IMAGES from football matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
The Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) said on Tuesday Messi had been banned for two matches, meaning he will miss Thursday's Copa del Rey last-32 tie at Cornella and Sunday's La Liga match away to Elche.
Roundup of the matches being held across major football leagues in Europe on Sunday
Rodrygo and new recruit Jude Bellingham scored first-half goals to give Real Madrid a 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao to kick off their LaLiga season.
Man Utd sign Mount from Chelsea on five-year deal
'But I think it is time. I'm not driven by financial matters, but by my heart. I think it's the best thing for the club. I don't want to be a problem for the club in my heart.'
La Liga leaders Real Madrid were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at lowly city rivals Rayo Vallecano on Sunday as Joselu's early strike was cancelled out by Raul de Tomas' penalty, a result that could spice up the title race with surprise package Girona.
Inaki and Nico Williams encounter contrasting fortunes at the World Cup.
'Yesterday, he trained normally, and today he's taken this decision. We have accepted it. I spoke to him this morning, and he said he was leaving, and I understood.'
Real Madrid's Rodrygo struck twice and Jude Bellingham was also on target as the visitors enjoyed a 3-0 win at lowly Cadiz.
Villarreal's struggles in the Spanish league continued with a 2-1 loss at Athletic Bilbao, with striker Gerard Moreno not finishing the game because of an injury.
Bayer Leverkusen beat Freiburg 3-2 to edge closer to a first ever Bundesliga title.
Photos from soccer matches played across top European Leagues on Saturday.
Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr. scored in extra time as Real Madrid fought back to beat local rivals Atletico 3-1 and reach the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
A tenacious Barcelona frustrated Real Madrid to secure a 1-0 win over their bitter rivals in an ill-tempered Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Thursday.
Barcelona's Sergi Roberto and Robert Lewandowski struck just before halftime to give the league leaders a 2-0 home win over lowly Cadiz on Sunday in their pursuit of a 27th Spanish title.
Granada and Bilbao complete match suspended after supporter's death
In his absence, the league champions have made a lacklustre start to the season, losing their opening game to Athletic Bilbao before taking just four points from fixtures against Real Betis and Osasuna.
Sevilla, winners of the Europa League for the past two years, will play Shakhtar Donetsk in this season's semi-final.
Athletic Bilbao beat Barcelona 4-2 at home to knock them out of the Copa del Rey
Here are five talking points from the weekend in La Liga:
Hazard extra-time goal sends 10-man Real Madrid through to Copa del Rey final.
Real Madrid thrashed arch-rivals and league leaders Barcelona 4-0 to reach the Copa del Rey final
Stakeholders are confident the Spanish league season can resume in mid-June in closed stadiums without spectators, with fans not expected to be able to return to grounds until 2021.
Two goals by the dynamic Lionel Messi helped La Liga leaders Barcelona maintain their flying start to the season with a 5-1 destruction of Athletic Bilbao.
Real Sociedad won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao in a Basque Country derby to end its winless run and strengthen its hold on third place in the Spanish league
Barcelona winger Raphinha secured a 1-0 win in LaLiga for the second straight week this time at Athletic Bilbao as his side tightened their grip on top spot.
Striker Aduriz opened the scoring in the sixth minute at the San Mames with a trademark header before midfielder Garcia, who joined from Atletico Madrid last month, nodded in a second in the 24th minute.
With no fans allowed into venues and Real playing their home games at the 6,000-capacity Alfredo Di Stefano stadium while the Santiago Bernabeu is being refurbished, it will be a title race unlike any other.
Brazil lived up to expectations by smashing Bolivia 5-1 at home in their 2026 World Cup qualifiers opener on Friday.
According to widespread Spanish media reports, Netherlands coach and former Barca defender Ronald Koeman is set to be named as Setien's successor.
Images from action in the Spanish Super Cup and English Premier League
Another win would confirm that Barca are heading in the right direction after pushing the reset button following the loss of Lionel Messi in the close season due to their financial problems.
Manchester United and Liverpool, English football's two most decorated clubs, were drawn together in the last 16 of the Europa League on Friday.
Liverpool frustrated by 10-man Arsenal in League Cup semi stalemate
Images from Saturday's action in La Liga.
Real Madrid were crowned Spanish Super Cup champions after goals from Luka Modric and Karim Benzema earned them a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Barcelona pulled off a stirring comeback to overturn a two-goal deficit and reach the Copa del Rey final, beating Sevilla 3-0 after extra-time in Wednesday's semi-final second leg, to go through 3-2 on aggregate.
Spain are still favourites to finish top of Group E above Sweden, Poland and Slovakia but, after struggling to break down conservative sides such as Georgia and Greece in March, they know coming first will not be a procession.
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.
