Stuttering Villarreal closed to within a point of the Champions League qualification places when a second-half Cedric Bakambu double secured a 2-1 comeback win at home to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored on his return from injury as Real Madrid thrashed Osasuna 5-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday to equal the club's 1960-61 record of 15 successive La Liga wins.
Cristiano Ronaldo's bullet header helped Real Madrid to a 2-0 victory .
A Gareth Bale header and a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty gave Real Madrid a much-needed 2-0 victory over Eibar in La Liga on Sunday, following their hammering by leaders Barcelona last weekend, and put them six points off the top of the standings.
Luis Suarez completed a hat-trick thanks to a cheeky Lionel Messi assist from the penalty spot as Barcelona crushed Celta Vigo 6-1 to restore their three-point cushion over Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
zidane Image: Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane. Photograph: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images. An elated but pragmatic Zinedine Zidane has quickly turned his mind from the Champions League victory against AS Roma to Real Madrid's seemingly impossible task to catch Barcelona in La Liga. Real are getting better under Zidane, unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions after Wednesday's 2-0 win in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Rome, thanks to a brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo. But only a couple of hours earlier, Barcelona had left Real and Atletico Madrid with a tough task to overhaul them in the league race when they secured a six-point cushion with a 3-1 win at Sporting Gijon. With 14 matches to go for all the teams in La Liga, Barcelona have 60 points to Atletico's 54 and Real's 53 and are favourites to win a sixth title in eight seasons. "We are seven points behind and it will be difficult, but we are giving it everything and we are all happy," Zidane was quoted as saying on the Real website (www.realmadrid.com).
Real were left with 10 men before halftime when Mbappe saw a straight red after taking down Alaves midfielder Antonio Blanco as the referee overturned his initial decision of booking him with a yellow after consulting with VAR.
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Here are five talking points from the weekend's action in Spain.
La Liga leaders Barcelona earned a narrow 1-0 win over Real Valladolid to move seven points clear at the top, while Real Madrid lost 2-1 at home against Girona to fall to third behind Atletico Madrid.
The Frenchman nodded home an Isco cross after 55 minutes against a well-organised Granada side that attacked with pace.
A summary of Saturday's action in the LaLiga, Serie A and Bundesliga.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action in La Liga.
Real Sociedad are fourth in the table on 28 points, three points behind third-placed Sevilla.
In-form Luciano Vietto hit two second half goals as Villarreal, down to 10 men for the final 10 minutes, cruised to a 3-0 home victory over Deportivo La Coruna to go fifth in La Liga.
Images from La Liga matches played on Monday.
Villarreal's La Liga match at home to Celta Vigo was suspended shortly before the final whistle when a smoke bomb was thrown on to the pitch on Saturday.
Lionel Messi celebrated his sixth Ballon D'Or award with a brilliant hat-trick as Barcelona moved back top of La Liga with an emphatic 5-2 victory over Real Mallorca.
Barcelona have emerged as favourites to be crowned champions after one defeat in their last 22 Liga games.
Messi and Iniesta shared the Barca dressing between 2005 and 2018, together winning nine La Liga titles, four Champions League crowns and won two trebles in 2009 and 2015.
Mondo Duplantis was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, while American gymnast Simone Biles bagged the top women's honour at the Laureus World Sports Awards.
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.
Real Madrid kept alive their hopes of overhauling La Liga leaders Barcelona when a James Rodriguez stunner set them on their way to a serene 3-0 home victory over struggling Almeria on Wednesday.
Barcelona beat local rivals Espanyol 2-0 in the Catalan derby on Saturday to maintain their 10 point lead at the top of La Liga, while Real Madrid scraped a 3-2 win against bottom side Huesca on Sunday.
Real Madrid can bury Atletico's hopes of winning La Liga with a third straight victory against their city neighbours on Sunday that would leave the capital's second club trailing by six points.
Griezmann special earns Atletico 1-1 draw at Sevilla
The league said last week that the deal, called 'Boost La Liga', would strengthen its clubs and give them funds to spend on new infrastructure and modernisation projects as well as increasing how much they could spend on players' salaries.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, find themselves in the bizarre situation of having made poor starts to the campaign
Lionel Messi was lauded by opposition supporters on Sunday after he scored an outstanding hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-1 win at Real Betis, which put the Catalans 10 points clear at the top of La Liga with 10 games remaining.
Champions Real Madrid were beaten at home by promoted Cadiz, while Barcelona fell to their first defeat in La Liga under new coach Ronald Koeman as they lost to Getafe.
Barcelona followed up last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Real Madrid with another reverse on Saturday, squandering a host of chances to lose 1-0 at home to Celta Vigo and handing the lead in La Liga to their arch rivals.
A Champions League spot, two Europa League berths and two relegation places are to be claimed or avoided in what promises to be a nerve-wracking finale to the La Liga season on Sunday.
Anyone who has watched the Argentine in recent years knows he can do things with a football that seem to defy the laws of physics and he does not fit into the mould of a traditional striker.
Struggling Rayo win at Valladolid after late penalty save
Barcelona needed Luis Suarez to be at his clinical best with a hat-trick in a 3-1 comeback win at home to modest Eibar on Sunday which put the champions level on 21 points with arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Real, who have not won the title since 2017, lead the table on 74 points, four ahead of Barca with five games left and have a superior head-to-head record over the Catalans which would give them the trophy if both teams finished the season level on points.
Real Madrid opened a three-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo scored his eighth goal of the campaign in a 3-1 victory at home to promoted Las Palmas on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Real Mallorca made a dream return to La Liga with a 2-1 victory over Eibar at the Estadi Son Moix on Saturday, less than two months after sealing back-to-back promotions to rejoin Spain's soccer elite.
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.
Spain's league programme will go ahead this weekend after a Madrid court upheld a challenge from six breakaway clubs and blocked proposed strike action.
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