Chelsea outplay Villa in FA Cup
Barca looked set for a third consecutive league draw as they created scant opportunities but they were presented with the advantage of an extra man when Villarreal midfielder Daniel Raba was given a straight red card for a wild, studs-up challenge on Sergio Busquets on the hour mark.
Karim Benzema scored twice after the interval with a penalty and a header from a corner to give Santiago Solari's side a 3-1 lead, after Raphael Varane struck in the 34th minute to cancel out Anuar Tuhami's goal for Valladolid five minutes earlier.
Sevilla topped the Primera Liga on Saturday with a 3-0 home win over Valencia, who had midfielder David Silva sent off after just 17 minutes.
Barcelona left it late to snatch a 1-0 win at Valencia on Sunday after Atletico Madrid's 2-0 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna was overshadowed by the death of a visiting fan hours before kickoff.
Atletico Madrid stayed firmly on course for a surprise La Liga title triumph when Raul Garcia's header secured a 1-0 win for the leaders at home to seventh-placed Villarreal on Saturday.
La Liga is set for one of its most thrilling finishes when Barcelona host leaders Atletico Madrid in a winner-takes-all showdown at the Nou Camp on the final day of the campaign on Saturday.
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.
Real are third in the league standings with 54 points after 28 games, two behind second-placed Atletico Madrid who visit Athletic Bilbao later on Saturday and nine points behind leaders Barcelona who play at Real Betis on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid put last week's painful defeat by Real Madrid behind them with a 3-0 win over Osasuna on Sunday that included two goals in the space of a minute and allowed them to return to the top four in La Liga.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi was at the heart of another devastating attacking show.
Atletico Madrid maintained a two-point lead in La Liga with a 3-0 victory at Las Palmas and Barcelona and Real Madrid stayed hard on their heels with thumping wins over Athletic Bilbao and Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
Valencia continued their solid start to La Liga and climbed to second when recent Spain recruit Paco Alcacer set them on their way to a 3-0 win at Getafe on Monday.
Sevilla missed a chance to get their La Liga campaign up and running when the Europa League holders surrendered the lead and were held to a 1-1 draw at Levante on Friday.
Cristiano Ronaldo ensured Atletico Madrid fans will have bitter memories of the last local derby at the Vicente Calderon stadium by scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win for La Liga leaders Real Madrid on Saturday. Ronaldo's deflected free kick put Real in charge in the 23rd minute in the first meeting of the teams since the Champions League final in May. The prolific Portuguese killed off Atletico's resistance by winning and converting a penalty in the 71st minute and capped a harrowing night for the home side by tapping in the third in the 77th.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck midway through the first half as leaders Real Madrid won 1-0 at Malaga in La Liga on Saturday, while Atletico Madrid stayed hot on their heels after Diego Costa netted in a 1-0 victory over Espanyol.
Barcelona have been boosted by the successful return from injury of talismanic playmaker Andres Iniesta as they prepare to host city rivals Espanyol in La Liga on Sunday.
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.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo faces a race against time to be fit for the Champions League semi-final second leg with Manchester City on May 4.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid returned to winning ways after two defeats, making light of playing most of the second half with 10 men to triumph 3-0 at home to mid-table Espanyol on Saturday.
Barcelona to sign Gundogan on free transfer from Man City
Real Madrid made the most of Barcelona's slip-up to close to within one point of the La Liga leaders on Sunday with a 2-0 win over third-placed Valencia at the Bernabeu.
A late goal by Toni Kroos sealed victory as Real Madrid defeated an impressive Celta Vigo side 2-1 to win their first home La Liga game of the campaign on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho believes winning La Liga was the toughest of the seven league titles he has sealed in coaching stints in his native Portugal, England, Italy and Spain, the Real Madrid manager said on Wednesday.
'Messi is a player that makes a difference in all games and in Clasicos he has always made a big impact but we will have to see if he is ready' 'You never know what can happen in these types of games and when you start as favourite it can often go wrong'
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Title rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid stayed locked together at the top of La Liga after they played out an intense 0-0 draw with few genuine chances at the Calderon on Saturday.
Thierry Henry was on target as Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 home win over Racing Santander on Saturday to move five points clear at the top of La Liga.
Barcelona equalled a club record of 12 consecutive league wins as Neymar and Lionel Messi were among the scorers in a 6-0 thrashing of struggling Getafe 6-0 at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
Levante continued to defy their humble status as Valencia's second club when they beat Real Betis 3-1 to reclaim fourth place in La Liga on Monday.
Athletic Bilbao checked promoted Villarreal's impressive early-season run when they beat the team with the distinctive canary-yellow strip 2-0 at their new San Mames stadium in La Liga on Monday.
A quickfire Arda Turan double, including an acrobatic bicycle kick, fired Atletico Madrid to a 3-1 home win over Espanyol in La Liga on Sunday and lifted the Europa League semi-finalists up to seventh.
Barcelona's Joao Felix scored in the first half to secure a hard-fought 1-0 home win against his valiant parent club Atletico Madrid in a compelling LaLiga clash on Sunday.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is expecting another gruelling game at Athletic Bilbao when the La Liga champions visit San Mames on Sunday.
Barca are now second on 66 points, two behind Real who have a game in hand as they chase a first title triumph since 2012.
'Yesterday, he trained normally, and today he's taken this decision. We have accepted it. I spoke to him this morning, and he said he was leaving, and I understood.'
Barcelona fell to a first home defeat in any competition for more than two years
Barcelona still have very little chance of catching leaders Real Madrid and securing a fourth successive La Liga title despite closing the gap to eight points, coach Pep Guardiola said on Monday.
Barcelona moved to within a whisker of a second straight La Liga crown when Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic and Pedro earned a nervy 3-2 win at 10-man Sevilla on Saturday.
Lionel Messi broke a Spanish hat-trick record and Luis Suarez struck twice as a rampant Barcelona took over top spot in La Liga with a 6-1 hammering of Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
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