Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Barcelona left it late to snatch a 1-0 win at Valencia on Sunday after Atletico Madrid's 2-0 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna was overshadowed by the death of a visiting fan hours before kickoff.
Sixteen-year-old Romelo Lukaku scored twice in nine minutes to give Anderlecht a 3-1 victory at Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday, sending the Belgians into the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Spain's soccer federation (RFEF) announced a three-year deal to play the revamped tournament in Saudi Arabia
Several players from United's first-choice starting line-up, including Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard, are resting after the World Cup and could miss the opening league fixture against Leicester City in less than two weeks' time.
Since losing two of their opening three Premier League fixtures, United have rediscovered their form to put away Burnley, Watford and Young Boys -- the last a 3-0 victory on Wednesday to begin their Champions League campaign.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Valencia midfielder Pablo Aimar was discharged from hospital on Sunday after spending the night under observation after a blow to the head.
Chelsea beat Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties on Thursday to set up an all-English Europa League final with local rivals Arsenal in Baku on May 29.
Real Madrid rekindled their hopes of challenging for the Primera Liga title with a 3-2 defeat of Santander on Saturday.
Valencia striker David Villa has torn a thigh muscle and will be out of action for around three weeks, the La Liga club said on Monday.
Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco each conjured moments of magic as Atletico Madrid recaptured top spot in La Liga from Barcelona with a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Celta Vigo on Sunday.
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.
The shock of the season saw Barca suffer their first league loss since going down 2-0 to Malaga on April 8, 2017, ending an incredible, record-breaking sequence that had lasted 43 games.
Rattled by embarrassing domestic defeats, Chelsea looked jittery before Olivier Giroud settled their nerves with a close range tap-in shortly after halftime at StamfordBridge following good work by N'Golo Kante and Willian in the build-up.
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Messi agreed the new contract with Barcelona in July but the club did not release the usual photo of the player putting pen to paper, fuelling speculation he could depart in June 2018, when his previous deal ran out, for free.
'I have a long contract still to go, I am enjoying myself and we are winning trophies. I want to continue doing this at Real Madrid'
The French forward, who joined the club in 2009, netted twice in the first-half to take his Real tally to 209 goals in 446 games, moving ahead of Mexican Hugo Sanchez into sixth place on the club's all-time top scorers list.
Inter Milan have signed Argentina midfielder Ever Banega on a three-year contract, the Serie A club said on Wednesday. The 28-year-old, who helped Sevilla lift their third straight Europa League title last season, scored five league goals in 25 appearances as they finished seventh in La Liga.
Former Real youth player Joselu pulled a goal back for Alaves in the 59th minute, powering in a header from a free kick, but Benzema rounded off the victory for second-placed Real with an exquisite solo run and goal in the 70th minute.
Valencia striker David Villa has no intention of moving to a club outside Spain, his agent was quoted as saying on Friday. The Times newspaper quoted Valencia vice president Fernando Gomez on Thursday as saying that the Primera Liga club had discussed the sale of the Spanish international to Manchester City.
Following public comments from La Liga chief Javier Tebas, who said it was "not ideal" for the second El Clasico meeting between Real and Barca last season to be played with the latter having already won the league title, the two sides will face off earlier this campaign.
There were mixed fortunes for league leaders around Europe over the weekend with Barcelona, Inter Milan and Liverpool winning but Olympique Lyon and Hoffenheim going down to defeats.
Samuel Eto'o did the star turn as Real Mallorca beat Real Madrid 3-2 in the Primera Liga.
Spanish rivals Villarreal and Valencia had to settle for a goalless draw in the first leg of their UEFA Cup semi-final.
'General Secretary Xi Jinping has greenlighted a brutal campaign of repression against Chinese Muslims, a human rights violation on a scale we haven't seen since World War II. Now, the PLA has escalated border tensions with India'
Valencia tore Real Madrid apart 3-0 on Saturday to give Barcelona the chance to wrap up the Primera Liga title as early as Sunday's game against Villarreal.
Chelsea's Marcos Alonso and Real Madrid's Nacho were notable absentees in defence, along with Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke.
Thierry Henry came off the bench to rescue a point for Barcelona as the leaders came back to draw 2-2 at Valencia in the Primera Liga on Saturday.
Real Madrid's hopes of overhauling La Liga leaders Barcelona suffered a stinging blow when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Valencia.
An early goal from Gonzalo Higuain earned Juande Ramos his first Spanish Primera Liga win as Real Madrid coach when the champions beat Valencia 1-0 on Saturday. Ramos, who replaced Bernd Schuster last week, watched Argentine striker Higuain score after only three minutes and Dutch winger Arjen Robben run riot but it needed several saves from Iker Casillas to make sure of victory for the home team.
Hamburg led a trio of former European champions into the UEFA Cup knockout phase on Thursday and previous winners Valencia also secured a last 32 place. Aston Villa and Ajax Amsterdam progressed from Group F along with Hamburg, whose 2-0 victory at Slavia Prague meant Villa qualified despite a 2-1 home defeat by Slovakia's Zilina.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona and Sevilla claimed the final two places in the King's Cup semi-finals on Thursday, Barca knocking out city rivals Espanyol 3-2 and Sevilla coming through on away goals against holders Valencia. Sevilla, the 2007 winners, will play Athletic Bilbao for a place in May's final in Valencia, while Barca take on Real Mallorca.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone may have played down the significance of Sunday's 2-1 La Liga defeat at Real Sociedad but it has raised further questions about the champions' ability to defend their title.
IMAGES from the English Premier League match played at Selhurst Park in London on Monday
They joined Valencia and Stuttgart on top of their respective divisions after weekend action in Europe's main leagues.
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