A round-up of weekend action in the main European leagues.
Barcelona have agreed to buy disgraced Uruguay forward Luis Suarez from English Premier League side Liverpool, the two clubs said on Friday.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez both hit the woodwork as Barcelona were held 0-0 by Espanyol in a hard fought derby that could see Atletico Madrid go top of La Liga.
The dazzling Lionel Messi returned from illness to score yet another double to help Barcelona ease into the knockout stages of the Champions League for a 13th successive year with their 2-0 win at Celtic on Wednesday.
Barcelona started strongly, with Gavi stinging the palms of Espanyol goalkeeper Alvaro Fernandez in the sixth minute, shortly before Alonso glanced a header into the net, following a corner.
Goals from the prolific duo of Luis Suarez and Neymar earned Barcelona a tight 2-1 win at Las Palmas on Saturday to propel them nine points clear at the top of La Liga.
Barcelona's Neymar struck twice to put the Spanish side in the Champions League final despite a 3-2 loss at Bayern Munich on Tuesday as they progressed 5-3 on aggregate and will face Real Madrid or Juventus next month.
The 25-year-old penned a deal agreed in December, which includes a two-year extension on his previous agreement and secures his services until he is 31.
Spain midfielder Pedro has no regrets over leaving Barcelona in search of more playing time, despite failing to nail down a regular starting berth in his debut season at Chelsea. Consigned to life on the fringes of the starting side at the Nou Camp, Pedro joined the Blues in August and scored seven goals in 29 Premier League appearances as he struggled to adapt to life in England. Chelsea mounted a dismal defence of their title this season, finishing 31 points behind winners Leicester City in 10th place, while serial champions Barcelona won their sixth La Liga title in eight years when they beat Granada 3-0 on Saturday.
Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has agreed a new four-year contract with the Spanish champions until 2021, the club said a day after they reached the Champions League quarter-finals by thrashing Paris St Germain 6-1.
Primera Liga champions and leaders Real are at home to Greek title-holders Olympiakos Piraeus while injury-hit Barcelona are away to Rangers in this week's Champions League fixtures.
Dani Alves, who has denied any wrongdoing, was taken to the Brians 1 jail outside Barcelona.
Barcelona, reduced to 10-man in the last half-an-hour, clinched a narrow win over Valencia in their La Liga match on Sunday.
Top seed Rafa Nadal, who has won the tournament 10 times, also reached the last eight after dispatching compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-3 and claiming a record-extending 40th consecutive set on clay.
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Neymar is close to signing a three-year contract extension with Barcelona that will tie the Brazil captain to the La Liga champions until June 2021, club president Josep Maria Bartomeu announced on Thursday. The 24-year-old forward is a reported target of top European clubs and his current deal expires in June 2018. El Mundo Deportivo reported on Thursday that Manchester United were launching a "total offensive" to acquire Neymar.
Barcelona recovered from two goals behind to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Real Zaragoza in the Spanish Primera Liga.
Russian side Rubin Kazan continued to frustrate Barcelona by holding the Spanish side to a 1-1 draw in Champions League Group D on Wednesday.
Real Madrid were dumped out of the Copa del Rey at the quarter-final stage on Thursday after losing 4-3 at home to Real Sociedad, while record 30-times winners Barcelona were sent crashing out of the Copa del Rey in a 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao.
Barcelona have agreed a transfer fee with Liverpool for Javier Mascherano and the Argentine midfielder is expected in Spain for a medical this weekend, the clubs said on Friday.
This time we're ready for Barca, says Man City's Nasri.
A round-up of Sunday's matches in LaLiga, Ligue 1 and Serie A
Lionel Messi notched a 20th assist of the season to help a lacklustre Barcelona secure a 1-0 win away to Real Valladolid on Saturday, maintaining the pressure on La Liga leaders Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo converted two penalties, both awarded for handballs and the second in the last minute, as Serie A leader Juventus twice hit back to draw 2-2 with Atalanta to move closer to a ninth successive Serie A title on Saturday.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique played down talk of a rift with his squad after their surprise home defeat by Alaves and is hoping to put things right in their Champions League opener against Celtic on Tuesday.
Spectators chanted "refund" after Messi stayed on the bench during the match.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were on target as holders Barcelona thrashed Real Sociedad 5-2 to reach the King's Cup semi-finals for the seventh successive year with a 6-2 aggregate victory on Thursday.
Valverde's knowledge of Barca and his many years of experience of coaching in Spain saw him pip Argentine Jorge Sampaoli and Luis Enrique's assistant Juan Carlos Unzue to the top job.
Lionel Messi's late penalty saw bedraggled Barcelona scrape a 2-1 victory over Leganes on Sunday at a divided Nou Camp as the La Liga champions looked as if they had still not recovered from their harrowing midweek defeat to Paris St Germain.
IMAGES from the soccer matches played across European leagues over the weekend.
Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas has said his only wish is to succeed with the Spanish champions and has dismissed the idea that he could be lured away to another club.
Cesc Fabregas has returned to training as the Barcelona midfielder continues his recovery from a knee injury, the La Liga leaders said on Monday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored with an acrobatic header on his La Liga debut to seal Barcelona's 3-0 win over Sporting Gijon as they opened their title defence in style on Monday.
Rafael Nadal extended his astonishing winning run on clay to 42 consecutive sets as he reached the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Slovakia's Martin Klizan on Friday. The defending champion will face David Goffin on Saturday after the Belgian beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2.
Barcelona win Champions League beating Manchester United 2-0 at Rome.
Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City beat champions Chelsea 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday to extend their lead to 18 points and leave the London side further adrift from the Champions League qualification spots.
The Spanish champions were greeted by thousands of fans as they paraded through the city on an open-top bus to celebrate winning the Champions League.
Neymar scored a spectacular goal as Barcelona came from behind to beat Paris St Germain 3-1 in their UEFA Champions League match.
Barca, who had a rather disappointing season, managed to restore some pride with victory over last season's second division champions in what was the final match to be played at Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon Stadium.
IMAGES from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday.
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