Spanish soccer's 'El Clasico' encounters between Barcelona and Real Madrid will happen in December and April, two of the most anticipated games of the 2016-17 Primera Division season whose fixtures were announced on Friday. Defending champions Barca host Real on Dec. 4 at the Camp Nou. The reverse fixture will take place on April 23, at the Bernabeu stadium, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirmed after the draw. As the La Liga season kicks off, Barca will begin their title defence at home to Real Betis on Aug. 21.
Real Madrid opened a two-point lead over Villarreal at the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo set a club scoring record in a 3-0 stroll at home to Levante on Saturday.
Images from football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
Holders Manchester City will take on RB Leipzig, Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys in Group G.
'It's not like that. It's more complicated. With Bale it's always about one side against the other. But I've never had a problem with Gareth.'
A summary of the UEFA Champions League Group Stage action, on Wednesday.
Barcelona dealt a stinging blow to Real Madrid's title hopes when Luis Suarez and Neymar continued their scintillating form to fire the champions to a stunning 4-0 victory in the La Liga 'Clasico' on Saturday.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Barcelona travel to newly-promoted Osasuna without their first choice front line.
Barcelona closed to within a point of La Liga leaders Real Madrid when Lionel Messi scored one goal, created two and conceded a penalty in a 3-1 win at home to champions Atletico Madrid on Sunday that eased pressure on under-fire coach Luis Enrique.
Real fought back after a calamitous own goal from keeper Keylor Navas gave Betis the lead in the 25th minute, just after the Costa Rican escaped a possible red card. Cristiano Ronaldo pulled the hosts level in the 41st with a diving header.
La Liga leaders Barcelona beat Real Madrid 1-0 to all but knock their rivals out of the title race on Saturday, while second-placed Atletico Madrid stayed seven points behind the Catalans with a 2-0 win at Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Images from UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Real Madrid moved back to the top of La Liga as Vinicius Junior scored both goals in a 2-1 victory at Elche on Saturday.
Ferran Torres scored a brace and Ousmane Dembele made two assists as a red-hot Barcelona rolled over Osasuna 4-0 on Sunday to earn their fourth consecutive LaLiga win.
The Copa del Rey semi-final draw will be made on Friday.
Cristiano Ronaldo will play no part in Real Madrid's game against Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday after the prolific Portuguese forward was left out of the squad on Friday.
City host Crystal Palace in the league on Saturday, the only team they failed to score against last season while also losing 2-0 at home.
Real Madrid will welcome back the added firepower of talisman Cristiano Ronaldo and striker Karim Benzema when they entertain promoted Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday.
Ivan Toney, once Brentford's lynchpin in attack, has moved to Al-Ahli for 40 million pounds ($52.50 million).
Many clubs including champions Barcelona have returned to individual training as part of the second stage of La Liga's four-phase protocol for getting back to activity after play was halted in early March due to the pandemic.
Real Madrid's hopes of overhauling La Liga leaders Barcelona suffered a stinging blow when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Valencia.
Barcelona thrashed Real Betis 5-1 on Wednesday to book their spot in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat to Real Betis on Wednesday as an inspired performance from their former goalkeeper Antonio Adan and a stoppage-time winner from Antonio Sanabria stunned the Liga champions.
Real Madrid's reliance on their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo was more evident than ever on Tuesday as the Spanish and European champions meekly lost 1-0 at Espanyol in La Liga.
Metz draw at Marseille to end losing streak
Real Madrid set up a King's Cup semi-final against holders Atletico Madrid or Athletic Bilbao when they beat Espanyol 1-0 in their quarter-final, second leg on Tuesday for a 2-0 aggregate success.
Gareth Bale said Real Madrid are determined to wrest back the Spanish league title from Barcelona this season after going four years without tasting La Liga success. Bale has won the Champions League twice and the King's Cup since joining the Bernabeu club in 2013, but the league title has proved elusive. Real missed out on the league to Barcelona on the final day of last season by a point and have not won the title since 2012, when they collected a record 100 points under Jose Mourinho.
Lionel Messi's double strike helped Barcelona scrape a 3-2 victory over Real Sociedad on Saturday to keep the pressure on La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who needed a brace from Isco to beat Sporting Gijon by the same scoreline.
Roundup of the matches being held across major football leagues in Europe on Sunday
IMAGRS from the soccer matches played across European leagues on Friday
Real Madrid opened a three-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo scored his eighth goal of the campaign in a 3-1 victory at home to promoted Las Palmas on Saturday.
Real Madrid need both Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema to step up a level to cover for Cristiano Ronaldo's absence and Marco Asensio will also be given a more prominent role.
Barcelona will face a struggling Galatasaray team who are 13th in the Turkish top-flight.
Barcelona were hit with more bad news on Sunday when centre back Gerard Pique was ruled out for about two weeks with a calf problem.
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.
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his rich vein of form by scoring twice in Real Madrid's 2-1 home win over struggling Sporting Gijon on Saturday, although the La Liga leaders got a lucky break when the visitors squandered a second-half penalty.
Stakeholders are confident the Spanish league season can resume in mid-June in closed stadiums without spectators, with fans not expected to be able to return to grounds until 2021.
Federico Valverde has already made over 100 appearances at senior level - while winning silverware and recognition both with his current side Madrid and country Uruguay, and showing the physical, technical and mental attributes to become one of world football's outstanding midfielders.
