Two brilliant strikes from Isco and a late goal from Alvaro Morata gave Spain a spectacular 3-0 win over Italy, their nearest challengers in Group G, to move into the driving seat for automatic qualification to the 2018 World Cup.
Manchester City stumbled to the most unexpected defeat of the Premier League season on Saturday before neighbours Manchester United began their brave new world under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a glorious reminder of long-forgotten attacking swagger.
Messi, who has struggled for form in recent weeks due to a niggling injury, looked on a mission to grab the winner and after twice coming close he completed his treble to put Barca ahead in the 85th minute, reacting quickly to a poor Sevilla clearance to dink the ball over goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.
Barcelona said the English club breached their rights over the 17-year-old defender, a product of their youth academy.
Michael Owen scored a Liverpool beat Leeds United 3-1 to end their three-match losing streak in the Premier league.\n\n
Liverpool slumped to their third straight league defeat of the season at Portsmouth on Saturday.
A round-up of the weekend's action from Europe's leading leagues.
Barca are now second on 66 points, two behind Real who have a game in hand as they chase a first title triumph since 2012.
'I want the market to damn well close so that I know who I can count on'
Manager Gerard Houllier could sign a goalkeeper on a short-term deal with Chris Kirkland and Jerzy Dudek both sidelined through injury.
Proposals to revamp the Davis Cup into a season-ending 18-team event were backed by national federations at the International Tennis Federation annual general meeting in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.
The Liverpool striker has been suffering from various leg injuries.
At least 29 people have died so far in the fast-moving wildfire which began in California on November 8. The numbers are expected to rise.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action:
The Liverpool striker was fined two weeks' wages for the spitting incident that marred the UEFA Cup tie with Celtic.
"I am 100 percent sure I will be here next season," the Liverpool manager said.
Owen, 24, is out of contract at the end of next season and preliminary talks about a new deal have begun.
Manchester City cannot afford another defeat on Tuesday at home to Barcelona, who thumped them 4-0 two weeks ago, having taken just one point from their last two Champions League Group C matches.
Philips on Wednesday said it will double the capacity of its software centre in India, even as the company is looking at shifting the back-end operations from other countries to its Shared Service Centre in Kolkata.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is under pressure to break up his misfiring attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale when he takes the La Liga leaders to Alaves on Saturday.
"I can't tell you how many times it has happened to me now," the England striker said.
Luis Enrique is set to leave a mixed legacy when he departs Barcelona but the coach can go out on a high by lifting a third consecutive King's Cup when his side meet Alaves in Saturday's final in Madrid.
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Marco Asensio followed up his brilliant late goal in Sunday's first leg with a stunning effort from 30 metres in the fourth minute that proved a punishing blow for the Catalans.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona have become the first sports club to reach 50 million followers on social networking website Facebook, the Spanish soccer champions said on Thursday.
Liverpool's boss paid tribute to the ace striker after he notched his 100th premier league goal.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
It was a night of mixed emotions at the Camp Nou on Saturday as FC Barcelona's veteran midfielder and captain, Xavi, known for his slick short passes, played his final La Liga match against Deportivo la Coruna.
Standard Chartered Bank has revised upward India's economic growth to 7 per cent during 2003-04, and said fiscal deficit was not a matter of concern as long as the high growth in GDP is sustained.
King's Cup holders Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in their quarter-final first leg to end a nine-and-a-half year barren spell at home of the Basque side while Atletico Madrid crushed Eibar on Thursday.
The historic rivals will meet again twice in August in the Spanish Super Cup and this International Champions Cup match set the entertainment bar high, with Barcelona maintaining their 100 per cent record in pre-season.
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.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
'We were not lying yesterday when we said in the press conference Iran is a tough team'
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.
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