Images from football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
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.
'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.'
Forward Rasmus Hojlund scored twice to allow Manchester United to come back from a goal down and get a 2-1 win at six-times Czech champions Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday.
Metz draw at Marseille to end losing streak
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.
Barcelona travel to newly-promoted Osasuna without their first choice front line.
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.
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.
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.
IMAGRS from the soccer matches played across European leagues on Friday
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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 will face a struggling Galatasaray team who are 13th in the Turkish top-flight.
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.
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.
Factbox on Carlos Alcaraz, who beat seven-time champion Novak Djokovic
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.
The first legs of the ties will take place on February 16, with the return match a week later on February 23.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Valencia forward Carlos Soler scored a hat-trick of penalties as his side beat La Liga champions Real Madrid 4-1 at home in an extraordinary match on Sunday.
David Beckham earned the plaudits of his team mates, Fabio Capello and the Spanish media after he marked his return with a goal that helped Real Madrid to a 2-1 comeback victory at Real Sociedad on Saturday.
'I never thought I would have such a great career and I hope there are still some more things to be added to those'
Cristiano Ronaldo has pleaded with Real Madrid fans to get off Jose Mourinho's back and to support the team after a couple of jittery home performances where their coach has been whistled by sections of the Bernabeu.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is confident the team's results will not suffer from a one-year transfer ban imposed by FIFA for breaking rules regarding the signing of under-age foreign players.
