Players from Brazilian club Gremio took to the field wearing masks in protest at having to play a soccer match as fears over coronavirus grow in the South American nation. The protest comes as players and clubs across South America are starting to complain at decisions by footballing authorities to order games to be played, but behind closed doors.
Zinedine Zidane has stepped down as Real Madrid coach with immediate effect five days after his team were pipped to the La Liga title by city rivals Atletico Madrid, the Spanish club said on Thursday.
Angel Correa saw La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid snatch a 2-1 victory away to Granada on Saturday
Playing without crowd will be peculiar: Suarez
Twelve of Europe's leading soccer clubs from England, Italy and Spain announced a breakaway league on Sunday but after 48 hours of massive pressure from fans, politicians and even British royals the six English clubs backed out
The France international is widely expected to move to Liga champions Barcelona at the end of this campaign.
Lionel Messi was back in scoring business for Barcelona on Sunday, leading them to a resounding 4-0 win at home against Villarreal in a near-perfect La Liga opener for the Catalans under new coach Ronald Koeman.
Barcelona wasted a golden opportunity to extend their lead at the top of LaLiga as they were shocked 1-0 at lowly Almeria on Sunday thanks to a first-half strike by El Bilal Toure.
Here are five talking points from the weekend in La Liga:
Lionel Messi created a goal and scored another as Barcelona came from behind to beat struggling Rayo Vallecano 3-1 at home on Saturday and stay seven points clear at the top of La Liga.
In other ties, Serie A champions Juventus face Europa League winners Atletico Madrid and Barcelona take on Olympique Lyonnais.
'Barca is a great club that has to win the Champions League, that's why I came here.'
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'I take responsibility for my errors and if they existed, it was only to make Barcelona better and stronger'.
The 20-year-old has scored 11 goals in 11 games in all competitions this season, including four goals in the Champions League.
Late Griezmann strike ends Atletico's away day hoodoo
Karim Benzema fired Real Madrid to a 1-0 win in the city derby against Atletico Madrid on Saturday which underlined Real's La Liga title credentials. Bayern Munich scored three goals in the opening 26 minutes to defeat Mainz 05 3-1 away on Saturday and go two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with their sixth straight win.
UEFA said the Portuguese would face a hearing on Thursday for "improper conduct" during the last-16 second leg match, where Juventus completed a 3-2 aggregate win.
The Dutchman burst through the middle of the pitch and laid the ball off for Messi to dribble into the net for an 18th league goal of the season, extending his lead at the top of the scoring charts.
Aubameyang joined Arsenal from German club Borussia Dortmund in 2018 for a fee of around 58 million pounds ($79 million) as former manager Arsene Wenger's last signing.
Images from Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Federico Valverde has already made over 100 appearances at senior level - while winning silverware and recognition both with his current side Madrid and country Uruguay, and showing the physical, technical and mental attributes to become one of world football's outstanding midfielders.
Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta lifted a ninth Liga title after his side beat Real Sociedad 1-0 on Sunday in an emotional final game for the midfielder at the Nou Camp while Fernando Torres scored twice in his final game for Atletico Madrid.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said Argentina look lost and have no leadership after the 3-0 loss to Croatia which left them on the verge of a disastrous early exit from the World Cup, in an audio message leaked to Spanish and Argentine radio stations.
Real Sociedad won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao in a Basque Country derby to end its winless run and strengthen its hold on third place in the Spanish league
Lionel Messi scored one penalty and missed another as Barcelona beat Real Valladolid 1-0 on Saturday to open up a seven-point lead at the top of La Liga.
Neto will sign a four-year deal with Barcelona that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2022-23 season and he will replace Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen who moved the other way on Wednesday.
Barcelona have been 'harmed' by this week's La Liga fixture schedule, coach Ernesto Valverde said on Wednesday.
Alaba strike on Clasico debut gives Real Madrid 2-1 win at Barcelona.
Hulk signs two-year contract with Atletico Mineiro.
Frenchman Griezmann has a 100 million euro ($119 million) release clause in his contract and Spanish media reported that Barcelona are ready to pay it.
An early goal from Pablo Sarabia earned Spain a 1-0 win in Switzerland on Thursday, their first victory of this year's UEFA Nations League.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday
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.
La Liga leaders Barcelona beat Real Madrid 1-0 to all but knock their rivals out of the title race on Saturday, while second-placed Atletico Madrid stayed seven points behind the Catalans with a 2-0 win at Real Sociedad on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Chelsea have topped the spending list with Manchester United not far behind, but West Ham United's business epitomises the TV riches which give all Premier League clubs spending power that only the elite teams in Spain or Germany can dream of.
The club did not give a timeframe on his return.
Courtois's first game for Real could be against Atletico in the UEFA Super Cup on Aug 15 although the fact he has trained little since reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup with Belgium means coach Julen Lopetegui may opt to play Keylor Navas instead.
The Belgian forward came off the bench to make his Real debut in Saturday's 3-2 win over Levante, having had his start to life at the club hit by a thigh injury the day before the La Liga season began.
