There were mixed fortunes for league leaders around Europe over the weekend with Barcelona, Inter Milan and Liverpool winning but Olympique Lyon and Hoffenheim going down to defeats.
Barcelona's fourth defeat of the season left them seventh in the standings on 14 points after 10 games, 12 points behind leaders Atletico.
Roma teenager Afena-Gyan plays down apparent racist remark.
The Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) has rejected Barcelona's appeal against a four-match ban imposed on goalkeeper Victor Valdes for verbally abusing a referee after this month's 2-1 La Liga reverse at Real Madrid.
Karim Benzema scored twice as Real Madrid survived without Cristiano Ronaldo to win 3-1 at Racing Santander and close the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to seven points on Sunday.
"It's better for Messi to play as he is the best in the world and he gives you a boost but we should be very proud as a team, as we showed that we are a great team without Messi and we have a great coach (Ernesto Valverde)," Suarez said.
Messi, who has struggled for form in recent weeks due to a niggling injury, looked on a mission to grab the winner and after twice coming close he completed his treble to put Barca ahead in the 85th minute, reacting quickly to a poor Sevilla clearance to dink the ball over goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.
Barcelona's Xavi and Jordi Alba have both recovered from hamstring strains and were included in their squad on Sunday for the trip to play Paris St Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Lionel Messi helped Barcelona triumph at a venue where champions Real Madrid lost two weeks ago, scoring twice at Granada in La Liga on Saturday to pass 300 goals for the club and earn the leaders a 2-1 win.
Barcelona closed to within four points of Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga after the leaders lost 3-2 at home to Valencia.
Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo injured his calf in their 2-0 victory at Real Betis in La Liga on Saturday, making him a doubt for the final two games of their title challenge.
Benfica will rely on little-known duo Nemanja Matic and Enzo Perez, who have played only a handful of games since signing in 2011, to lead the Portuguese league leaders against the vast talents of Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Real Madrid dropped points for the third time in seven games since Zinedine Zidane's return as they were held to a 0-0 draw away to Getafe in La Liga on Thursday, which harmed their neighbours' hopes of a top-four finish.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Federico Valverde finished off a stunning move in extra time to give Real Madrid a 3-2 victory over arch-rivals Barcelona
Leaders Barcelona edged closer to their third consecutive league title with a 2-0 away win over struggling Real Sociedad in the Primera Liga on Saturday.
Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said his side's profligacy in front of goal was a concern.
Barcelona extended their LaLiga lead to eight points thanks to second-half goals by Jordi Alba, Gavi and Raphinha that gave them a 3-0 home win against Sevilla
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was back in training on Monday five days before the La Liga leaders play at second-placed Real Madrid in the first of the season's two Clasicos.
Leaders Barcelona survived red cards for Gerard Pique and Rafael Marquez to complete a 2-1 victory over Getafe in La Liga on Saturday while Real Madrid kept pace with a 3-0 win at home to Espanyol.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich maintained dominance of their respective leagues but there was a shock for French Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain who lost to end a nine-match unbeaten run.
Images from Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Lionel Messi notched a 20th assist of the season to help a lacklustre Barcelona secure a 1-0 win away to Real Valladolid on Saturday, maintaining the pressure on La Liga leaders Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo converted two penalties, both awarded for handballs and the second in the last minute, as Serie A leader Juventus twice hit back to draw 2-2 with Atalanta to move closer to a ninth successive Serie A title on Saturday.
Images from football action around European leagues played on Sunday
Barca retain a realistic chance of avenging the 2-1 aggregate defeat to Atletico in their Champions League quarter-final by overhauling the league leaders and claiming a fifth domestic title in six years.
Images from the weekend action in the Spanish League.
Barcelona forward Pedro has damaged a calf muscle while away on international duty and will be out of action for 10 days, the La Liga leaders said in a statement on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi was at the top of his game as Barcelona earned a 3-2 win at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday to move up to third in La Liga.
Lionel Messi scored in his 12th consecutive La Liga game to help leaders Barcelona earn a 1-1 draw at Valencia, allowing second-placed Atletico Madrid to close to within nine points after a 1-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday.
With the distraction of two individual scoring records safely out of the way, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi can turn his full focus on helping the club win the major silverware that eluded them last season.
Leaders Barcelona kept up their relentless pace at the top of La Liga with a 4-0 thrashing of city rivals Espanyol and 10-man Real Madrid needed two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo to see off Real Sociedad 4-3 on Sunday.
Images from football matches played across Europe over the weekend.
With a fifth world player of the year award safely tucked away in the trophy cabinet, Lionel Messi can set his sights on one of the next milestones in his remarkable career: reaching 500 goals for club and country. The Barcelona and Argentina forward can add to his jaw-dropping tally of 479 in 609 official games -- 430 for Barca and 49 for his national team -- in Sunday's La Liga match at home to Athletic Bilbao. The 28-year-old from Rosario, who picked up the FIFA Ballon d'Or on Monday, is looking close to his best following a two-month injury layoff late last year and netted a hat-trick when second-placed Barca crushed Granada 4-0 at the Nou Camp last weekend in their most recent outing in Spain's top flight.
The draw was made on Monday for the Champions League round of 16.
The chinks in Inter Milan's armour were exposed again as Tottenham Hotspur beat the holders 3-1 in Champions League Group A and all three teams able to secure last-16 qualification flopped on Tuesday.
Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol scored to help Barcelona to a 2-1 comeback victory at home to Valencia on Saturday, but it was Real Madrid who moved to the top of La Liga with a 4-1 win in Malaga.
Real Madrid paid more than 200 million euros ($227.76 million) to assemble their forward line of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, but the attacking trio failed them again in Wednesday's Champions League exit to Juventus.
La Liga paupers Levante held big-spending visitors Real Madrid to a 0-0 draw on Saturday which is bound to put more pressure on new coach Jose Mourinho.
