Leaders Barcelona will have to wait at least another week to wrap up the La Liga title after Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice to lead second-placed Real Madrid to a 4-3 comeback success at home to Real Valladolid on Saturday.
Real Madrid have defied injuries to keep the pressure on leaders Barcelona and notched up over 100 La Liga goals but they now face arguably the toughest test of their title charge in an away match to Sevilla on Saturday.
Chelsea's new signing Pedro has said he took a "gamble" by leaving Spanish champions Barcelona after eight successful years, but one driven by his desire for more playing time.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action:
Barcelona won their 26th King's Cup when two goals from Pedro and one from Lionel Messi gave them a 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in coach Pep Guardiola's final match in charge on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Unbeaten La Liga leaders Barcelona ended 2012 on a high when Lionel Messi struck his 91st goal of the year in a 3-1 win at Real Valladolid while their arch-rivals Real Madrid slumped to a 3-2 defeat at Malaga.
Barcelona's bid for a fourth straight La Liga title is foundering due to their erratic away form but Tuesday's 3-1 Champions League victory at Bayer Leverkusen suggests they are unlikely to suffer the same problem in Europe.
Athletic Bilbao survived a constant state of siege to hold a weakened Barcelona to a 0-0 draw at the Nou Camp in a King's Cup last 16 first-leg match on Tuesday. La Liga leaders Barca had won 10 successive games in all competitions, scoring 31 goals in the last seven, but they ran out of ideas against their resolute Basque visitors.
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.
Arsenal have agreed terms with Barcelona to sell Cameroon international midfielder Alex Song to the Spanish side for 19 million euros ($23.36 million), the Premier League club said on Saturday.
Valencia turned up the heat on Atletico Madrid in the fight for third place in La Liga when a 3-0 derby victory at home to Levante on Monday lifted the Singapore-owned club to within a point of the champions with seven games left.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo aggravated a leg muscle injury in Saturday's 2-1 win over city rivals Atletico, the La Liga club said.
Barcelona stayed hard on the heels of La Liga leaders Real Madrid when Lionel Messi's brilliance lifted a side containing several youngsters from the club's B team to a 2-1 win at home to Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Atletico Madrid's Jackson Martinez scored his first goal for the club when he came off the bench and curled in a superb effort to seal a hard-fought 3-0 victory at Sevilla in La Liga on Sunday.
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.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
zidane Image: Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane. Photograph: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images. An elated but pragmatic Zinedine Zidane has quickly turned his mind from the Champions League victory against AS Roma to Real Madrid's seemingly impossible task to catch Barcelona in La Liga. Real are getting better under Zidane, unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions after Wednesday's 2-0 win in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Rome, thanks to a brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo. But only a couple of hours earlier, Barcelona had left Real and Atletico Madrid with a tough task to overhaul them in the league race when they secured a six-point cushion with a 3-1 win at Sporting Gijon. With 14 matches to go for all the teams in La Liga, Barcelona have 60 points to Atletico's 54 and Real's 53 and are favourites to win a sixth title in eight seasons. "We are seven points behind and it will be difficult, but we are giving it everything and we are all happy," Zidane was quoted as saying on the Real website (www.realmadrid.com).
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga and Ligue 1.
Barcelona fullback Jordi Alba has recovered from flu but is still not fit enough to feature in Wednesday's Champions League Group G game at home to Spartak Moscow, the La Liga club said on Tuesday.
Sevilla and Real Madrid kept the pressure on leaders Barcelona with home wins in the Primera Liga on Sunday.
Valencia beat leaders Barcelona 2-1 at the Mestalla to put themselves firmly in the Primera Liga title race.
Karim Benzema gave the European champions the lead in the 20th minute with an irresistible piece of control and finish after a pinpoint pass from Luka Modric.
Lionel Messi netted a superb double as Barcelona recovered from a shaky start to secure a 4-1 comeback win at rain-lashed Sevilla on Sunday that lifted the champions back to the top of La Liga.
Real Madrid closed to within three points of La Liga leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the halfway stage of the season when a Pepe header secured a laboured 1-0 win at mid-table Espanyol on Sunday.
Around 35,000 Barcelona fans went to the Nou Camp to see striker David Villa presented on Friday as the club's first signing since they won a second consecutive La Liga title last weekend.
Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale answered his critics in emphatic style.
Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw away to Levante in the Primera Liga.
Ronaldinho was in inspirational form as he returned to lead Barcelona to a 5-1 home victory over an unfortunate Real Betis in the Primera Liga on Saturday.
Barcelona need to avoid over-exuberance if they are to overturn a 2-0 deficit in Tuesday's Champions League clash at home to AC Milan, midfielder Cesc Fabregas said on Thursday.
Prolific Cristiano Ronaldo hit a 35th hat-trick for Real Madrid who swept aside Espanyol 6-0 in a ruthless attacking display in La Liga on Sunday.
The referee said in his match report he showed the card because Messi "delayed his return to his half of the pitch after the goal was scored with the intention of wasting time".
Barcelona conceded a surprise early goal but a Pedro double helped them fight back to secure a 4-1 victory at third-tier Cartagena in their King's Cup last 32, first leg on Friday.
Bayern Munich thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 5-1, while Barcelona came from behind to beat Valencia 3-1 in LaLiga at Camp Nou on Sunday.
Brazilian defender Filipe Luis scored for the second game running as Atletico Madrid beat Real Sociedad 1-0 on Tuesday to rack up a fifth straight win in La Liga and provisionally consolidate third place in the standings.
An early own goal by Luke Shaw, who deflected in a header from Luis Suarez, decided a tight first leg and gave Barca their first victory at Old Trafford in five attempts in European competition.
Iniesta has spent all of his senior career at Barcelona and is their most decorated player ever along with Lionel Messi, having lifted 31 trophies, which is soon to be 32 if Barca clinch the Liga title on Sunday at Deportivo La Coruna.
Atletico Madrid maintained a two-point lead in La Liga with a 3-0 victory at Las Palmas and Barcelona and Real Madrid stayed hard on their heels with thumping wins over Athletic Bilbao and Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
Real Madrid overcame an early howler from Sergio Ramos to beat Real Sociedad 3-1 at home on an eventful Saturday at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Gareth Bale was loudly booed by his own supporters and Luka Modric returned to his very best form.
Barcelona's 16-year-old forward Ansu Fati continued his explosive start to life in the first team by scoring and providing an assist as the La Liga champions thrashed Valencia 5-2 on Saturday.
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