Denmark midfielder Christian Poulsen was reunited with former manager Roy Hodgson on Thursday when he agreed a three-year contract with Liverpool.
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.
Substitute Fredy Guarin gave former European champions Porto a late 2-1 Europa League win at Sevilla on Thursday while their old rivals Benfica beat VfB Stuttgart by the same score.
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.
Lionel Messi announced on Friday that he wants to return to play for the national team, reversing his decision to retire earlier this year. Messi said in June that he would not play for Argentina again after the team lost to Chile in the final of the Copa America.
Barcelona will ignore attempts by Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho to play mind games, according to Lionel Messi.
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.
Real Madrid and Barcelona are heading for a King's Cup showdown after the great rivals won their semi-final first legs on Wednesday. Real won a controversial game 1-0 at holders Sevilla thanks to a goal from Karim Benzema while Lionel Messi struck twice as 2009 winners Barca thumped Almeria 5-0 at the Nou Camp.
Real Madrid knocked bitter city rivals Atletico out of the King's Cup on Thursday with a 1-0 win at a hostile Calderon to go through to the last four 4-1 on aggregate. Cristiano Ronaldo added to his phenomenal tally of goals this season with a 23rd minute strike to help set up a semi-final over two legs against holders Sevilla after the Andalusian club saw off Villarreal on Tuesday.
Cani's brilliant effort from just inside Osasuna's half helped Villarreal to a 4-2 home win as La Liga reached the midway point of the season on Saturday.
Lionel Messi celebrated a second successive World Player of the Year award with a hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed second division Real Betis 5-0 in a King's Cup quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.
Pedro scored twice as Barcelona made heavy weather of beating promoted Levante 2-1 to move five points clear at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
Centre forward Eder, who scored the winning goal in the Euro 2016 final against France, was among 10 players from that squad omitted from Santos's list. Other unlucky players included midfielders Andre Gomes and Renato Sanches, forward Nani and defender Eliseu.
Jose Mourinho was branded a 'crybaby' by Valencia coach Unai Emery on Monday following his criticism of the match referee after Real Madrid's scrappy 1-0 home win over Sevilla on Sunday.
It took Gujrathi 40 moves to outwit Benjamin and now he shares the lead with six others. The fourth Indian to cross the 2700 ELO rating barrier, Gujrathi will face American Grandmaster Aleksandr Lenderman in the fifth round.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has decided to rest Lionel Messi, Neymar and most of his regulars for the King's Cup last 16, second leg match at Elche later on Thursday.
Spanish media paid tribute to Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta after he starred in his side's 5-0 thrashing of Sevilla in the King's Cup final on Saturday.
With a comfortable first-leg advantage, Zinedine Zidane rested much of his first team, making 10 changes from the line-up that struggled to a disappointing draw at Celta Vigo on Sunday to fall 16 points behind league leaders Barcelona.
Frenchman Lenglet's first league start since his 36 million-euro move from Sevilla turned sour when he was shown a straight red card in the 35th minute at the Nou Camp following a coming together with Pons, after referee Jesus Gil Manzano consulted the video assistant referee (VAR).
Thirteen teams have now qualified for the last 32 including Bayer Leverkusen, FC Zurich and Lazio who had already secured places in the next stage of the competition.
Madrid recovered from an early goal by Anthony Lozano to take a 2-1 halftime lead thanks to a Lucas Vazquez strike and a cheeky 'Panenka' penalty from captain Ramos but were pegged back by Alex Granell's penalty midway through the second half.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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.
A late goal by Marcos Rojo gave Argentina a dramatic 2-1 victory over Nigeria in Group D on Tuesday and sent the twice champions through to the knockout stages of the World Cup.
A first-half double from Gareth Bale helped Real Madrid cement their position at the top of La Liga with a 3-0 win at home to Leganes on Sunday. Reeling from a chaotic midweek 3-3 draw at Legia Warsaw in the Champions League, Real got off to a slow start against neighbours Leganes, but Bale put them in charge in the 37th minute. The Wales international, who netted a sensational half volley against Legia, raced onto a through ball from Isco that split the visiting defence and rounded goalkeeper Jon Serantes to tuck the ball inside the near post from a tight angle.
RB Leipzig scored twice in the opening 13 minutes but had to survive a late comeback from Manchester United to cling on to a 3-2 win on Tuesday that sent them into the Champions League knockout stage and eliminated the English side.
Real Madrid's appeal against a yellow card shown to forward Cristiano Ronaldo in Wednesday's 2-0 La Liga win at Rayo Vallecano has been granted by the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF), the club said on Friday.
Twenty-three-times Cup winners Athletic Bilbao were dumped out in sensational circumstances by tiny island side SD Formentera, who sneaked a 1-0 win at San Mames with a header by Alvaro Muniz deep in stoppage-time to reach the last 16 for the first time with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Ronaldo equals Raul Real Madrid record while Morata emulates Del Piero after scoring in five consecutive matches
Five-time champions Brazil qualified for the World Cup finals on Saturday after beating arch-rivals Argentina 3-1. Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano scored twice after Benfica skipper Luisao opened the scoring for the Brazilians in a fast, hard-tackling match.
Poland rested striker Robert Lewandowski and missed his firepower as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Lithuania in a Euro 2016 warm-up in the former capital city of Krakow on Monday. The stalemate before a 30,000 crowd against a determined Lithuania side playing on the counter followed Poland's 2-1 loss to the Netherlands in a friendly last week. Poland coach Adam Nawalka fielded an experimental defence with Thiago Cionek in central defence and talented teenage midfielder Bartosz Kapustka deployed at right back to try to beef up the rearguard but they still looked vulnerable. The hosts played with more urgency in the second half against the Lithuanians, who failed to qualify for the finals in France, and almost scored on the hour when winger Jakub Blaszczykowski hit the post after marauding down the right. Despite attacking relentlessly they could not find the net without talisman Lewandowski, who watched from the bench as 'Ajax Amsterdam forward Arek Milik toiled alone up front.
We want to fight for that title and we are very excited to see the draw, says Ander Herrera
"According to the report issued from the city hall in Vigo, they consider that the Balaidos stadium is not safe for spectators or for players to attend the game on Sunday," said a statement from La Liga.
Atletico Madrid set up a King's Cup final against Sevilla when they went through 6-3 on aggregate despite conceding two late goals to lose 3-2 at Racing Santander in their semi-final second leg on Thursday.
AC Milan were handed a comfortable UEFA Cup assignment on Tuesday after being drawn with Heerenveen, Braga, Portsmouth and Wolfsburg in the group stage.
Diego Forlan scored twice from the penalty spot to help Atletico Madrid to a 4-0 first-leg victory at home to Racing Santander in a King's Cup semi-final on Thursday.
Premier League-based trio Diego Costa, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla were among a high-profile list of absentees when Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque named his provisional 25-man squad for Euro 2016 on Tuesday. Costa injured his hamstring against Liverpool in Chelsea's penultimate game of the season. Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres was also absent from the squad despite his improved form towards the end of the season, as were Arsenal midfielder Cazorla and Valencia forward Paco Alcacer, Spain's top scorer in their qualifying campaign.
David Villa netted twice to fire Valencia to a 4-1 win over 10-man Villarreal in La Liga on Sunday and lift Unai Emery's side to within three points of second-placed Real Madrid.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique believes his current squad is the strongest he has ever had and he is very confident of retaining the La Liga and King's Cup titles. The Spanish champions have recruited Andre Gomes, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne and Denis Suarez since the end of last season while Marc Bartra, Thomas Vermaelen, Adriano Correia and Sandro Ramirez have departed. "On paper, this is the best squad that I have had in my three years at Barca," Luis Enrique told the club's website. "We have a squad that has been strengthened brilliantly.
Spaniard Juande Ramos made a triumphant debut as coach of CSKA Moscow on Saturday when his new team scored three second-half goals to crush Krylya Sovietov Samara 3-0 in a Russian Premier League match.
