Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane made up for the absence of Sergio Ramos by scoring one goal and making another to help his side to a hard-fought 3-0 win at Getafe. La Liga leaders Barcelona were held to a 2-2 draw at struggling Espanyol on Saturday as China striker Wu Lei came off the bench to grab a late equaliser in a pulsating city derby.
A late header by Imanol Agirretxe gave Real Sociedad, who are without a coach, a 2-1 victory over 10-man Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Sunday.
Manchester City's Premier League home match against Arsenal has been postponed because players from the London club have had contact with the owner of Greek side Olympiakos Piraeus, who has contracted the coronavirus. Meanwhile La Liga matches will be played without fans for at least the next two rounds of fixtures to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the Spanish league said.
Casemiro headed an 89th minute winner to earn Real Madrid a barely deserved 2-1 victory at Las Palmas in La Liga on Sunday as they closed the gap on second-placed Atletico Madrid to four points.
Lionel Messi will be working "full time" to shake off the hamstring injury sustained on Sunday that will sideline him for six to eight weeks, Barcelona's Argentine World Player of the Year said on Tuesday.
Defender Gerard Pique grabbed a rare winner and Lionel Messi scored yet another beauty as Barcelona came from behind to beat Sevilla 2-1 at the Nou Camp on Sunday and reclaim an eight-point lead at the top of La Liga.
Chelsea's Marcos Alonso and Real Madrid's Nacho were notable absentees in defence, along with Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
From comments about the healthy relationship shared between Barca trio -- Messi, Suarez and Neymar, to questions about his goal drought in away matches, an angry Ronaldo had the response to it all
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane reckons Cristiano Ronaldo is on top form as the Portuguese looks to increase his Champions League goals tally when they visit AS Roma in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday.
Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann struck twice as the Spanish side outclassed hapless Olympique de Marseille 3-0 on Wednesday to win the Europa League for the third time.
A Marco Asensio-inspired Real Madrid crushed Eibar 3-0 to close the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to five points on Sunday, with Karim Benzema starting on the bench.
A summary of Thursday's matches in Europe's second tier club football tournament
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action:
Villarreal continued their impressive revival after a season in the second division when Jeremy Perbet and Jonathan Pereira struck in a 2-1 win at home to Espanyol in La Liga on Thursday.
Atletico Madrid surrendered top spot in La Liga to Barcelona when they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to 10-man Sevilla in a fiercely contested La Liga clash on Sunday.
Joao Miranda and new signing Mario Mandzukic led Atletico Madrid to a 2-1 home win in La Liga on Saturday as visitors Eibar were unable to cope with the aerial threat of the champions.
A magical Lionel Messi goal, the first of a personal double, led treble-chasing Barcelona to a 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the King's Cup final on Saturday.
'I'm very happy and I can say that 2016 was the best year of my career, the trophy shows that people aren't blind and watch the games.'
'Will I be playing at Barca next season? It's an unknown'
Spain's biggest selling sports daily Marca summed it up in Monday's headline after Barcelona wrapped up a fifth La Liga title in seven years and their 23rd overall on Sunday: 'Messi's League'.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is still not satisfied despite winning five trophies in 2015 and is aiming to do even better next year.
The suggestion that Spain need to change their playing style is already meeting resistance even though another disappointing performance at a major soccer tournament suggests that tiki-taka has run its course. In many countries, a defeat as comprehensive as the one Spain suffered against Italy in Euro 2016 on Monday, when they were outplayed and lucky to lose only 2-0, would have led to calls to knock everything down and start again. In Spain, however, where many are proud of having such a distinctive style of play, there are plenty of voices calling for the team to continue trying to pass the ball all the way into the goal.
Following a bright start to the season it was another disappointing display by Villarreal, who have one win from seven games in La Liga, before the return at El Madrigal in two weeks.
For all Vicente del Bosque's confidence that he has the right balance of experience and youth to return Spain to their familiar place on the winner's rostrum, questions remain about his best starting line-up ahead of Euro 2016.
Treble-chasing Barcelona are exactly where they want to be as they prepare for two matches this week that could make or break coach Luis Enrique's first season in charge.
La Liga's reputation as the epicenter of world soccer talent has been bruised by the world record smashing sale of Neymar to Paris St Germain and how Barcelona react to the departure of one of their leading players will define the new season in Spain.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Alvaro Morata again proved decisive from the bench by striking a late winner against Athletic Bilbao and firing a lacklustre Real Madrid to the top of La Liga on Sunday. The Spain international has been afforded limited opportunities in his first season back at Real following two years with Juventus, struggling to usurp first choice forwards Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Morata has made just four league starts, but has scored four times in all competitions.
Portugal international Goncalo Guedes fired Valencia into the lead in the 35th minute with a thumping shot from inside the area which was too powerful for Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
Heavyweight trio Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea kept up their 100 per cent starts to the Premier League season this weekend.
Real Madrid continued their impressive start to the new year with Karim Benzema giving them a 1-0 victory in the King's Cup quarter-final first-leg tie away to Espanyol on Tuesday.
Villarreal landed a stunning blow on a potential rival for a European qualification berth when Giovani dos Santos and Ikechukwu Uche each struck twice in a 5-1 drubbing of Real Sociedad in La Liga on Monday.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone may have played down the significance of Sunday's 2-1 La Liga defeat at Real Sociedad but it has raised further questions about the champions' ability to defend their title.
Whatever Karim Benzema does in a Real Madrid shirt his achievements are generally overshadowed by the exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo yet the France forward has a splendid Champions League record of his own.
Not content with setting a record of 17 goals for one edition of the Champions League last season, Cristiano Ronaldo is already well on the way towards breaking Lionel Messi's La Liga best haul of 50 goals in one campaign.
Zinedine Zidane got off to a flying start as Real Madrid coach when Gareth Bale hit a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday after a Lionel Messi treble had fired Barcelona to the top of La Liga.
Lionel Messi struck a spectacular free kick, scored another goal and set up two more in a 4-1 victory for Barcelona over nine-man city rivals Espanyol in the first leg of their King's Cup last-16 clash on Wednesday.
Barcelona have been haunted by their recent failures in the Champions League and there are concerning signs for the Catalans as they prepare for Tuesday's last-16 first leg away to Olympique Lyonnais.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti fended off questions about his future after the Champions League holders were dumped out in the semi-finals by Juventus 3-2 on aggregate on Wednesday.
