A Robbie Keane penalty gave Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 victory over Reading on Sunday to move the London club up to sixth in the Premier League.
Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze, who has been out all season with a knee injury, was included in Argentina's World Cup squad.
Raphael Varane converted two corners as a second-string Real Madrid began the defence of their King's Cup crown with a 4-1 victory against third-tier part-timers Cornella on Wednesday.
Real Madrid football director Benito Floro said earlier this week that he wanted to sign the England midfielder.
Valencia beat leaders Barcelona 2-1 at the Mestalla to put themselves firmly in the Primera Liga title race.
A Thierry Henry special and two trademark free kicks from Ronaldinho earned Barcelona a 3-0 win at home to Real Betis that put them within a point of leaders Real Madrid at the top of the Primera Liga on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola will return to the Nou Camp in the Champions League group stage after his new club Manchester City were drawn against his former Barcelona team on Thursday. The two sides were drawn in Group C alongside Borussia Moenchengladbach and former European champions Celtic in one of the toughest of the eight sections. Spanish coach Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Barca, faced the Catalans when he was in charge of Bayern Munich two seasons ago and suffered a 5-3 defeat in the semi-finals.
Uruguayan midfielder Fabian Canobbio scored a contentious goal to give promoted Celta Vigo a 3-2 win.
Napoli's Marek Hamsik enjoyed a memorable return to his former club Slovan Bratislava, scoring one and creating another, in a 2-0 victory on Thursday as the Italians joined five others who made it two wins from two in the Europa League group stage.
Luis Suarez grabbed a hat-trick and Lionel Messi bagged two goals as Barcelona began their quest for a third straight La Liga title with a 6-2 rout of Real Betis on Saturday. Arda Turan, whose two goals against Sevilla helped Barca lift the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday, gave them an early lead at the Nou Camp before Ruben Castro equalised in the 21st minute. Barca went back in front thanks to a trademark 37th-minute goal from Messi before Suarez, La Liga's top scorer last season, made it 3-1 before halftime.
Atletico Madrid's Brazilian striker Diego Costa scored twice as they came from behind to beat Levante 3-2 at home on Saturday to go three points clear at the top of La Liga.
Leaders Barcelona and Real Madrid were held to draws while Sevilla made up ground on the top two and Alaves slipped after a promising start. Here are five talking points from the weekend's La Liga action.
Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Francisco Mancebo were named in a doping investigation in Spain
Photographic summary of the football matches played across Spain, Italy and France
The Barcelona coach said he was not surprised Arsenal were such a hard nut to crack.
Tottenham Hotspur exposed the weaknesses in Anzhi Makhachkala's star-shorn squad, winning 2-0 in Moscow to maintain their perfect start in the second round of Europa League group stage matches on Thursday.
Argentina's experimental line-up proved too strong for an outclassed Singapore in their international friendly on Tuesday, with the South Americans swatting aside their hosts 6-0 and the opening five goals coming from first-time scorers.
Real fought back after a calamitous own goal from keeper Keylor Navas gave Betis the lead in the 25th minute, just after the Costa Rican escaped a possible red card. Cristiano Ronaldo pulled the hosts level in the 41st with a diving header.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Higuain had a disappointing Copa America tournament in July, scoring two goals during the competition and missing his spot kick as Argentina lost on penalties to Chile in the final.
Barcelona earned a thrilling 3-2 win at Celta Vigo in their opening Primera Liga match.
Luis Suarez played a part in all three of Barcelona's goals in a scrappy 3-1 victory at Granada.
Lionel Messi came to Barcelona's rescue for the second time in a week by snatching a late winner to give his side a barely deserved 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday which provisionally took the champions top of La Liga.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Anthony Martial went from villain to hero as his second-half equaliser earned Manchester United a deserved point in a 1-1 draw against CSKA Moscow in Champions League Group B on Wednesday.
Fiorentina tore apart Italian rivals AS Roma to reach the Europa League quarter-finals with a 3-0 win that left their opponents' season in tatters and under-fire coach Rudi Garcia tottering on the brink of the sack.
Zinedine Zidane hailed Real Madrid's remarkable strength in depth as the key to his side entering their final game of the season at Malaga on the brink of lifting their first La Liga title since 2012.
Karim Benzema scored twice after the interval with a penalty and a header from a corner to give Santiago Solari's side a 3-1 lead, after Raphael Varane struck in the 34th minute to cancel out Anuar Tuhami's goal for Valladolid five minutes earlier.
Barcelona forwards Lionel Messi, Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez combined to devastating effect to hammer Girona 6-1 on Saturday as they went 10 points clear at the top of La Liga and set a club record of 32 games unbeaten in the league.
Cristiano Ronaldo's teammates have issued a strong defence of his value to Real Madrid as the Portuguese striker grapples with a barren streak that has sparked a debate about his place in the team.
Barcelona will be looking to follow up Sevilla's UEFA Cup triumph to complete a clean sweep of the two European trophies for one country for the first time since 1997.
Eden Hazard finally scored his first goal for Real Madrid as his side beat second-placed Granada 4-2 in a highly entertaining game at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday to go four points clear at the top of La Liga.
Atletico Madrid striker Mario Mandzukic's early goal secured a 1-0 win over Real Madrid and a 2-1 aggregate success to clinch the Spanish Super Cup and gain some revenge for last season's Champions League final defeat.
Real Madrid put their title defence back on track with a comfortable 3-1 win over Real Sociedad at Anoeta on Sunday, despite missing several key players. Sociedad defender Kevin Rodrigues scored at both ends and Borja Mayoral and Gareth Bale netted Madrid's other goals to help them equal the consecutive scoring record of 73 games set by Pele's Santos between 1961 and 1963.
Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale lashed home to deny La Liga champions Barcelona victory in an ill-tempered 'Clasico' which finished 2-2.
The 28-year-old Argentine has scored seven goals from direct free-kicks in this year's La Liga, the latest in Sunday's 5-0 triumph over Espanyol.
Triple European champions Manchester United and their under-fire coach Louis van Gaal face a tricky task against little-known Midtjylland in the last 32 of the Europa League following Monday's draw.
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