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.
Coutinho, who arrived from Liverpool for a club record 165 million euros ($185.18 million) in January 2018, has so far shown little to suggest he will be able to compensate for Frenchman Ousmane Dembele's absence against Lyon in the UEFA Champions League tie.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty as Real Madrid and neighbours Atletico were held to draws leaving Barcelona with an eight-point lead at the top of La Liga and 13 matches left.
'It has been good on pitch and off pitch,' Lampard said.
Barcelona snapped a four-match winless run in La Liga with a 4-2 home victory over title rivals Sevilla on Saturday to reclaim top spot but the triumph was marred by talisman Lionel Messi fracturing his arm and being ruled out for three weeks.
Real Madrid can bury Atletico's hopes of winning La Liga with a third straight victory against their city neighbours on Sunday that would leave the capital's second club trailing by six points.
David Villa struck twice to lead Barcelona to a 5-0 rout of Real Madrid on Monday with a scintillating performance which put the champions two points clear of their arch-rivals at the top of the Spanish La Liga.
If Aubameyang's transfer to Chelsea goes through, he would return to the English top flight after seven months, having played for Chelsea's London rivals Arsenal for four years.
Gerard Pique has been caught on camera apparently telling Spain coach Vicente del Bosque that Barcelona team mate Cesc Fabregas is poised to leave the La Liga side.
Barcelona eased into the King's Cup last 16 when goals from Pedro, Cristian Tello and Neymar secured a 3-0 second-leg victory at home to third-tier Cartagena on Tuesday for a 7-1 aggregate success.
Images from the soccer matches played across Europe on Saturday.
Karim Benzema made history at Real Madrid, the battle for the top four continues to heat up
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.
As well as putting Barcelona a step closer to winning La Liga, Saturday's 1-0 home win over Levante showed that defender Eric Abidal is fit enough to play a full match after making a remarkable recovery from a liver transplant.
La Liga leaders Barcelona drew 0-0 at Huesca on Saturday and are nine points clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid, who cut the gap by beating Celta Vigo 2-0.
Brazil forward Neymar will sign a new five-year contract with Barcelona on Friday, the La Liga champions said on Monday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona cranked up the pressure on Real Madrid by moving seven points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday after sweeping aside Racing Santander 3-0 at the Nou Camp.
Unbeaten leaders Barcelona extended their near-perfect start but again suffered the defensive lapses that have plagued them this season when Lionel Messi netted twice in a 4-2 La Liga win at Real Mallorca on Sunday.
Key head-to-head battles in Saturday's "Clasico" between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Bernabeu stadium (1600 GMT)
Seemingly rudderless and leaderless, Barcelona have little time to find solutions to their dip in form but they have a chance to lift morale when they visit a distracted Real Madrid in La Liga on Saturday.
Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale lashed home to deny La Liga champions Barcelona victory in an ill-tempered 'Clasico' which finished 2-2.
Barcelona forward David Villa has been admitted to hospital due to a bout of renal colic and may be unavailable for Saturday's league game at Granada, the La Liga leaders said on Monday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off the bench to volley 10-man Barcelona to a 1-0 home victory over Real Madrid on Sunday which put them back on top of La Liga.
Lionel Messi has added another record against his already legendary name.
Barcelona earned their first Primera Liga win of the season with a 6-1 rout away to promoted Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
A weakened Real Madrid team routed Valencia 6-3 away on Saturday while an uninspiring 2-0 win for Barcelona at home to lowly Osasuna maintained their eight-point lead at the top of La Liga.
Saturday marks the 10th anniversary of Lionel Messi's first-team debut with Barcelona, when the Argentine came on as a 16-year-old substitute during a friendly against Porto in Portugal.
Barcelona will ignore attempts by Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho to play mind games, according to Lionel Messi.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola refused to look for excuses after the La Liga champions were humbled 2-0 at home by promoted Hercules on Saturday.
Primera Liga leaders Barcelona produced a sparkling display of fluent, attacking football to outclass arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Images from La Liga matches played on Sunday
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi scored two goals and set up two more as the Catalans thrashed Real Valladolid 5-1 to move top of La Liga on Tuesday.
A round-up of Saturday's action in Serie A, La Liga and Bundesliga.
Spanish media predicted the end of the Primera Liga title race on Monday after leaders Real Madrid went eight points clear of Barcelona at the weekend.
Eric Abidal crowned a superb defensive display with a rare goal to help Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday and put the La Liga leaders through to the quarter-finals of the King's Cup on away goals.
Thierry Henry scored a hat-trick to steer Barcelona to a 4-1 win at bottom club Levante in the Primera Liga on Saturday.
Barcelona took another big stride towards a second-straight La Liga triumph when top scorer Lionel Messi struck twice in a 4-1 home win over relegation threatened Tenerife on Tuesday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances