Overall leader Chris Froome put the hammer down on the Tour de France when the Briton humiliated his rivals in the first mountain test, winning the 10th stage in awe-inspiring fashion on Tuesday.
France's Romain Bardet of AG2r-La Mondiale won the 18th stage of the Tour de France, a 186.5-km trek from Gap on Thursday.
Real Madrid saw off a stirring Chelsea fightback to book their place in the Champions League semi-finals following a 3-2 defeat after extra time in a scintillating second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday to go through 5-4 on aggregate.
A round-up of Saturday's action in LaLiga, Ligue 1 and Serie A.
Reigning champion Chris Froome wasted no time flexing his muscles at the Tour de France as he powered to sixth place in a treacherous opening time trial won superbly by Team Sky colleague Geraint Thomas on Saturday.
Karim Benzema's hat-trick earned Real Madrid a 3-1 win at reigning European champions Chelsea in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday. In another quarter-final match, Villarreal stunned six times European Cup winners Bayern Munich 1-0.
La Liga president Javier Tebas has said he hopes Spanish soccer will resume on June 12 after being halted for over three months due to the coronavirus pandemic. All clubs in Spain's top two divisions began testing players for the virus last week and many including La Liga champions Barcelona started individual training, the second step of the league's four-phase protocol for returning to action.
IMAGES from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
The season kick backs into action with a local derby between Sevilla and Real Betis on June 11 and there will be fixtures for the following seven days, with Barca hosting Leganes on June 16
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Italian MotoGP great Valentino Rossi won the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday with a dominant pole-to-flag ride for the 113th victory of his career in all categories.
Real Madrid put their title defence back on track with a comfortable 3-1 win over Real Sociedad at Anoeta on Sunday, despite missing several key players. Sociedad defender Kevin Rodrigues scored at both ends and Borja Mayoral and Gareth Bale netted Madrid's other goals to help them equal the consecutive scoring record of 73 games set by Pele's Santos between 1961 and 1963.
Lionel Messi insisted his fifth-place finish in Monday's Ballon d'Or awards was not a motivating factor behind his sensational performance in Barcelona's 4-0 thrashing of local rivals Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday.
The 33-year-old Messi, who signed his last contract in 2017, has become more outspoken against the club's hierarchy in the last year and radio station Cadena Ser said last Thursday he is unhappy with how Barca is being run and wants to leave in 2021.
Portugal's Rui Costa took his second win of this year's Tour de France with a solo victory at Le Grand Bornand on Friday.
Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands attacked near the foot of the final climb to win the ninth stage of the Tour de France in extreme weather conditions as Alberto Contador pulled out of the race on Sunday.
The clinical Argentine Messi now has 11 goals in his last five games in all competitions and with record signing Ousmane Dembele injured and Luis Suarez rested, he put on a sensational show at Camp Nou to extend Barcelona's La Liga lead.
The Indian golfer ended up turning in his worst card of the week, a four-over 74, to aggregate two-under 278 at the Panama Movistar Championship.
Arjun Atwal scored a sedate penultimate round of two-under 68 to grab the lead at the Panama Championship.
Briton Chris Froome won his second Tour de France title in three years on Sunday to enhance his growing reputation as a grand tour specialist.
Italian great Valentino Rossi has not ruled out a return to MotoGP in Spain this weekend, three weeks after breaking his right leg, after getting back on a bike for some test laps on Monday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Chris Froome showed again he will attack his rivals on every terrain as the Briton extended his overall lead in the Tour de France with a surprising move in Wednesday's 11th stage, which was won with panache by world champion Peter Sagan.
Chris Froome is poised to win a second Tour de France title after being forced to hang on desperately as Colombian Nairo Quintana attacked relentlessly in Saturday's penultimate stage up the iconic Alpe d'Huez.
The Frenchman, voted the world's third best player of 2016, has been the subject of intense transfer speculation since signing a new contract with Atletico in May 2017.
A look at the main Tour de France contenders ahead of Saturday's first stage, a 14-km individual time trial in Duesseldorf:
Lionel Messi was back in scoring business for Barcelona on Sunday, leading them to a resounding 4-0 win at home against Villarreal in a near-perfect La Liga opener for the Catalans under new coach Ronald Koeman.
Cristiano Ronaldo's teammates have issued a strong defence of his value to Real Madrid as the Portuguese striker grapples with a barren streak that has sparked a debate about his place in the team.
But Froome's Big Four rivals at the tour -- Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana - weren't the only hurdles in his path. There were outside influences that threatened to derail his campaign.
There was no dearth of praise for little magician Lionel Messi who struck his 500th goal for FC Barcelona on Sunday.
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.
Luis Suarez scored four goals and Lionel Messi grabbed a hat-trick as Barcelona all but wrapped up their King's Cup semi-final by crushing Valencia 7-0 in the first leg at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique made no excuses after they lost 4-3 at Celta Vigo and missed the chance to top La Liga on Sunday.
A Marco Asensio-inspired Real Madrid crushed Eibar 3-0 to close the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to five points on Sunday, with Karim Benzema starting on the bench.
Andre Greipel confirmed he was the sprint king at this year's Tour de France when the German outpowered his rivals to win the 15th stage on Sunday.
Greg van Avermaet, one of cycling's nearly men, enjoyed a rare victory when he claimed the 13th stage of the Tour de France on Friday with a late burst of speed in an uphill finale.
German Andre Greipel was again far too strong for the opposition as he claimed his second win in this year's Tour de France.
Championship leader Rossi wants a penalty, imposed on him after he allegedly kicked Honda's reigning champion Marc Marquez off his bike in Malaysia last Sunday, to be at least suspended so he can race on equal terms.
Briton Chris Froome stunned his passive rivals to snatch the overall leader's yellow jersey in the Tour de France when he won the eighth stage with a lightning attack on the final descent on Saturday.
Alvaro Morata again proved decisive from the bench by striking a late winner against Athletic Bilbao and firing a lacklustre Real Madrid to the top of La Liga on Sunday. The Spain international has been afforded limited opportunities in his first season back at Real following two years with Juventus, struggling to usurp first choice forwards Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Morata has made just four league starts, but has scored four times in all competitions.
