A round-up of Saturday's action in LaLiga, Ligue 1 and Serie A
Napoli thrash Palermo to advance to Coppa Italia last 16
Leverkusen's Schick scores hat-trick in comeback win over Heidenheim.
Spain striker Iago Aspas dealt a fresh blow to Barcelona's La Liga title hopes by striking a late free kick to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to the Catalans on Saturday as Quique Setien's side twice threw away the lead in a thrilling match. The draw put Barca back on top of the table on 69 points after 32 games but Real Madrid, on 68, can go two points clear at the summit if they beat Espanyol away from home on Sunday.
Spain snatched a 2-2 draw against Morocco on Monday to qualify for the World Cup last 16 and take top spot in Group B ahead of Portugal on goals scored.
Russia's penalty shootout hero, goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, thanked God, luck and the Luzhniki Stadium crowd for bringing the hosts home safely against Spain on Sunday to reach their first World Cup quarter-final since 1970.
Augsburg's victory lifted them out of the relegation zone into 15th place.
Union Berlin's Paul Jaeckel scored a 76th-minute winner to give his team a 1-0 victory at VfB Stuttgart on Sunday and send them two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
'It wasn't easy, but I called him last night (Sunday) and we had a difficult and tough conversation. I feel bad as he's a player who has always been at the top level and has a future with the national team.'
Sevilla joined holders Real Madrid in the last 16 of the King's Cup when a quick-fire Iago Aspas hat-trick helped secure a crushing 11-2 aggregate victory over second-division Sabadell on Wednesday.
Images from the Round of 16 match between Russia and Spain, in Moscow, on Sunday.
Barca had the chance to go top after Real drew a fourth consecutive game in all competitions for the first time in over a decade but they were rattled by rampant Celta
Karim Benzema made history at Real Madrid, the battle for the top four continues to heat up
Iago Aspas chose Liverpool over offers from Italy, Portugal and other countries, the Celta Vigo forward was quoted as saying on Saturday amid reports of his four-year deal with the English Premier League side.
Chelsea striker Diego Costa has been ruled out of Spain's matches against Macedonia and England through injury, the Spanish football federation said on Thursday. Costa had been struggling to shake off a groin injury he suffered in Chelsea's 5-0 Premier League win over Everton on Saturday and immediately underwent medical tests when he met up with the Spain squad.
Real Madrid lost 2-1 at home to Celta Vigo in their Spanish King's Cup quarter-final first leg on Wednesday to slump to their second defeat in a row following a record winning streak.
Real were smarting from a surprise 1-1 draw at struggling Elche in their last match and were missing captain Sergio Ramos, who was out with a stomach bug.
Francesco Totti, two days short of his 40th birthday, scored his 250th Serie A goal for AS Roma on Sunday but it was not enough as they lost 3-1 at Torino.
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.
Juventus' wretched start to the season continued when they needed a late penalty to avoid defeat as the Serie A champions were held to a 1-1 home draw by early leaders Chievo Verona on Saturday.
Costa, Alba excluded from Spain squad
Sevilla set up a King's Cup showpiece clash against Barcelona with a 6-2 aggregate semi-final victory over Celta Vigo after a 2-2 second-leg draw on Thursday.
Karim Benzema netted a second-half hat-trick as Real Madrid got back to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Sunday.
World Cup hopefuls France salvaged a late 1-1 draw against the United States in their final friendly before the tournament, while fellow title favourites Spain also needed a late oal as they edged past Tunisia 1-0 on Saturday. Elsewhere, there were wins for finalists Serbia, Denmark, Morocco and Australia, while Sweden were held to a goalless draw by Peru.
European football was given good and bad reminders of its past on Thursday with an impressive 2-0 win for once-mighty Ajax Amsterdam over Schalke 04 in one Europa League game but ugly scenes in the crowd at Lyon delaying another.
Alaves reached the King's Cup final for the first time in their 96-year history as Edgar Mendez's 83rd-minute strike saw off Celta Vigo 1-0 in the semi-final second leg on Wednesday to take the Basque side through 1-0 on aggregate.
The following factbox details five times a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) made an impact at the World Cup.
Images from football matches played across Europe.
Manchester City's quadruple bid remained intact as Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne secured a 2-0 win at Everton in their FA Cup quarter-final clash
Spain arrived at the World Cup convinced they were ready to rule world football again but Sunday's defeat to Russia in the last 16 has set the 2010 champions back a decade and brought an end to a glorious generation.
The 2-2 draw in Kaliningrad was thrilling for neutrals but exposed huge vulnerabilities in the 2010 world champions, who had to come from behind twice after careless mistakes gifted two goals to already-eliminated Morocco.
Here are five talking points from the weekend in La Liga.
Atletico Madrid fell to their heaviest league defeat of the season
Barcelona beat local rivals Espanyol 2-0 in the Catalan derby on Saturday to maintain their 10 point lead at the top of La Liga, while Real Madrid scraped a 3-2 win against bottom side Huesca on Sunday.
roaring Luzhniki Stadium crowd, dogged defending and a dose of Russian luck saw the World Cup hosts to a penalty shootout victory over Spain on Sunday, though for some it also took divine intervention.
Real Madrid are on the verge of reaching the King's Cup quarter-finals after winning 3-0 at Numancia on Thursday while holders Barcelona still have work to do after being held to a 1-1 draw at Celta Vigo.
Images from football matches played in the La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga on Saturday.
IMAGES from football matches played in the Spain, Germany and Portugal on Wednesday.
Lopetegui blends youth and experience in Spain World Cup squad
Valencia's Paco Alcacer and Dani Parejo both hit doubles in a surprise 5-1 away thrashing of high-flying Celta Vigo in La Liga on Saturday.
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