Barcelona forward Lionel Messi set a La Liga record of 253 goals when he grabbed a hat-trick in Saturday's 5-1 win at home to Sevilla, the latest milestone for the four-times World Player of the Year.
Defender Gerard Pique grabbed a rare winner and Lionel Messi scored yet another beauty as Barcelona came from behind to beat Sevilla 2-1 at the Nou Camp on Sunday and reclaim an eight-point lead at the top of La Liga.
A late header by Imanol Agirretxe gave Real Sociedad, who are without a coach, a 2-1 victory over 10-man Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Sunday.
From comments about the healthy relationship shared between Barca trio -- Messi, Suarez and Neymar, to questions about his goal drought in away matches, an angry Ronaldo had the response to it all
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane reckons Cristiano Ronaldo is on top form as the Portuguese looks to increase his Champions League goals tally when they visit AS Roma in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday.
'I'm very happy and I can say that 2016 was the best year of my career, the trophy shows that people aren't blind and watch the games.'
Atletico Madrid surrendered top spot in La Liga to Barcelona when they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to 10-man Sevilla in a fiercely contested La Liga clash on Sunday.
Lionel Messi will be working "full time" to shake off the hamstring injury sustained on Sunday that will sideline him for six to eight weeks, Barcelona's Argentine World Player of the Year said on Tuesday.
A magical Lionel Messi goal, the first of a personal double, led treble-chasing Barcelona to a 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the King's Cup final on Saturday.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Portugal international Goncalo Guedes fired Valencia into the lead in the 35th minute with a thumping shot from inside the area which was too powerful for Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
'Will I be playing at Barca next season? It's an unknown'
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is still not satisfied despite winning five trophies in 2015 and is aiming to do even better next year.
Joao Miranda and new signing Mario Mandzukic led Atletico Madrid to a 2-1 home win in La Liga on Saturday as visitors Eibar were unable to cope with the aerial threat of the champions.
The suggestion that Spain need to change their playing style is already meeting resistance even though another disappointing performance at a major soccer tournament suggests that tiki-taka has run its course. In many countries, a defeat as comprehensive as the one Spain suffered against Italy in Euro 2016 on Monday, when they were outplayed and lucky to lose only 2-0, would have led to calls to knock everything down and start again. In Spain, however, where many are proud of having such a distinctive style of play, there are plenty of voices calling for the team to continue trying to pass the ball all the way into the goal.
Spain's biggest selling sports daily Marca summed it up in Monday's headline after Barcelona wrapped up a fifth La Liga title in seven years and their 23rd overall on Sunday: 'Messi's League'.
Villarreal continued their impressive revival after a season in the second division when Jeremy Perbet and Jonathan Pereira struck in a 2-1 win at home to Espanyol in La Liga on Thursday.
La Liga's reputation as the epicenter of world soccer talent has been bruised by the world record smashing sale of Neymar to Paris St Germain and how Barcelona react to the departure of one of their leading players will define the new season in Spain.
Following a bright start to the season it was another disappointing display by Villarreal, who have one win from seven games in La Liga, before the return at El Madrigal in two weeks.
For all Vicente del Bosque's confidence that he has the right balance of experience and youth to return Spain to their familiar place on the winner's rostrum, questions remain about his best starting line-up ahead of Euro 2016.
The draw interrupted a run of four straight league wins for Zinedine Zidane's side and left them second on 67 points after 31 games, three behind leaders Atletico who thrashed Eibar 5-0 earlier in the day.
Alvaro Morata again proved decisive from the bench by striking a late winner against Athletic Bilbao and firing a lacklustre Real Madrid to the top of La Liga on Sunday. The Spain international has been afforded limited opportunities in his first season back at Real following two years with Juventus, struggling to usurp first choice forwards Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Morata has made just four league starts, but has scored four times in all competitions.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Treble-chasing Barcelona are exactly where they want to be as they prepare for two matches this week that could make or break coach Luis Enrique's first season in charge.
Barcelona have been haunted by their recent failures in the Champions League and there are concerning signs for the Catalans as they prepare for Tuesday's last-16 first leg away to Olympique Lyonnais.
The Bavarians have now won the German league title a record 29 times.
Heavyweight trio Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea kept up their 100 per cent starts to the Premier League season this weekend.
IMAGES from the soccer matches played in Spain and Italy on Saturday
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.
Real Madrid continued their impressive start to the new year with Karim Benzema giving them a 1-0 victory in the King's Cup quarter-final first-leg tie away to Espanyol on Tuesday.
Villarreal landed a stunning blow on a potential rival for a European qualification berth when Giovani dos Santos and Ikechukwu Uche each struck twice in a 5-1 drubbing of Real Sociedad in La Liga on Monday.
Whatever Karim Benzema does in a Real Madrid shirt his achievements are generally overshadowed by the exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo yet the France forward has a splendid Champions League record of his own.
Zinedine Zidane got off to a flying start as Real Madrid coach when Gareth Bale hit a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday after a Lionel Messi treble had fired Barcelona to the top of La Liga.
Lionel Messi struck a spectacular free kick, scored another goal and set up two more in a 4-1 victory for Barcelona over nine-man city rivals Espanyol in the first leg of their King's Cup last-16 clash on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Not content with setting a record of 17 goals for one edition of the Champions League last season, Cristiano Ronaldo is already well on the way towards breaking Lionel Messi's La Liga best haul of 50 goals in one campaign.
The result also means second-placed Real Sociedad can reclaim top spot if they beat Eibar on Sunday.
Thomas Partey scored his first goal for Atletico Madrid as they reached the last 16 of the King's Cup with a 1-0 home victory over third-tier Reus on Thursday that secured a 3-1 aggregate success.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti fended off questions about his future after the Champions League holders were dumped out in the semi-finals by Juventus 3-2 on aggregate on Wednesday.
Arsenal led a list of nine clubs who grabbed a second win in as many games in the Europa League group phase as France striker Olivier Giroud scored his 100th goal for the club in a 4-2 win at BATE Borisov on Thursday.
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