Zlatan Ibrahimovic bagging four goals, while Juventus and Bayern Munich preserved their leads and FA Cup holders Arsenal were dumped out of the competition.
Barcelona are still trying to lure Paris St Germain centre back Thiago Silva to the Nou Camp but will look elsewhere if they fail to snare the Brazil international, coach Tito Vilanova said on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona overwhelmed Manchester City as Ivan Rakitic's strike secured a 1-0 win.
Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale answered his critics in emphatic style.
Lionel Messi dragged Barcelona back from two goals down by scoring twice to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to Valencia in a thrilling encounter.
Lionel Messi marked his 300th La Liga appearance with a record-equalling hat-trick and an assist for Neymar as Barcelona stayed hard on the heels of leaders Real Madrid with a 5-0 romp at home to Levante on Sunday.
Manchester United signed Chile forward Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal in a swap deal with midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan after a protracted transfer saga finally ended on Monday.
Hegerberg hat-trick fires Lyon to fourth straight Champions League
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.
Cristiano Ronaldo ensured Atletico Madrid fans will have bitter memories of the last local derby at the Vicente Calderon stadium by scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win for La Liga leaders Real Madrid on Saturday. Ronaldo's deflected free kick put Real in charge in the 23rd minute in the first meeting of the teams since the Champions League final in May. The prolific Portuguese killed off Atletico's resistance by winning and converting a penalty in the 71st minute and capped a harrowing night for the home side by tapping in the third in the 77th.
Barcelona look well set to wrap up the La Liga title.
Following this stunning turn-around of fortunes for Barcelona, here is a flashback of some of the best come-from-behind wins recorded in Europe's premier club competition.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Real Madrid's star striker Cristiano Ronaldo made up for his otherwise quiet night by scoring the winner to beat Barcelona 2-1 win at the CampNou in Barcelona on Saturday.
Bringing you all the news from the summer transfer window and other snippets from the soccer world...
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.
Key head-to-head battles in Saturday's "Clasico" between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Bernabeu stadium (1600 GMT)
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Real Madrid lifted the FIFA Club World Cup for a record fourth time on Saturday after thrashing local side Al Ain 4-1 in the final in Abu Dhabi with the help of impressive distance strikes in either half from midfielders Luka Modric and Marcos Llorente.
Bayern Munich and Barcelona registered easy wins, while Manchester United came from behind to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 and Chelsea surrendered the top spot after a 1-1 at home against Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona dismissed any notion they are a declining force when they won 2-0 at Manchester City on Tuesday to virtually guarantee their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the seventh successive season.
Atletico Madrid have a chance to pile more King's Cup misery on neighbours Real after eliminating Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday to set up a last-four clash against the bitter city rivals they beat in last year's final.
Lionel Messi may lack a World Cup for Argentina but his 10 years with Barcelona have seen him rewrite the history books and become symbolic with the club's golden era.
Luis Figo was one of the most talented, successful and exciting players of his generation, leading Portugal to a series of impressive performances which put many bigger countries to shame.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of Wednesday's group matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City are not yet ready to compete with Europe's elite but his side will be confident of opening their Champions League campaign with victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Tuesday.
An insatiable Lionel Messi scored for the eighth game in a row in all competitions as La Liga champions Barcelona saw off a gutsy Girona side 2-0 to go five points clear at the top of the standings.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Neymar scored twice as Barcelona reached the Champions League semi-finals.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Robert Lewandowski scored a brilliant free kick to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in their last Champions League Group D outing on Tuesday, ending the 100 percent record of their opponents. The Poland international curled the ball over the wall and into the corner of the net in the 28th minute but the goal had no impact on the final standings with Atletico guaranteed top spot and Bayern in second place.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Following Bayern Munich's brilliant 7-4 (on aggregate) win over FC Porto in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, here's a look at a few memorable come-from-behind victories in Europe's premier football competition.
A summary of Thursday night's UEFA Champions League matches.
A summary of Tuesday night's matches in the UEFA champions League.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
The policy of buying players cheap and selling them for a higher price a few years on is a business model that worked well for clubs like Atletico Madrid and FC Porto. With the transfer window open for the next few weeks, Rediff.com takes a look at clubs that made smart deals over the years.
