The upcoming LaLiga season promises an intense battle as Barcelona defends its title against a revamped Real Madrid, led by returning manager Jose Mourinho, and a turbulent Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid has made significant signings and brought back Mourinho after two trophyless seasons, while Barcelona relies on continuity and its World Cup-winning core. Atletico Madrid faces pressure on manager Diego Simeone and a potential transfer saga involving Julian Alvarez, setting the stage for a dramatic season.
Stuttgart stumble to 1-1 against Union, miss out on top three
Late goals from Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski earned LaLiga leaders Barcelona a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Espanyol.
Rashford, one of Europe's top talents before falling out of favour at United and spending the latter part of last season on loan at Aston Villa, joins a stellar attacking cast featuring Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres.
Barcelona's Ferran Torres scored twice to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating LaLiga clash on Sunday.
A summary of Tuesday's Champions League Round of 16, Second Leg, matches.
The circuit agreed last year an extension to cover this year's race, which was held in August and without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after fears it would drop off the calendar.
Colombian super-sub Jhon Duran scored two late goals as Aston Villa salvaged a 3-3 home draw with Liverpool.
Real Madrid fought back from two goals down as Vinicius Jr grabbed a hat-trick in a thrilling 5-2 win over visitors Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Real Madrid are comfortably perched on top of the La Liga standings with 66 points while Barca are now third on 54 points with a game in hand, three points behind second-placed Sevilla.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at lowly city rivals Rayo Vallecano on Sunday as Joselu's early strike was cancelled out by Raul de Tomas' penalty, a result that could spice up the title race with surprise package Girona.
All the action from soccer matches played in Europe on Monday.
The Italian said he would avoid big changes to his team this time, after he tested midfielder Luka Modric up front in place of then-injured striker Karim Benzema in the last El Clasico in March, only to get hammered 4-0 by the Catalans.
Crashing out at the group stage again would be a huge blow to Barcelona's finances, whose perilous state led the club's board to sell a stake in their TV rights and agree to the sale of their audio-visual division.
Lionel Messi had two free-kick attempts while ex-Sevilla midfielder Ivan Rakitic narrowly missed the target from inside the area.
IMAGES from the El Clasico match played at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid on Sunday.
Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr both scored a brace to give the LaLiga leaders a 4-1 home win over Valencia
Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois, Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga and Vinicius Jr have tested positive for COVID-19.
Rafael Nadal maintained his ominous claycourt form by seizing back the Barcelona Open title from Kei Nishikori with a 6-4, 7-5 victory on Sunday, matching Guillermo Vilas's record title haul on the surface.
Real Madrid beat an over-cautious Barcelona side 2-1 on Saturday to claim their first league win at the Nou Camp in 20 years.
La Liga leaders Barcelona were held to a 2-2 home draw by Celta Vigo on Saturday as their former assistant coach Juan Carlos Unzue dented the title hopes of the Catalans, who dropped points for the second game in a row for the first time this campaign.
Unzue is one of the two leading candidates to succeed Luis Enrique, who announced this month he will leave at the end of this season, along with Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde.
Dil Dhadakne Do unravels like an entire season of soap opera condensed into a nearly three-hour movie, writes Sukanya Verma.
Pep Guardiola will return to the Nou Camp in the Champions League group stage after his new club Manchester City were drawn against his former Barcelona team on Thursday. The two sides were drawn in Group C alongside Borussia Moenchengladbach and former European champions Celtic in one of the toughest of the eight sections. Spanish coach Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Barca, faced the Catalans when he was in charge of Bayern Munich two seasons ago and suffered a 5-3 defeat in the semi-finals.
'I had a tough season in the last few years, but I've had better preparation this year, even with a tough start to the season'
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Juventus strolled to a 3-0 home win over bottom side Crotone in the Italian Serie A on Monday, with the victory taking the champions up to third in the standings.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti fended off questions about his future after the Champions League holders were dumped out in the semi-finals by Juventus 3-2 on aggregate on Wednesday.
IMAGES from the La Liga matches played on Tuesday
Real will ease the pain by retaining their Champions League title, their only hope of salvaging a disappointing season.
Rafael Nadal eased past Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-1 to reach the Barcelona Open third round on Wednesday as he began his bid for a ninth title on the clay in the Catalan capital.
Barcelona have been linked to a host of forwards during the winter transfer window as they seek experienced backup options for Luis Suarez.
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 scored his 12th league goal of the season but Barcelona had to rely on exceptional saves from Marc-Andre ter Stegen as they rode their luck to win 2-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and stay four points clear at the top of La Liga.
A little under two weeks ago Neymar netted the goal that wrapped up Barcelona's UEFA Champions League triumph against Juventus but his needless sending off at the Copa America on Wednesday means the Brazil forward may have played his last game at the tournament.
Lionel Messi scored a 50th freekick goal for Barcelona as he led his side to a quick-fire comeback to win 3-2 at Valencia on Sunday and keep the pressure on La Liga title rivals Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.
Real Madrid will have their combative Spain centre back Sergio Ramos available for Saturday's "clasico" against Barcelona but Wales winger Gareth Bale is out, coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday.
A summary of Saturday's football action across the world.
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Here are five talking points from the weekend in La Liga:
Real Madrid beat Leganes 2-1 in La Liga on Saturday after coach Zinedine Zidane heavily rotated his side in preparation for Tuesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, including leaving out top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.
