IMAGES from football matches played across Europe on Sunday
With a game in hand, Hansi Flick's Barca are top on 66 points, three ahead Real in second
Barcelona snapped their four-match winless streak in LaLiga with an emphatic 7-1 victory over Valencia on Sunday.
Kylian Mbappe bagged his first hat-trick for Real Madrid as the LaLiga champions easily beat bottom-club Real Valladolid 3-0 on Saturday
Carlo Ancelotti's side were then reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute when Vinicius Jr was shown a straight red card for slapping Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.
Barcelona joined Real Madrid, Atletico and Real Sociedad in the semi-finals, with the draw set to take place on Wednesday.
Kylian Mbappe was in inspired form, scoring twice to guide Real Madrid to a comeback 4-1 win over visitors Las Palmas on Sunday.
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has no complaints over his squad and fully trusts the club, the German said on the eve of Saturday's LaLiga opening clash at Valencia.
Xavi played for Barcelona for 17 years, making 767 appearances and winning 25 trophies, including four Champions League titles and eight LaLiga crowns.
Barcelona, reduced to 10-man in the last half-an-hour, clinched a narrow win over Valencia in their La Liga match on Sunday.
Milan missed the chance to jump to second and remained fourth with 48 points
Tebas said he shared the 22-year-old's frustration over the lack of action to eradicate racism in Spain, and took aim at soccer organisers and Spanish authorities, saying neither were doing enough to clamp down on racism.
Real Sociedad will join Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, and LaLiga champions Barcelona in Europe's elite club competition next season.
Marco Asensio and Vinicius Jr. scored second-half goals to earn Real Madrid a solid 2-0 win over struggling Valencia.
Pele scored 643 goals in 19 seasons for Brazilian side Santos.
Real Madrid star Vinicius racially attacked for 10th time this season.
Blind, 32, has an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in his chest to detect an irregular heart beat and deliver a life-saving shock in the event of sudden cardiac arrest.
Lionel Messi became the all-time top scorer for a single soccer club on Tuesday after scoring his 644th goal for Barcelona during their La Liga match against Real Valladolid, surpassing Pele's record goal haul for Brazilian side Santos.
Amsterdam soccer club Ajax has had 11 players tested positive for COVID-19 a day before their Champions League tie against Danish side FC Midtjylland on Tuesday, RTL Nieuws reported on Monday.
IMAGES from soccer matches played across Europe on Sunday.
La Liga champions Barcelona fell to their first defeat in three games under new coach Quique Setien as they were beaten 2-0 away at Valencia on Saturday. Barca are still top of the standings on 43 points after 21 games but second-placed Real Madrid, who are also on 43, can go three points clear at the summit if they beat Real Valladolid away from home on Sunday.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his first three goals for Barcelona in a 4-1 win at Valencia, but Inter Milan suffered a shock 2-0 home defeat by Sassuolo. Images from the football matches played on Sunday.
The European champions, who were humbled 3-0 by tiny Eibar last week, took a fortuitous lead when Valencia midfielder Daniel Wass nodded a Dani Carvajal cross into his own net in the eighth minute after former Arsenal defender Gabriel Paulista had failed to clear the danger.
Barcelona have asked Spain's Court for Sport (TAD) to open disciplinary proceedings against La Liga chief Javier Tebas after he criticised the team's reaction to an empty bottle being thrown in from the stands during a goal celebration.
The rapid outbreak of coronavirus pandemic across Italy has been linked to the UEFA Champions League match between Italian club Atalanta and Spain's Valencia at the San Siro stadium in Milan on Feburary 19. The first cases of the virus were reported in northern Italy in the week that Atalanta enjoyed one of the finest nights in their history, beating visitors Valencia 4-1 in the Champions League last-16, first-leg match.
Real will meet the winners of Thursday's semi between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in Sunday's showpiece at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Jeddah.
Under-fire Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has been priced odds-on to be the first Premier League manager to leave his job this season.
Lionel Messi squeezed home a stoppage-time penalty to grab a 3-2 win for champions Barcelona at Valencia in a thrilling and controversial La Liga match on Sunday.
'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'
Bayern Munich thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 5-1, while Barcelona came from behind to beat Valencia 3-1 in LaLiga at Camp Nou on Sunday.
A stunning late goal from Benfica's Lima left Juventus's hopes of reaching a home Europa League final hanging in the balance after a 2-1 first-leg defeat, while Sevilla won 2-0 against Valencia in Thursday's all-Spanish last-four clash.
Images from football matches played in the La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga on Saturday.
Images from Saturday's La Liga action.
Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben is doubtful for their Champions League Group F encounter against Valencia on Wednesday but team mate Franck Ribery is set to play.
Barcelona forward Neymar finds himself at the centre of unwanted media attention in Spain as his struggling team's promising season threatens to unravel after a run of defeats. The Brazilian has not scored in his last five games and is being portrayed as one of the reasons for Barca's woes after three straight La Liga losses has seen them caught by Atletico Madrid, who have also knocked them out of the Champions League. Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia this week focused on the 24-year-old's conduct off the pitch, particularly his "trips away, parties at unadvisable times and commercial commitments". He visited Brazil in March for his sister's birthday party. TV programme 'El Dia Despues (The Day After) on Tuesday showed Neymar arguing with Jordi Ala during Sunday's home defeat by Valencia after the defender chose not to pass to him. Camera footage showed Neymar appearing to swear at his team mate. Barcelona play Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday looking to get their title bid back on track with the cover of newspaper Mundo Deportivo focusing on Neymar, pictured between Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, below the headline 'This cannot go on'.
Chelsea only have themselves to blame if they suffer an early Champions League exit on Tuesday, manager Andre Villas-Boas said on the eve of their final Group E match against Valencia.
Brazilian Malcom, who started in place of Lionel Messi, curled home in the 58th minute to pull Barcelona level after Lucas Vazquez had fired Real Madrid ahead early on.
Images from the Champions League second-leg match played on Wednesday.
Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale has expressed disappointment over the sacking of Rafael Benitez as a manager, saying that it was really sad to see him go. "I had a very good relationship with Rafa, obviously it was a big disappointment to see him go," Bale was quoted as saying by goal.com. Benitez was replaced by former French great Zinedine Zidane after just seven months in charge due to club's recent slump in form in the La Liga. Zidane's appointment seemed to be in favour of Real as they thrashed Deportivo La Coruna 5-0 in La Liga match.