Spanish soccer's 'El Clasico' encounters between Barcelona and Real Madrid will happen in December and April, two of the most anticipated games of the 2016-17 Primera Division season whose fixtures were announced on Friday. Defending champions Barca host Real on Dec. 4 at the Camp Nou. The reverse fixture will take place on April 23, at the Bernabeu stadium, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirmed after the draw. As the La Liga season kicks off, Barca will begin their title defence at home to Real Betis on Aug. 21.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid dropped points at home for only the second time this season.
Here are some of the other events -- in pictures -- that made news last week.
After an even first 45 minutes, strikes from Pablo Sarabia and Wissam Ben Yedder stunned the Catalans and left them needing a second-leg comeback at the Nou Camp for the second consecutive round in the competition.
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.
Images from football matches played across Europe.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid produced a gutsy performance to earn a 1-0 win at Sevilla, on Sunday, which took them level on points at the top of La Liga
Sevilla drew level on points with Barcelona at the top of La Liga when they snatched a 2-1 comeback victory at home to Villarreal, while champions Atletico Madrid won 1-0 in a bad-tempered clash at Getafe on Sunday.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Jose Callejon took advantage of Napoli's numerical advantage in the 48th minute of the playoff round second leg tie, handing them an away goal which, added to their 2-0 win from the first leg, effectively ended Nice's challenge as it left the French side needing to score four goals.
AC midfielder Franck Kessie scored from a penalty to give AC Milan a 2-2 draw away to Napoli in Serie A on Sunday, sparing the blushes of his goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma whose mistakes provided the hosts with both their goals. Sevilla closed in on Champions League qualification by beating struggling Real Mallorca 2-0 at home to open up a nine-point gap in the race for fourth spot in La Liga.
IMAGES from Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
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.
Sevilla joined holders Real Madrid in the last 16 of the King's Cup when a quick-fire Iago Aspas hat-trick helped secure a crushing 11-2 aggregate victory over second-division Sabadell on Wednesday.
La Liga leaders Barcelona moved 10 points clear with a 4-1 win at Real Betis on Sunday after second place Atletico Madrid slipped up at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday in a 2-0 defeat.
Paris St Germain reached the Champions League semi-finals despite a 1-0 home defeat by holders Bayern Munich as they progressed on away goals
Zinedine Zidane got off to a flying start as Real Madrid coach when Gareth Bale hit a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday after a Lionel Messi treble had fired Barcelona to the top of La Liga.
Barcelona drew 1-1 at Valencia after Real Madrid lost 1-0 away to Alaves, allowing Sevilla to go top of La Liga with a 2-1 home win over Celta Vigo on Sunday. Here are five talking points from the weekend's La Liga action.
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.
Second division Mirandes caused an upset by knocking Deportivo La Coruna out of the King's Cup on Tuesday and Sevilla joined them in the quarter-finals after making light work of city rivals Real Betis.
Champions Barcelona suffered their second defeat in three matches in La Liga on Saturday, with Michael Krohn-Dehli scoring and setting up another goal in a 2-1 victory for Sevilla.
Arsenal can cut down the deficit to Premier League leaders Manchester City and challenge for the title this campaign, midfielder Granit Xhaka said.
Barcelona's fourth defeat of the season left them seventh in the standings on 14 points after 10 games, 12 points behind leaders Atletico.
Napoli put a foot in the Europa League semi-finals with a perfectly crafted 4-1 win at VfL Wolfsburg on Thursday as Marek Hamsik scored twice in an Italian masterclass to bring cheer to beleaguered coach Rafael Benitez.
Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga was cut to two points on Saturday as they squandered a two-goal advantage to draw 2-2 at Sevilla while Real Madrid powered their way to a 3-0 home win over Eibar.
England's Harry Kane scored on his debut less than two minutes after coming on as they brushed Lithuania aside 4-0 at Wembley on Friday.
Last-minute starter Adrian Ramos scored a first-half header to give Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 victory over Sporting on Wednesday and earn a spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League with two Group F matches to spare.
Griezmann special earns Atletico 1-1 draw at Sevilla
Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale answered his critics in emphatic style.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Liverpool added another fairytale comeback to the history books as they fought back from 3-1 down against Borussia Dortmund to reach the Europa League semi-finals after Dejan Lovren's towering stoppage-time header secured a 4-3 win on Thursday.
Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick and Lionel Messi bagged a brace as Barcelona thrashed bottom side Cordoba 8-0 on Saturday to move a step closer to their fifth La Liga title in seven years.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Photographic summary of the football matches played across Spain, Italy and France
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
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