Champions Barcelona lost 2-0 at Celta Vigo while Getafe earned an important 2-0 win over Girona in their bid to secure Champions League qualification.
Third-placed Inter Milan scored twice in the last six minutes through Stefan De Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni to snatch a 2-1 win at Parma in Serie A on Sunday despite a subdued display. The scarcely-deserved victory left Inter eight points behind leaders Juventus and four adrift of second-placed Lazio with 10 games each to play.
A dominant yet wasteful Real ravaged their rivals in the first half while spurning a string of clear chances at the Santiago Bernabeu.
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.
Atletico Madrid stayed firmly on course for a surprise La Liga title triumph when Raul Garcia's header secured a 1-0 win for the leaders at home to seventh-placed Villarreal on Saturday.
Zinedine Zidane has said his side are in a delicate situation as they prepare to host arch-rivals Barcelona in a La Liga title showdown on Sunday
Barcelona beat Girona 2-0 in a Catalan derby on Sunday to maintain their five-point lead at the top of La Liga, while Real Madrid thrashed Espanyol 4-2.
Karim Benzema made history at Real Madrid, the battle for the top four continues to heat up
The draw means second-placed Atletico Madrid could close the 12-point gap with Barcelona, who are on 74 points, if they beat Celta Vigo later on Saturday.
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.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Paris Saint Germain's Neymar, Laywin Kurzawa and Leandro Paredes as well as Marseille's duo of Dario Benedetto and Jordan Amavi were given their marching orders after rival players threw punches and kicks at each other.
A controversial Gerard Deulofeu strike sent Barcelona on their way to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Malaga on Saturday as they stretched their lead at the top of La Liga.
'Barca are the best team around and when we play as we know how we are unstoppable'
Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick as Barcelona clinched a 25th La Liga title on Sunday after winning 4-2 at Deportivo La Coruna despite throwing away a two-goal lead in a thrilling game which also confirmed Depor's relegation.
France international Dembele scored 10 goals and provided 20 assists in all competitions to help Dortmund finish third in the Bundesliga last season. The team also won the German Cup.
Ajax, four-times European Cup winners who are in the knockout stages for the first time in 13 years, have enhanced their reputation as a talent factory due to the rise of homegrown Dutch players Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt.
Barcelona are in the middle of an injury crisis as they head to Valencia for Saturday's La Liga game looking to keep up with pacemaking pair Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Without injured goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen and right back Sergi Roberto for the last two games, Barca will also be missing defenders Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique after both were hurt in Wednesday's 4-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League. Pique sprained his right ankle while Alba injured his left hamstring and both are out until November.
Neymar stole the show from the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale when the Brazilian's strike set Barcelona on the way to a 2-1 win over Real Madrid in Saturday's 'Clasico' at the Nou Camp.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane denied his side were facing a crisis after they drew 1-1 at home to La Liga minnows Eibar and racked up a fourth consecutive draw for the first time in more than 10 years.
Major world record deals are here.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News that transpired on and off the football field.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo gave a ringing endorsement of new coach Zinedine Zidane and handed a rebuke to his sacked predecessor Rafa Benitez after Sunday's 5-1 La Liga victory at home to Sporting Gijon. Real have comfortably won both their matches since Zidane took over this month, a 5-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna and Sunday's demolition of lowly Gijon, and Ronaldo said the players had a better relationship with the former Real and France great, who is known as 'Zizou', than with the unpopular Benitez. The former Valencia, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Napoli manager was discarded after less than half a season in the job after an indifferent run of results left Real trailing city rivals Atletico Madrid and champions Barcelona in La Liga. "To be honest, with some coaches you have more empathy than with others," Ronaldo told reporters after netting a double at the Bernabeu. "The truth is, don't ask me why, that the players have more empathy with Zizou," the Portugal forward added.
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde will be banking on new signing Ousmane Dembele to fill the gap left by Neymar's departure as he looks to overcome off-pitch difficulties when the Catalans take on Espanyol on Saturday.
Valencia's Paco Alcacer and Dani Parejo both hit doubles in a surprise 5-1 away thrashing of high-flying Celta Vigo in La Liga on Saturday.
Barcelona hit out at the referee and his assistants for failing to award Lionel Messi's first half 'goal' in an action-packed 1-1 draw at Liga title rivals Valencia on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Lionel Messi scored within three minutes of returning to action for the first time in more than three weeks to help fire La Liga champions Barcelona to a resounding 4-0 home win over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
Coach Ernesto Valverde and midfielder Sergio Busquets were due to give a news conference before the training session but spoke to the media after training due to their late arrival.
Pedro hit a first-half hat-trick as Barcelona cruised into the last 16 of the King's Cup with a 8-1 second leg demolition of lower league Huesca at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.
Sevilla became surprise Liga leaders on Sunday after beating visiting Celta Viga 2-1 while champions Barcelona drew 1-1 at Valencia thanks to another Lionel Messi strike but are still without a victory in their last four league games.
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.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is expecting another gruelling game at Athletic Bilbao when the La Liga champions visit San Mames on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid's troubles away from home continued when they were held to a goalless draw at Alaves on Saturday, dropping points on the road for a second consecutive week and losing Uruguay international Jose Maria Gimenez to injury.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
With a fifth world player of the year award safely tucked away in the trophy cabinet, Lionel Messi can set his sights on one of the next milestones in his remarkable career: reaching 500 goals for club and country. The Barcelona and Argentina forward can add to his jaw-dropping tally of 479 in 609 official games -- 430 for Barca and 49 for his national team -- in Sunday's La Liga match at home to Athletic Bilbao. The 28-year-old from Rosario, who picked up the FIFA Ballon d'Or on Monday, is looking close to his best following a two-month injury layoff late last year and netted a hat-trick when second-placed Barca crushed Granada 4-0 at the Nou Camp last weekend in their most recent outing in Spain's top flight.
These and many more stunning photographs are encapsulated in this weekly, striking photo feature put together by Rediiff.com.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
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