Neymar struck twice as Barca beat Atletico Madrid to reach the King's Cup semis
'It's evident that we are in a hole, we aren't at our best at the moment nor our most effective.'
Liverpool coach Juergen Klopp had praised Spanish clubs on the eve of the match, saying they had better scouting, coaches and player development than their English, German and Italian equivalents.
Spain's soccer federation (RFEF) announced a three-year deal to play the revamped tournament in Saudi Arabia
Milan missed the chance to jump to second and remained fourth with 48 points
La Liga champions Barcelona stayed on the heels of leaders Real Madrid by coasting to a 3-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday as Lionel Messi became the club's top scorer from free kicks.
Atletico Madrid were handed a chance to avenge last season's Champions League final defeat by city rivals and record 10-times winners Real after the two sides were drawn together in the last eight on Friday. Paris St Germain and Barcelona were paired together having met in the group stage, with the French side winning in Paris and the Catalans coming out on top in Spain.
Real Madrid opened a two-point lead over Villarreal at the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo set a club scoring record in a 3-0 stroll at home to Levante on Saturday.
Zinedine Zidane's Real side demonstrated their new-found grit to re-take the lead
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
La Liga leaders Real Madrid were thumped 4-0 away by city rivals Atletico Madrid to open up the Spanish title race, while Chelsea strengthened their hold on top spot in the English Premier League after a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.
The Turin-based club have suffered in recent weeks with three of their players having tested positive for the virus -- forward Paulo Dybala, defender Daniele Rugani and midfielder Blaise Matuidi.
Former Indian cricket captain and co-owner of Atletico de Kolkata Sourav Ganguly on Monday said the presence of eminent foreign players in the Indian Super League (ISL) will help the Indian players raise their playing standards and improve Indian football in the years to come.
Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira has accused the La Liga club of freezing him out by dropping him from the team after talks on a contract extension broke down even though he was fit to play.
Exactly four months after succeeding Rafael Benitez and inheriting a Real Madrid side on the brink of institutional crisis, Zinedine Zidane completed the team's revival by guiding them past Manchester City to the Champions League final.
Cristiano Ronaldo answered his critics with a hat-trick as Real Madid came from behind to win 4-1 at Alaves and provisionally go three points clear at the top of La Liga.
Real Madrid lifted the FIFA Club World Cup for a record fourth time on Saturday after thrashing local side Al Ain 4-1 in the final in Abu Dhabi with the help of impressive distance strikes in either half from midfielders Luka Modric and Marcos Llorente.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praised his team's spirit after knocking holders Barcelona out of the Champions League.
IMAGES from football matches played in the Spain, Germany and Portugal on Wednesday.
Promoted Alaves dealt champions Barcelona a shock 2-1 defeat at the Nou Camp on Saturday while Cristiano Ronaldo returned from injury to help Real Madrid thrash Osasuna 5-2 and go two points clear at the top of La Liga. With Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta on the bench, Barcelona went behind to the visitors in the 39th minute before Frenchman Jeremy Mathieu equalised in the 46th. Ibai Gomez then scored the winner in the 64th.
When Real Madrid's team of Zinedine Zidane-inspired "galacticos" won the Spanish club's ninth European crown in 2002 it was supposed to mark the beginning of another golden era of European domination.
Leaders Barcelona played out a second straight 0-0 draw in LaLiga after mid-table Getafe battled for a home point in a hard-fought game on Sunday.
Luuk de Jong's first-half header gave Barcelona a 1-0 win at Mallorca
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Real Madrid extended their unbeaten run to 25 matches and rejoined Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga when Jese, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric scored in a 3-0 win at Getafe on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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.
Real Madrid and city rivals Atletico have dismissed reports in Spanish media of a possible FIFA ban from the next two transfer windows over breaches of rules on the signing of foreign Under-18 players.
Chelsea striker Diego Costa says he was wrong to throw his bib towards manager Jose Mourinho when he was left on the bench during the goalless English Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur last month.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is counting on his wealth of experience to help fix the holders' midfield woes as they prepare to host FC Basel in Tuesday's Champions League Group B opener at the Bernabeu.
Barcelona thrashed Real Betis 5-1 on Wednesday to book their spot in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
In an all-Spanish clash, former winners Barcelona were drawn against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League draw, while Real Madrid will take on Borussia Dortmund. Paris Saint-Germain were handed a tough draw against Chelsea.
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola was brought to the club to extend their European dominance, but will leave at the end of the season having lost three successive Champions League semi-finals.
Atletico should have plenty of money available after talismanic striker Antoine Griezmann said last month he is to leave the club.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has blamed Manchester United's "lack of negotiating experience" for the failure of goalkeeper David De Gea's move to the Spanish capital on Monday.
In the other pairings, English champions Manchester United will take on Greek club Olympiakos, while AC Milan take on Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona great Xavi Hernandez has said it is his dream to coach his former side
English football clubs splurged on the final day of the transfer window, laying out 210 million pounds to take total gross spending to a record-high 1.4 billion pounds as the Premier League again flexed its unrivalled financial muscles.
Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has reiterated the club's innocence of tax fraud in the signing of Neymar and insisted the operation to bring the Brazil forward to the Catalan capital was "completely legal".
Manchester City beat Dynamo Kiev 3-1 during their UEFA Champions League round of 16, first leg match in Kiev on Wednesday.