about his goal drought in away matches, an angry Ronaldo had the response to it all
Real Madrid produced a gutsy performance to earn a 1-0 win at Sevilla, on Sunday, which took them level on points at the top of La Liga
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If Barcelona fail to secure their eighth consecutive UEFA Champions League quarter-final appearance, Lionel Messi's failed penalty at Manchester City on Tuesday could well prove their "what if" moment.
Lionel Messi scored twice as La Liga champions Barcelona saw off a persistent Valencia side, who had Eliaquim Mangala sent off in the first half, to win 4-2 on Sunday and stay on the heels of leaders Real Madrid.
Heavyweight trio Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea kept up their 100 per cent starts to the Premier League season this weekend.
Alvaro Negredo struck in stoppage-time as stuttering Valencia won 2-1 against his former club Sevilla on Sunday to earn coach Pako Ayesteran victory in his first home game in charge since succeeding Gary Neville.
Sevilla joined holders Real Madrid in the last 16 of the King's Cup when a quick-fire Iago Aspas hat-trick helped secure a crushing 11-2 aggregate victory over second-division Sabadell on Wednesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 400th goal for Real Madrid as Zinedine Zidane's side closed in on a first La Liga title since 2012, easing to a 4-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday while Neymar hit a hat-trick for Barcelona, who thrashed Las Palmas 4-1.
Zinedine Zidane got off to a flying start as Real Madrid coach when Gareth Bale hit a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday after a Lionel Messi treble had fired Barcelona to the top of La Liga.
Lionel Messi struck a spectacular free kick, scored another goal and set up two more in a 4-1 victory for Barcelona over nine-man city rivals Espanyol in the first leg of their King's Cup last-16 clash on Wednesday.
The Portuguese forward put his team on the verge of their third final in four years and took his tally to 103 goals in the competition as he helped Madrid vanquish their neighbours at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Lionel Messi will be working "full time" to shake off the hamstring injury sustained on Sunday that will sideline him for six to eight weeks, Barcelona's Argentine World Player of the Year said on Tuesday.
Athletic Bilbao ended Getafe's run of four straight wins and climbed above them into fifth place in La Liga when Aymeric Laporte's early bullet header secured a 1-0 win at the Coliseum in Madrid on Monday.
Now, Real Madrid have never won the Spanish treble and are fighting tooth and nail in La Liga to prevent arch-rivals Barcelona scooping Champions League and domestic league and Cup titles for a second time.
Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela has qualified for next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after clinching a 10m air rifle bronze in the ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) in Changwon, Korea.
Second division Mirandes caused an upset by knocking Deportivo La Coruna out of the King's Cup on Tuesday and Sevilla joined them in the quarter-finals after making light work of city rivals Real Betis.
Sergio Ramos made amends for his untimely own goal last week at Sevilla by scoring twice as Real Madrid bounced back from two successive defeats by beating Malaga 2-1 on Saturday to go four points clear at the top of La Liga.
A day after clinching the 50m pistol gold in the ongoing Asian Games, Jitu Rai said he has not spoken to his mother for the last one month.
Champions Barcelona suffered their second defeat in three matches in La Liga on Saturday, with Michael Krohn-Dehli scoring and setting up another goal in a 2-1 victory for Sevilla.
Mementos from the soccer world that brought Syrian refugee Osama Abdul Mohsen to Spain are strewn around the flat he shares with two of his sons, including a ball signed by Real Madrid's star players and a banner for the local team, Getafe.
In other matches, super-sub Messi helped Barca romp past Atletico
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Jeison Murillo became Colombia's unlikely hero, scoring his first international goal to give his side a 1-0 victory over Brazil.
Ataturk and Nehru, two liberal secular modernisers, are in peril of being disowned by their successors, says Sunanda K-Datta Ray.
New Valencia coach Gary Neville remains without a La Liga win after his side twice recovered from a goal down to rescue a fortunate 2-2 draw at home to Getafe on Saturday.
Young Apurvi Chandela wants to be at the 'top of her game' as she aims for a maiden Olympic appearance at next year's Rio Games by fulfilling the stringent selection criteria that the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) has set for the Indian shooters.
Barcelona followed up Saturday's win over Real Madrid with another victory when Alexis Sanchez set the champions on their way to a 3-0 success at Celta Vigo on Tuesday that put them four points clear at the top of La Liga.
Monaco owe most of their recent success to their young guns, but when they face Manchester City looking to overturn a two-goal deficit in their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday, they will turn to a more experienced player in Radamel Falcao.
Mesut Ozil quit Real Madrid to join Arsenal because he realised he no longer had the confidence of Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, the Germany playmaker said.
Espanyol's Felipe Caicedo came off the bench and netted two late goals to secure a 2-0 win at home to 10-man Valencia on Tuesday that sent the Barcelona-based club through to the King's Cup quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.
While Gareth Bale is fully expected to regain his place in the Real Madrid side when he returns from injury, team mate Isco is making the most of his chance to prove his worth on the pitch.
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