Barca dominated possession and Luis Suarez had several early chances but it was Villarreal who took the lead with Denis Cheryshev redirecting a Mario Gaspar shot past keeper Claudio Bravo on the half hour.
Cavani, 31, scored two goals in the Round of 16 win over Portugal, then limped off with a calf injury and has been fighting to get fit in time for the showdown in Nizhny Novgorod.
Wildcard entrant Sharapova returned to action this week following her 15-month ban, but has looked like she never really went away in winning her three matches so far without dropping a set.
The calls for calm towards frenzied fans before Manchester United travel to Liverpool were at odds with manager Alex Ferguson's desire on Friday to simply talk about "a game of football".
That was also Messi's 500th goal for Barcelona.
A decision to include Japan and Qatar as the invited sides to this year's Copa has also done little to generate faith in the new leadership, with the tournament usually featuring the 10 South American nations plus two invited teams, although they are generally from elsewhere in the Americas.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 400th goal for Real Madrid as Zinedine Zidane's side closed in on a first La Liga title since 2012, easing to a 4-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday while Neymar hit a hat-trick for Barcelona, who thrashed Las Palmas 4-1.
World champions France had eight players, one less than former holders Spain, in international players' association FIFPro's 55-name shortlist for its World XI of 2018 award.
Athletic Bilbao have proudly resisted pressure to abandon their policy of only recruiting players of Basque origin, making it all the more impressive that they are the club standing between Barcelona and a record-extending 27th King's Cup.
The second seeded Indo-Russian pair needed just over an hour to get the better of the Argentine team of Gisela Dulko and Paola Suof 6-2, 6-3.
Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina recovered from a second-set lapse against Timea Bacsinszky and Alberta Brianti to advance to the doubles quarter-finals of the Indian Wells WTA Premier event.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique had a nerve-racking experience having to watch their stellar run from the sidelines.
This season's FA Cup favourites Tottenham Hotspur were held to a 0-0 draw at third tier Stevenage Sunday but Liverpool laid their claim to be the real frontrunners with a 6-1 fifth-round thrashing of Brighton & Hove Albion.
A majestic solo dribble shredded Chelsea's defence before Messi played in Dembele for the second and the Argentine maestro killed the tie off when he smashed a third through the legs of Courtois again in the second half.
Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez returned after a nine-match absence but failed to inspire Liverpool to victory in a cagey 0-0 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Monday.
Manchester City have never gone past the semi-final stage of Europe's premier club competition.
From a Sri Lanka cricket legend Kumar Sangakkara's final Test innings, Virender Sehwag's felicitation ceremony, FC Barcelona's Luis Suarez celebrating the La Liga title with his family, these and many more scintillating moments are frozen in time in this beautiful photo-feature.
Barcelona's rampant trio of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi all found the net at the weekend and unsung Leicester City found themselves in the record books when their England striker Jamie Vardy scored for the 11th straight game.
Setien was named Barcelona coach late on Monday, tasked with the job of restoring the club's iconic passing style, but the appointment represents a huge gamble for the Catalans given the 61-year-old's lack of success at the highest level.
As Manchester City fans left Goodison Park after a 2-0 victory over Everton on Wednesday that sent their team back to the top of the Premier League, they aimed their chants across adjacent Stanley Park to title rivals Liverpool.
Barcelona's eight-game winning run was halted following a 2-2 draw with Valencia, Atletico Madrid lost 1-0 at Real Betis and a resurgent Real Madrid secured their fourth win in a row by beating Alaves 3-0.
Paco Alcacer enjoyed a rare outing for Barcelona by scoring twice in the club's 2-1 La Liga win over Sevilla at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
Messi's first act as Barcelona captain was to tell the club's fans at a pre-season friendly in August against Boca Juniors that he and his teammates "will do everything possible so that beautiful and desired cup returns here to the Nou Camp".
Injured striker Robin van Persie is expected to miss Manchester United's Capital One Cup tie against Liverpool on Wednesday but could be fit for Saturday's Premier League clash with West Bromwich Albion.
Goal-happy Manchester City continued where they left off at Manchester United on Sunday as they came from behind to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 5-2 on Wednesday to march into the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
Barcelona retained the King's Cup with a 2-0 victory over Sevilla to complete a domestic double.
Barcelona thrashed Sporting Gijon 6-1 to go top of La Liga on a dramatic night in Spain on Wednesday as Luis Enrique announced he was stepping down as the Catalan club's coach at the end of the season.
Manager Brendan Rodgers has ended whatever honeymoon period new striker Mario Balotelli was enjoying at Anfield, telling him he needs to start scoring goals after finding the net just once in seven appearances for Liverpool.
Levante claim that Barcelona's teenage defender Chumi Brandariz, who played in the first leg, was ineligible to take part in the match because he was suspended.
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.
Promoted Alaves dealt champions Barcelona a shock 2-1 defeat at the Nou Camp on Saturday while Cristiano Ronaldo returned from injury to help Real Madrid thrash Osasuna 5-2 and go two points clear at the top of La Liga. With Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta on the bench, Barcelona went behind to the visitors in the 39th minute before Frenchman Jeremy Mathieu equalised in the 46th. Ibai Gomez then scored the winner in the 64th.
European heavyweights Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain all maintained their leads and Benfica toppled Sporting Lisbon.
Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna, who are touted as India's best bet for a tennis medal in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, have been seeded fourth and will be up against the Australian duo of Samantha Stosur and John Peers in their opening mixed doubles match at the Games.
France meet Belgium in a World Cup semi-final on Tuesday. Here is a look at some of the key head-to-head duels which could prove decisive.
Under the new system, half the votes would belong to the players and coaches of the world's 211 national teams and half to the public, who will take part via an online ballot, and selected media representatives.
Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona overwhelmed Manchester City as Ivan Rakitic's strike secured a 1-0 win.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez secured victory over nine-man Atletico Madrid in La Liga's top of the table clash, while Juventus won a 12th straight Serie A game to stay hot on the heels of leaders Napoli.
Luis Suarez struck twice in three minutes as Uruguay beat Peru 2-0 in an enthralling encounter on Tuesday to reach the Copa America final and remain on course for a record 15th title.
The Reds' manager believes his team has the ability to finish in the top four and qualify for Champions League next season.
Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez can show Liverpool why he would have made the perfect replacement for Luis Suarez when the Chilean travels to Anfield in the Premier League on Sunday.
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