A moment of genius from Lionel Messi lit up the Nou Camp as Barcelona eased to a 3-1 win over Villarreal in La Liga on Saturday that put them two points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of the standings.
Lionel Messi scored twice to help Barcelona shake off the disappointment of their midweek Champions League semi-final exit with a 4-1 victory at Villarreal in La Liga on Saturday.
"Everything will not be complete if we don't win the Champions League now. We have done some incredible seasons."
Cristiano Ronaldo took his tally for the La Liga season to a phenomenal 13 goals in six appearances with his third treble of the campaign as Real Madrid romped to a 5-0 win at home to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
Another win would confirm that Barca are heading in the right direction after pushing the reset button following the loss of Lionel Messi in the close season due to their financial problems.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain scored in a 2-0 victory away to Racing Santander on Sunday to ensure Real Madrid hold top spot in La Liga before next weekend's visit of title rivals Barcelona.
Barcelona's Bojan Krkic scored twice in a 4-1 home win over Athletic Bilbao that put his side three points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday.
Barcelona signing Robert Lewandowski is relishing a new challenge after joining the Catalan club and the 33-year-old said he was ready to play in their upcoming pre-season game against rivals Real Madrid in the United States.
David Beckham, as had been widely expected, was ruled out of the Los Angeles Galaxy's SuperLiga match against Mexican side Pachuca on Tuesday.
Rafael van der Vaart scored an injury-time winner as Real Madrid came back to beat Sevilla 3-2 and replace Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Saturday, after the champions were held 2-2 in Almeria.
Barcelona restored their two-point lead at the top of La Liga when Lionel Messi finished a slick move to fire the champions to a hard-fought 2-1 home win over Malaga on Saturday.
Barcelona, Las Palmas match postponed over Catalan referendum
Atletico Madrid surrendered top spot in La Liga to Barcelona when they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to 10-man Sevilla in a fiercely contested La Liga clash on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted his fifth La Liga hat-trick of the campaign as Real Madrid brushed off Pepe's 44th-minute dismissal to secure a crushing 6-2 victory at Sevilla and move back above Barcelona to the top of the standings on Saturday.
Alexis Sanchez hit a hat-trick as Barcelona swept aside Elche 4-0 to return to the top of La Liga on goal difference ahead of Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
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.
Rodrygo struck twice and Vinicius Jr dazzled as Real Madrid beat Osasuna 2-1 on Saturday to win their 20th Copa del Rey title and first since 2014.
A Xavi free kick and an exquisite lob from Lionel Messi fired Barcelona to a 2-0 win at Sevilla that cut Real Madrid's lead at the top of La Liga back to seven points on Saturday.
Xavi celebrated setting a club record for La Liga appearances when he netted a superb free kick to give an otherwise listless Barcelona a 1-0 win at Granada on Tuesday in a scrappy game in which the home side finished with nine men.
Real Madrid have defied injuries to keep the pressure on leaders Barcelona and notched up over 100 La Liga goals but they now face arguably the toughest test of their title charge in an away match to Sevilla on Saturday.
La Liga players dominate this year's Best Player in Europe shortlist, announced by the continent's governing body UEFA on Monday, with seven of the top 10 contenders for the prestigious award currently plying their trade in Spain.
Having absorbed the body blow of losing striker Radamel Falcao in the close season, Atletico Madrid have emerged as genuine contenders to break the title stranglehold of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Real Madrid tightened their grip on top spot by beating Alaves 3-0 at home in La Liga on Sunday to provisionally move five points ahead of nearest challengers Barcelona despite coach Zinedine Zidane making a string of changes in defence.
A Cristiano Ronaldo header set Real Madrid on their way to a 4-0 win at home to 10-man Racing Santander on Saturday that stretched their advantage over second-placed Barcelona at the top of La Liga to 13 points.
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Real Madrid took full advantage of Barcelona's shock defeat at Real Valladolid with a 3-0 home win over 10-man Levante on Sunday that put Carlo Ancelotti's in-form side three points clear at the top of La Liga.
A bullet header from Nicolas Otamendi put Valencia on course for a 3-1 victory over Eibar in La Liga on Sunday that boosted their hopes of claiming a Champions League place.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick and passed the landmark of 300 club goals as Real Madrid put a turbulent week behind them with a 4-0 win at home to Getafe in La Liga on Sunday to close to within four points of second-placed Atletico Madrid.
Real Madrid maintained their pursuit for the title by defeating Malaga 3-1 late on Saturday.
Karim Benzema struck twice as Real Madrid went to the top of La Liga with a 4-2 win over Villarreal on Saturday while midfielder Verza's double gave Almeria a shock 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid.
Lionel Messi kept Barcelona on top of La Liga with a hat-trick in a 5-0 win at Tenerife on Sunday and Real Madrid had kept up the pressure with a 2-0 home win over Real Mallorca.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid dropped points at home for only the second time this season.
In other matches, super-sub Messi helped Barca romp past Atletico
Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o finished with 26 goals as he scored in his side's 3-1 defeat at Athletic Bilbao.
Dani Alves, who has denied any wrongdoing, was taken to the Brians 1 jail outside Barcelona.
Barca dominated possession and Luis Suarez had several early chances but it was Villarreal who took the lead with Denis Cheryshev redirecting a Mario Gaspar shot past keeper Claudio Bravo on the half hour.
A first-half strike from Pedri gave Barcelona a 1-0 win over Villareal to extend their lead over Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga to 11 points
Beat Real Madrid's unbeaten run in the 1988-89 season, and thump Rayo Vallecano 5-1
Haaland's 45th goal was a personal record, too, for the 22-year-old who scored a total of 44 in 2019-20
Real Madrid have reluctantly agreed to play their La Liga match at Rayo Vallecano at 1745 GMT on Monday, a day after the game was abandoned because of alleged lighting sabotage at Rayo's Estadio de Vallecas stadium.
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