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.
Barcelona will meet Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-finals following the draw on Friday while Manchester City face Tottenham Hotspur in an all-Premier League clash.
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.
Real Madrid thrashed Villareal 5-0 while arch-rivals Barcelona beat Athletico Madrid 3-1 on Sunday.
Real Betis right-back Emerson Aparecido's first year in La Liga went superbly well, but there is plenty to come from one of the league's most talented and determined rising stars.
Napoli brush aside lowly Crotone to go third in Serie A.
Villarreal's Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme is set return to his former club Boca Juniors on loan until the end of the season.
Arsenal might be struggling in the Premier League but they are 100 per cent in Group B of the Europa League
Zidane plays down Ronaldo injury; Liverpool's Gomez sidelined after surgey
Atletico coach Simeone defends VAR for making football fairer
Real Madrid beat Leganes 2-1 in La Liga on Saturday after coach Zinedine Zidane heavily rotated his side in preparation for Tuesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, including leaving out top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.
Barca, chasing a third consecutive Spanish title, are on 76 points after 35 games while Real Madrid are top with 77 and can restore their four-point advantage when they host Alaves on Friday.
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.
Images from the matches played across football leagues in Europe on Sunday.
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
A round-up of weekend action in the main European leagues.
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.
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 Madrid endured their toughest test at Granada on Monday since La Liga restarted but showed real determination to grind out a 2-1 win and record their ninth consecutive victory as they moved within touching distance of reclaiming the title. Early goals from Ferland Mendy and Karim Benzema were enough to restore a four-point lead over Barcelona and Real will clinch their first league title since 2017 with a win over Villarreal on Thursday or at Leganes on the final day of the season.
'We created so many chances and simply weren't effective with them. In fact we created a rainbow of different chances and there are just some days when the ball refuses to go in.'
Barcelona travel to newly-promoted Osasuna without their first choice front line.
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.
World No.1 Serena Williams has held on to her top position in the latest women's tennis rankings issued by the WTA.
Ruben Baraja scored two goals as Valencia rallied to sink regional neighbours Villarreal 4-2 in the Spanish League.
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.
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
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
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.
Spanish rivals Villarreal and Valencia had to settle for a goalless draw in the first leg of their UEFA Cup semi-final.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
