Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale answered his critics in emphatic style.
Zinedine Zidane's Real side demonstrated their new-found grit to re-take the lead
A round-up of Sunday's matches in LaLiga, Ligue 1 and Serie A
Substitute Sergio Araujo struck a late equaliser as Las Palmas held Real Madrid to a 2-2 draw and left them with a one-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Saturday.
The European champions, who were humbled 3-0 by tiny Eibar last week, took a fortuitous lead when Valencia midfielder Daniel Wass nodded a Dani Carvajal cross into his own net in the eighth minute after former Arsenal defender Gabriel Paulista had failed to clear the danger.
A Neymar double, a spectacular volley from Luis Suarez and a goal for Lionel Messi saw top of the table Barcelona's unstoppable strike force sweep aside Real Sociedad 4-0 in La Liga on Saturday.
IMAGES from the soccer matches played in Spain and Italy on Saturday
Aritz Aduriz nodded the first goal and set up another as Athletic Bilbao beat Espanyol 3-1 to climb to ninth in La Liga on Friday.
Atletico celebrate anniversary with 3-1 comeback win over Mallorca
Lionel Messi made a rousing debut for Major League Soccer's Inter Miami as he scored a stoppage-time winner to beat Liga MX's Cruz Azul 2-1 on Friday in their Leagues Cup opener in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Lionel Messi scored twice and Luis Suarez struck his first La Liga goal as Barcelona crushed struggling Cordoba 5-0 on Saturday.
PSG's Champions League tie with Newcastle is like a final, says Luis Enrique
Harry Kane scored twice in his first league appearance in front of a home crowd to steer champions Bayern Munich to a 3-1 victory over Augsburg.
A Champions League spot, two Europa League berths and two relegation places are to be claimed or avoided in what promises to be a nerve-wracking finale to the La Liga season on Sunday.
Julen Lopetegui's side were awarded a penalty early in the game after a VAR review determined forward Nolito had been fouled by Valladolid's Javi Moyano as he shaped to shoot, even though his team mates had barely appealed for a foul.
Barcelona have reached the semis only once since winning the Champions League in 2014-15.
IMAGES from La Liga matches played on Sunday
The Spanish government's top sports official has sent out a message of calm and said there is no reason for Saturday's La Liga 'El Clasico' between Real Madrid and Barcelona to be postponed following Friday's attacks in Paris.
Pepe opened the scoring for Real with a looping header that flew past Jan Oblak in the 52nd minute and it looked like the hosts would earn three points to move five clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga.
Third-placed Valencia missed a chance to open a five-point lead over chasing Malaga when the Europa League semi-finalists crashed to a 4-0 reverse at Espanyol in La Liga on Sunday.
Athletic Bilbao ended Getafe's run of four straight wins and climbed above them into fifth place in La Liga when Aymeric Laporte's early bullet header secured a 1-0 win at the Coliseum in Madrid on Monday.
Atletico Madrid secured a berth in the Champions League group stage for next season and Deportivo La Coruna narrowly escaped relegation when they came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at champions Barcelona on the final day in La Liga on Saturday.
Chelsea won their first competitive match under coach Mauricio Pochettino with a 3-0 home victory over Premier League new boys Luton Town.
Zinedine Zidane got off to a flying start as Real Madrid coach when Gareth Bale hit a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday after a Lionel Messi treble had fired Barcelona to the top of La Liga.
Joao Miranda and new signing Mario Mandzukic led Atletico Madrid to a 2-1 home win in La Liga on Saturday as visitors Eibar were unable to cope with the aerial threat of the champions.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and missed another as Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 3-1.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 27th career hat-trick and Gareth Bale struck twice as Real Madrid bounced back in style from consecutive defeats with a thumping 8-2 La Liga win at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
Real Madrid beat Leganes 4-2 on Wednesday despite resting key players including Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale as goals from Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez helped them stay top of La Liga after Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win over Sevilla.
Real Madrid opened a 10-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga after Cristiano Ronaldo's sixth hat-trick of the season clinched a 4-2 comeback win at home to 10-man Levante on Sunday.
FIFA also announced a newly structured international calendar which its president Gianni Infantino said had been endorsed by the ECA.
When Barcelona host local rivals Espanyol on Saturday hoping to edge closer to the La Liga title, many may be haunted by Raul Tamudo's 89th minute equaliser which wrecked their title bid in 2006/07.
Sevilla maintained their incredible record in the competition after an otherwise difficult season.
The win took second-placed Real to 62 points after 29 games, two behind champions Barca who beat Leganes 2-0 on Tuesday.
Barcelona provisionally went top of La Liga for the first time since October after Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi scored in a 6-0 thrashing of Alaves on Saturday although the win was overshadowed by a serious injury to Aleix Vidal.
Valencia turned up the heat on Atletico Madrid in the fight for third place in La Liga when a 3-0 derby victory at home to Levante on Monday lifted the Singapore-owned club to within a point of the champions with seven games left.
Marco Ruben rescued a point for misfiring Villarreal as they could only draw 1-1 at home with 10-man Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday.
Lionel Messi squeezed home a stoppage-time penalty to grab a 3-2 win for champions Barcelona at Valencia in a thrilling and controversial La Liga match on Sunday.
Real Madrid's stuttering run continued as they were held 1-1 at home by La Liga minnows Eibar on Sunday, drawing a fourth consecutive game in all competitions for the first time in more than a decade.
A controversial Gerard Deulofeu strike sent Barcelona on their way to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Malaga on Saturday as they stretched their lead at the top of La Liga.