Villarreal romped to a 5-0 home victory over promoted Tenerife on Sunday, continuing their revival after a poor start to the La Liga campaign.
With the Catalans shorn of three of their top forwards, all eyes will be on Griezmann in his first appearance at the Camp Nou since his 120-million-euro ($133 million) move from Atletico Madrid, and not least because Barca need a win to kickstart their season.
Betis fans bow to 'extraordinary' Messi after sublime hat-trick Lionel Messi is used to receiving adulation at the Nou Camp but on Sunday he got a rapturous reception from rival supporters for a majestic hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-1 win at Real Betis. Messi opened the scoring with an unstoppable free kick then combined with devastating effect with Luis Suarez to carve Betis open and score a second goal right before halftime. The Argentine saved his best goal for last, completing a victory which took Barca 10 points clear at the top of La Liga with a spectacular first-timed chip from the edge of the area after playing a one-two with Ivan Rakitic. Beaten Betis goalkeeper Pau Lopez looked on in awe while the home supporters, renowned for devotion to their side, rose to their feet, bowed down to Messi and chanted his name. "Even though the opposition concedes goals to Messi they can still enjoy this unbelievable era which he has created, they enjoy it too and today they recognised that," said Barca coach Ernesto Valverde. "It's significant that they gave him this ovation, it's an acknowledgement. Our rivals' supporters have to suffer him but they also appreciate him, because of the player he is. "Leo's performance was extraordinary, he got three goals but he could have got four, that shows you how good he is." Betis coach Quique Setien commended his supporters for their treatment of Messi while saying he felt honoured to work in the same era as the Argentine. "I really like the fact that our supporters showed their appreciation for a great player, today he really made us suffer," Setien said. "It's only fair and it's right to recognise this, our fans behaved in an extraordinary way and I'm very proud of them. I've seen some magnificent players do great things but no-one can match the things Messi has done over the last 12 years. "It's a privilege to have been able to start this era with him and see him in action every weekend." The five-times world player of the year moved on to 39 goals in all competitions this season with two months still left in the campaign. It was Messi's 51st career hat-trick but he could not recall receiving such applause from a rival team's fans. "I cannot remember anything like this before and I'm very grateful for the fans' reaction," Messi said. "I'm very grateful to them and happy for the victory, which was very important."
Santiago Solari got off to the perfect start as Real Madrid's interim coach when his side thrashed Melilla 4-0 in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
Chris Froome has one more mountainous hurdle to overcome to claim a second Tour de France title after Friday's 19th stage in which had 30 seconds chopped off his lead as Vincenzo Nibali claimed a controversial victory.
Italian Riccardo Ricco won the sixth stage of the Tour de France on Thursday while Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen seized the overall leader's yellow jersey. The Giro d'Italia runner-up, also known as "The Cobra", attacked in the final metres of a category-two climb to Super-Besse to beat Spain's Alejandro Valverde and Australian Cadel Evans, second and third respectively.
Messi ran amok at Wembley Stadium, slicing Spurs apart with incisive passes from deep, such as the one that allowed Philippe Coutinho to open the scoring, and was as dangerous as ever in front of goal, firing in the Catalan side's final two goals to end their winless run of three games.
IMAGES from the La Liga matches played on Tuesday
The Catalans will not just be looking to extend their domestic hegemony, though, as they have spent a combined 250 million euros ($280 million) on a renewed bid to win the Champions League.
Underlying tensions mean Luis Enrique will not be remembered with the same reverence as Pep Guardiola, even though he has delivered a similar trophy haul.
Real Madrid moved into the semi-finals of the Champions League after their makeshift defence held on for 0-0 second-leg draw with Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday to complete a 3-1 aggregate win.
It was Messi's 30th goal in 39 competitive games against Atletico
Coutinho, who arrived from Liverpool for a club record 165 million euros ($185.18 million) in January 2018, has so far shown little to suggest he will be able to compensate for Frenchman Ousmane Dembele's absence against Lyon in the UEFA Champions League tie.
De Jong is proud to join the likes of compatriots Ronald Koeman, Frank de Boer and Patrick Kluivert in heading to the Nou Camp, having dreamed of wearing Barca colours.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona fell to a first home defeat in any competition for more than two years
Manchester Utd's Fred receives racist abuse after defeat by Liverpool.
Images and a round-up of all the World Cup qualifiers played across continents on Tuesday.
'I arrived at Manchester United a boy, and I left a man'
Images from the La Liga match played between FC Barcelona and Sevilla on at Camp Nou on Sunday
The victory takes Barcelona up to fourth with 10 points after six games, one point behind surprise leaders Granada, Athletic Bilbao, who visit Leganes on Wednesday, and Real Madrid ahead of their game at home to Osasuna the same night.
Real play Athletic Bilbao while Barcelona visit Real Sociedad in fixtures that have often proved to be among their hardest away trips over the last decade.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's La Liga action:
Luka Modric pulled one back for Zinedine Zidane's shellshocked side with a brilliant strike from distance early in the second half before substitute Vinicius Jr reduced the deficit to one goal.
Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele scored twice and produced a mesmerising display to fire his side to a 5-1 win over Villarreal on Wednesday which stretched the champions' unbeaten run this season to 36 games with two remaining.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Real will ease the pain by retaining their Champions League title, their only hope of salvaging a disappointing season.
Images from the FIFA World Cup qualifiers matches.
After an even first 45 minutes, strikes from Pablo Sarabia and Wissam Ben Yedder stunned the Catalans and left them needing a second-leg comeback at the Nou Camp for the second consecutive round in the competition.
Real coach Julen Lopetegui has come in for fierce criticism this season, having presided over a run of five games without a win -- the team going eight hours and one minute without scoring -- before Tuesday's unconvincing 2-1 triumph over Viktoria Plzen that saw the team whistled off the pitch by their own fans.
Twenty-three-times Cup winners Athletic Bilbao were dumped out in sensational circumstances by tiny island side SD Formentera, who sneaked a 1-0 win at San Mames with a header by Alvaro Muniz deep in stoppage-time to reach the last 16 for the first time with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Vinesh downed two tough Chinese rivals on her way to the 53kg gold medal bout, in which she overpowered Ecudor's Luisa Elizabeth Valverde.
Frenchman Lenglet's first league start since his 36 million-euro move from Sevilla turned sour when he was shown a straight red card in the 35th minute at the Nou Camp following a coming together with Pons, after referee Jesus Gil Manzano consulted the video assistant referee (VAR).
Real Madrid's unbeaten start to the La Liga season came to an abrupt and surprising end as Real Mallorca claimed a stunning 1-0 victory at a rocking Son Moix on Saturday to climb out of the relegation zone.
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.
Barcelona lifted the Spanish Super Cup for a record extending 13th time by coming from behind to beat Sevilla 2-1 on Sunday thanks to a stunning strike from France winger Ousmane Dembele and a penalty save in stoppage time from Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Lionel Messi scored a record eighth Champions League hat-trick as Barcelona kick-started their campaign with a 4-0 home win over PSV Eindhoven, although they had defender Samuel Umtiti sent off late in the second half on Tuesday.
Champions Barcelona reclaimed top spot in La Liga on Sunday by overcoming a dogged Villarreal side to win 2-0 at home with goals from stalwart defender Gerard Pique and youngster Carles Alena taking them above Sevilla.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
