Barcelona are in the middle of an injury crisis as they head to Valencia for Saturday's La Liga game looking to keep up with pacemaking pair Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Without injured goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen and right back Sergi Roberto for the last two games, Barca will also be missing defenders Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique after both were hurt in Wednesday's 4-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League. Pique sprained his right ankle while Alba injured his left hamstring and both are out until November.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho unleashed an impassioned defence of his work on Friday as he responded to critics of his team's failure to make the last eight of the Champions League.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid dropped points at home for only the second time this season.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's La Liga action:
With dreams of European glory in tatters, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur turn their attention to the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend clinging to their last chance of silverware this season.
Real also have an outstanding defence, conceding only 25 times last year, and are well covered in every position.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action:
La Liga has yet to officially confirm a date on which it will resume, although its president Javier Tebas had said previously he hoped the season could do so from June 12.
The Real Madrid-Barcelona 'Clasico' is televised around the world and often decides the La Liga title, but a Seville derby is a tougher proposition, Barca defender and former Sevilla favourite Dani Alves has said.
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho again criticised the attitude of a large part of his squad after the champions fell 1-0 at Sevilla, to slip eight points adrift of leaders Barcelona on Saturday.
Fernando Hierro now in charge of the team, Spain's next game is against Group B leaders Iran on Wednesday.
Spurs striker Bergwijn is major casualty as Netherlands trim squad
Italy's top sports body on Monday called for all sports events to be cancelled until April 3, and asked the government to issue a decree to enforce the measure as the country fights with the worst coronavirus outbreak in Europe.
Manchester United and Liverpool, English football's two most decorated clubs, were drawn together in the last 16 of the Europa League on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick and Lionel Messi bagged a brace as Barcelona thrashed bottom side Cordoba 8-0 on Saturday to move a step closer to their fifth La Liga title in seven years.
Valencia recaptured fourth place in La Liga from Sevilla when Sofiane Feghouli scored the pick of the goals in a 4-0 stroll at home to second-from-bottom Granada on Monday.
The win took Barca to the top of the standings on 68 points although Real Madrid, on 65, will reclaim their lead due to their superior head-to-head record if they beat Real Mallorca at home on Wednesday.
Images from the matches played across football leagues in Europe on Sunday.
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.
Cristiano Ronaldo shrugged off the boos of his own supporters to fire Real Madrid to a 3-0 win over Real Sociedad on Sunday.
'We want to play football and not roulette, which is what this type of refereeing provokes. The penalty claims by Neymar and me are clear but we already know how this works'
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
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 summary of sports events and sportspersons, who made news on Tuesday.
Images from Thursday's action in the Europa League Europa League - Round of 16 Second Leg - matches.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas denied on Sunday that he racially abused Sevilla's Malian striker Frederic Kanoute in Saturday's 0-0 La Liga draw at the Nou Camp and the pair later settled their differences by telephone.
Barcelona continued their rampant run of domestic form to beat Osasuna 2-0 away from home on Saturday and move to within two points of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, with Lionel Messi setting up goals scored by Jordi Alba and teenager Ilaix Moriba.
Former player and reserve team boss Santiago Solari has been put in caretaker charge after negotiations between the club and former Chelsea, Italy and Juventus boss Antonio Conte broke down on Monday, the club added.
Images from football matches played in La Liga and Serie A in Spain and Italy on Wednesday.
With no fans allowed into venues and Real playing their home games at the 6,000-capacity Alfredo Di Stefano stadium while the Santiago Bernabeu is being refurbished, it will be a title race unlike any other.
Barcelona opened up a four-point gap at the top of La Liga, maintaining their 100 percent start as they cruised to a 3-0 victory at Catalan rivals Girona on Saturday.
Juande Ramos is set to take charge of Tottenham Hotspur after resigning as coach of Sevilla.
Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United enjoyed comfortable wins in the English Premier League on Saturday as fans returned to stadiums after an eight-month absence.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at mid-table Athletic Bilbao on Saturday after a bullet header from Aritz Aduriz in the first half secured the points.
Arsenal have appointed former Paris St Germain coach Unai Emery as their new manager, the Spaniard succeeding the long-serving Arsene Wenger, the Premier League club announced on Wednesday.
Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga was cut to two points on Saturday as they squandered a two-goal advantage to draw 2-2 at Sevilla while Real Madrid powered their way to a 3-0 home win over Eibar.
Alaba strike on Clasico debut gives Real Madrid 2-1 win at Barcelona.
Atletico Madrid were handed a chance to avenge last season's Champions League final defeat by city rivals and record 10-times winners Real after the two sides were drawn together in the last eight on Friday. Paris St Germain and Barcelona were paired together having met in the group stage, with the French side winning in Paris and the Catalans coming out on top in Spain.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances