Barcelona's Joao Felix scored in the first half to secure a hard-fought 1-0 home win against his valiant parent club Atletico Madrid in a compelling LaLiga clash on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid took full advantage of Barcelona's defeat at Real Sociedad and closed to within eight points of the La Liga leaders when Adrian and Koke struck in a 2-0 win at home to Levante on Sunday.
Leaders Barcelona survived red cards for Gerard Pique and Rafael Marquez to complete a 2-1 victory over Getafe in La Liga on Saturday while Real Madrid kept pace with a 3-0 win at home to Espanyol.
Barcelona have hired Argentine Gerardo Martino to replace Tito Vilanova as coach, the Spanish champions said on Tuesday.
Messi agreed the new contract with Barcelona in July but the club did not release the usual photo of the player putting pen to paper, fuelling speculation he could depart in June 2018, when his previous deal ran out, for free.
Barcelona's inconsistency over the season had cost them the La Liga title, coach Luis Enrique has said.
With the distraction of two individual scoring records safely out of the way, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi can turn his full focus on helping the club win the major silverware that eluded them last season.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action:
But Font believes Messi's love for Barcelona, who he joined aged 13, is so deep that he could lower his salary demands in order to stay.
Nagelsmann said Lewandowski was still at a top level despite his 34 years and expected him to keep scoring an average of 40 goals a season. The striker has six LaLiga goals in five matches for Barca so far this season.
Barcelona have asked Spain's Court for Sport (TAD) to open disciplinary proceedings against La Liga chief Javier Tebas after he criticised the team's reaction to an empty bottle being thrown in from the stands during a goal celebration.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Barca's Suarez in firing line after European away goals drought
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action in La Liga.
'This is very special because of how much I suffered. My statistics show I've won five league titles in seven years.'
'If there is a possibility, I would like to contribute again because it's the club that I love and I would love for it to continue doing well, to continue growing and to continue being one of the best in the world.'
La Liga sides Barcelona, Espanyol and Girona have decided to join the general strike in Catalonia on Tuesday, Oct. 3.
Barcelona would not be allowed to play in La Liga if Catalonia broke away from Spain, the country's football league chief Javier Tebas said as tensions mounted in the region over the possibility of an independence referendum next month.
Former Barcelona defender Alba to sign for Inter Miami
IMAGES from Europa League matches played on Thursday.
Marseille cement second place with Montpellier win
Lionel Messi has played down the importance of individual achievements and said the key thing is for Barcelona to continue making history as a team after he became the La Liga club's record scorer on Sunday.
Marcelino dismissed but Valencia keep pressure on Barcelona
Lionel Messi became the first player to win 10 La Liga crowns with Barcelona and only the third player from any club to do so.
Piotr Zielinski converted two penalties for Inter Milan as they played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with Juventus.
PSG have set their sights on Messi, with PSG's players, coaches talking of their excitement about the prospect of bringing the Argentine to the French capital
Real, who have not won the title since 2017, lead the table on 74 points, four ahead of Barca with five games left and have a superior head-to-head record over the Catalans which would give them the trophy if both teams finished the season level on points.
Barcelona reclaimed second spot in the Primera Liga behind arch-rivals Real Madrid after they maintained their 100 percent record at the Nou Camp with a 2-1 comeback win over Deportivo Coruna on Sunday
'I want to be somewhere I feel wanted and respected. If that's here then I'll be delighted but if it's somewhere else then I'll be the one who decides where, not anyone else.'
Real Madrid's appeal against a yellow card shown to forward Cristiano Ronaldo in Wednesday's 2-0 La Liga win at Rayo Vallecano has been granted by the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF), the club said on Friday.
Barcelona needed Luis Suarez to be at his clinical best with a hat-trick in a 3-1 comeback win at home to modest Eibar on Sunday which put the champions level on 21 points with arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Following is a factbox detailing key numbers around Spain's El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The arch rivals meet at Barca's Nou Camp stadium in La Liga on Saturday in a match that could decide the destination of the title. Real have a four-point lead with five games left.
First meets second as Barcelona host Atletico Madrid on Saturday looking to tighten their grip on the La Liga title race. The sides are level on 48 points at the top of the table, but Barca have a game in hand on Atletico and can take a huge step towards a fifth title in seven years with an eighth consecutive win in all competitions. Indeed, Luis Enrique's men remain on course for a repeat of the treble of La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey they won last season after progressing to the semi-finals of the Cup with a come from behind 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in midweek. Yet, the European champions have been far from their best in the past week as they were outplayed by Malaga and Bilbao in the first-half before being salvaged by individual moments of magic after the break. "We are aware of the errors we need to correct," said Luis Suarez after taking his tally for the season already to 30 with the equalizer against Bilbao.
With the Catalans shorn of three of their top forwards, all eyes will be on Griezmann in his first appearance at the Camp Nou since his 120-million-euro ($133 million) move from Atletico Madrid, and not least because Barca need a win to kickstart their season.
Real Madrid can pip Barcelona to the La Liga title on Saturday even though their destiny is out of their hands, coach Zinedine Zidane said on the eve of the season finale.
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.
Second half of abandoned Rayo-Albacete will kick-off proceedings on return.
'Robert is an incredible player and he won everything with us. We are incredibly grateful to him.'
Barcelona dropped points for the third time in four league games as they were held 0-0 by local rivals Espanyol in a heated Catalan derby. Atletico Madrid moved two points clear of Barca at the top of the table, having played a game more, thanks to substitute Thomas Partey's late winner to edge past Levante 1-0. Real Madrid now trail Atletico by five points ahead of their trip to Valencia on Sunday.
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