Villarreal missed their chance to stay in touch with Real Madrid at the top of the Primera Liga when they went down 2-0 at Valladolid on Sunday. The defeat kept Manuel Pellegrini's side level with Barcelona on 28 points in third spot in the table and four adrift of leaders Real, who won 3-1 at home to Racing Santander on Saturday.
Real Madrid thrashed Villareal 5-0 while arch-rivals Barcelona beat Athletico Madrid 3-1 on Sunday.
Villarreal's Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme is set return to his former club Boca Juniors on loan until the end of the season.
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.
Barca must beat Villareal on the weekend if they are to stand a chance of overhauling Real in the run in.
Valencia sign Kondogbia on loan from Inter
Barcelona travel to newly-promoted Osasuna without their first choice front line.
The old format was skewed in favour of the bigger clubs, who could rest players for a first leg and swallow defeat before calling on their stars to turn the tie around in the return game.
Atletico Madrid kept pace with leaders Barcelona and restored their five-point lead over third-placed city rivals Real when Diego Costa and David Villa each scored a penalty in a 2-1 win at Granada in La Liga on Thursday.
A round-up of weekend action in the main European leagues.
The Barcelona striker wants an all-Spanish Champions League final against Villarreal in Paris on May 17.
Underdogs Olympique Lyon and Villarreal will attempt to triumph over the Milan teams
Real were smarting from a surprise 1-1 draw at struggling Elche in their last match and were missing captain Sergio Ramos, who was out with a stomach bug.
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
Real Madrid's talismanic forward Cristiano Ronaldo is set to face Manchester City in Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg after coming through training on Monday.
It has been a long time arriving but Manuel Pellegrini can finally celebrate some meaningful European silverware - 10 years after arriving in Spain as a relative unknown.
Real Madrid star striker Cristiano Ronaldo will travel with the team for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final clash against Manchester City after recovering from a thigh injury.
United's Ibrahimovic, Roma's Dzeko find the net thrice to give clubs first leg advantage
World No.1 Serena Williams has held on to her top position in the latest women's tennis rankings issued by the WTA.
Atletico Madrid put last week's painful defeat by Real Madrid behind them with a 3-0 win over Osasuna on Sunday that included two goals in the space of a minute and allowed them to return to the top four in La Liga.
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.
Ruben Baraja scored two goals as Valencia rallied to sink regional neighbours Villarreal 4-2 in the Spanish League.
Former Arsenal and France midfielder Robert Pires, a member of France's 1998 World Cup-winning squad, has announced his retirement from football at the age of 42.
Karim Benzema struck twice as Real Madrid went to the top of La Liga with a 4-2 win over Villarreal on Saturday while midfielder Verza's double gave Almeria a shock 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid.
A sloppy Real Madrid were held 0-0 at home to Real Betis on Saturday in a further blow to their hopes of retaining the La Liga title.
David Moyes continued his unbeaten start at Real Sociedad when he rested a host of regulars in a 0-0 draw at third-tier Real Oviedo in a King's Cup last-32, first-leg match on Thursday.
Images from La Liga matches played on Saturday.
Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, failing to make it past the group stage of the competition for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Alexandre Lacazette's free-kick sent Arsenal into the Europa League semi-finals with a comfortable 1-0 win away over Napoli, while Chelsea beat Slavia Prague 4-3 in a roller-coaster game, helped by a Pedro brace.
The weekend was a goal-feast with footballers from all over Europe keeping their names on the scoresheet. Rediff.com brings you the top goal-scorers of the weekend.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Spanish rivals Villarreal and Valencia had to settle for a goalless draw in the first leg of their UEFA Cup semi-final.
Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek had a Europa League night to remember by scoring the first hat-trick of his career as the midfielder inspired them to a 3-1 home win over Belarus champions BATE Borisov on Thursday.
Summary of all that transpired on and off the football field
Valencia's Paco Alcacer and Dani Parejo both hit doubles in a surprise 5-1 away thrashing of high-flying Celta Vigo in La Liga on Saturday.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid dropped their first points of the season on Saturday, missing the chance to equal the record for the best-ever La Liga start.
Manuel Pellegrini's record against Pep Guardiola is a sorry one but he gets another chance to finally put one over his tormentor when Manchester City host holders Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday.
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