Prolific Cristiano Ronaldo hit a 35th hat-trick for Real Madrid who swept aside Espanyol 6-0 in a ruthless attacking display in La Liga on Sunday.
La Liga leaders Barcelona earned a narrow 1-0 win over Real Valladolid to move seven points clear at the top, while Real Madrid lost 2-1 at home against Girona to fall to third behind Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona made a disappointing start to their Champions League campaign by losing 2-1 to AS Monaco on Thursday.
On Thursday, Vinicius called on UEFA, Europe's soccer governing body, to punish Atletico for alleged racist chanting ahead of their team's Champions League match against Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Treble-chasing Barcelona are exactly where they want to be as they prepare for two matches this week that could make or break coach Luis Enrique's first season in charge.
The All India Football Federation on Wednesday hailed Bangalore lad Ishan Pandita's signing a contract with Spanish La Liga side Club Deportivo Leganes to play in the youth team, describing it a landmark achievement.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action in La Liga.
Juventus climb to top of Serie A with win over Lecce
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty as Real Madrid and neighbours Atletico were held to draws leaving Barcelona with an eight-point lead at the top of La Liga and 13 matches left.
Real Madrid returned to the top of La Liga after winning a testing game at Osasuna 3-1 on Saturday.
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.
Lionel Messi was lauded by opposition supporters on Sunday after he scored an outstanding hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-1 win at Real Betis, which put the Catalans 10 points clear at the top of La Liga with 10 games remaining.
Spain's World Cup winning midfielder Aitana Bonmati was named the Sportswoman of the Year, while Serbia's Novak Djokovic captured the top men's honour at the Laureus awards ceremony on Monday.
Griezmann special earns Atletico 1-1 draw at Sevilla
Zinedine Zidane's side joined Atletico Madrid on 66 points and moved top of the table
Romania face tough test against experienced and motivated Ukraine
Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has played down an injury suffered during his side's 3-0 win over Villarreal in their La Liga match on Wednesday, saying that he is in a good condition.
New Valencia coach Gary Neville remains without a La Liga win after his side twice recovered from a goal down to rescue a fortunate 2-2 draw at home to Getafe on Saturday.
Barcelona will begin their Spanish league title defence away to Getafe on Aug. 13 while Real Madrid visit Athletic Bilbao the same weekend.
Following public comments from La Liga chief Javier Tebas, who said it was "not ideal" for the second El Clasico meeting between Real and Barca last season to be played with the latter having already won the league title, the two sides will face off earlier this campaign.
First meets second as Barcelona host Atletico Madrid on Saturday looking to tighten their grip on the La Liga title race. The sides are level on 48 points at the top of the table, but Barca have a game in hand on Atletico and can take a huge step towards a fifth title in seven years with an eighth consecutive win in all competitions. Indeed, Luis Enrique's men remain on course for a repeat of the treble of La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey they won last season after progressing to the semi-finals of the Cup with a come from behind 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in midweek. Yet, the European champions have been far from their best in the past week as they were outplayed by Malaga and Bilbao in the first-half before being salvaged by individual moments of magic after the break. "We are aware of the errors we need to correct," said Luis Suarez after taking his tally for the season already to 30 with the equalizer against Bilbao.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, find themselves in the bizarre situation of having made poor starts to the campaign
Atletico Madrid failed to build on Wednesday's notable Champions League success against Juventus when they were beaten 3-1 at a resurgent Valencia in La Liga on Saturday.
Real and Barca have won the title in 15 of the last 16 seasons, with Atletico breaking the duopoly in 2014.
Griezmann goal earns Atletico first win of season
Barcelona restored their lead at the top of La Liga standings to nine points after Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez each scored in a routine if underwhelming 3-0 win at home to struggling Levante on Sunday, with Paulinho increasing their lead in added time.
Barcelona travel to newly-promoted Osasuna without their first choice front line.
Real Madrid star Vinicius racially attacked for 10th time this season.
In his absence, the league champions have made a lacklustre start to the season, losing their opening game to Athletic Bilbao before taking just four points from fixtures against Real Betis and Osasuna.
World Cup winner Lionel Messi will be the new captain of Inter Miami, the Major League Soccer (MLS) side's coach Tata Martino confirmed on Monday.
Barcelona have won the Champions League five times, most recently in 2015, and face a tough task to get back to the top table of European football after being forced to sell club legend Lionel Messi due to financial problems.
The Liverpool striker said that Spain's La Liga was stronger than the EPL despite the presence of three English teams in the Champions League semi-finals.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice but had to leave the pitch with his face covered in blood as Real Madrid eased their domestic crisis by hammering Liga strugglers Deportivo La Coruna 7-1 at home on Sunday to reclaim fourth place in the standing
A round-up of Friday's action in La Liga, and Bundesliga.
He made it 3-0 with a superb first-time finish into the bottom corner in the 20th minute, scoring his first ever treble in a competitive game, more than 19 years after making his professional debut.
Iker Muniain gave Athletic a deserved lead in the 32nd minute by bundling the ball home after Real failed to get back in time to defend a counterattack.
Champions Barcelona moved five points clear at the top of La Liga with a 2-1 win at Getafe, while Real Madrid fell to a 2-0 defeat by Real Sociedad.
Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham again proved the match-winner as he struck in added time to snatch a 2-1 victory over Getafe as the Spanish giants made their home debut in La Liga this season.
Gareth Bale ended a three-month goal drought in La Liga to give Real Madrid a nervy 1-0 win away to basement club Huesca on Sunday, taking his side back into the top four at the expense of Alaves.
Real Madrid star forward Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten Barcelona's Lionel Messi for the first time to clinch La Liga's best player award among a hat-trick of awards he won at the Spanish top flight's annual gala.
