Barcelona star Gerard Pique and his Colombian pop star partner Shakira have found themselves at the centre of a storm.
Holders Barcelona produced a second-half blitz to come from behind and beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 to book a place in the King's Cup semi-finals after Atletico Madrid crashed out in a shock 3-2 defeat by Celta Vigo.
The win increased Zinedine Zidane's side's advantage at the top of the standings to six points
Barcelona's Lionel Messi beat Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo to take home the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award on Thursday.
The win took Barca to the top of the standings on 68 points although Real Madrid, on 65, will reclaim their lead due to their superior head-to-head record if they beat Real Mallorca at home on Wednesday.
Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and the Spanish football federation face fines over politically-motivated whistles and banners during last season's King's Cup final at the Nou Camp, the Spanish government said on Monday.
'Pay me and I will leave, I have given everything and broken my back for this badge, this club and for you'
Barcelona were hailed as La Liga champions-elect in the Catalan media after their 1-0 win at Real Madrid on Saturday, while the capital's press called for sweeping changes at Real after another domestic failure.
On a seismic day in the history of Chelsea, Romelu Lukaku scored the winning goal in a 3-2 FA Cup fifth-round victory
After lifting his fourth Ballon d'or award, Real Madrid star striker Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted that the competition for the trophy would have been fiercer if he and Lionel Messi were in the same team. Ronaldo, who inspired Zinedine Zidane's side to the Champions League glory and Portugal to the European Championship 2016 trophy, defeated Messi and Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann to win the coveted prize.
The French forward, who joined the club in 2009, netted twice in the first-half to take his Real tally to 209 goals in 446 games, moving ahead of Mexican Hugo Sanchez into sixth place on the club's all-time top scorers list.
'Cristiano scored 50 goals and you can't find someone today who scores that many. Some of us have to take a step forward and, while not scoring 50, what we need is two or three players who score 15, 20, or 10 goals and we don't have that.'
Zinedine Zidane has stepped down as Real Madrid coach with immediate effect five days after his team were pipped to the La Liga title by city rivals Atletico Madrid, the Spanish club said on Thursday.
Barcelona's Neymar scored twice and Luis Suarez was also on target as they reached their fourth King's Cup final in five years with a 3-1 win away to Villarreal on Wednesday that gave them a 6-2 aggregate victory.
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga and Ligue 1.
The Catalonian side put up a good fight to stay level in the first half at a half-empty Wanda Metropolitano stadium, with Lucas Hernandez hitting the post and Diego Costa denied when one-on-one with the visiting keeper.
Real Madrid's interim coach Santiago Solari says the squad are hurting but determined to turn around their dismal start to the season.
Real Madrid's stuttering season continued as they were reduced to 10 men and then slumped to an 11th La Liga defeat of the campaign by going down 3-1 at Real Sociedad.
Barcelona's star striker Lionel Messi has backed Atletico Madrid to seal this year's Champions League title, saying his team don't want to see Real Madrid claim the trophy.
The 55-year-old Ernesto Valverde, who led Barcelona to successive La Liga titles in 2018 and 2019, came under fire this season for the team's dip in performance levels even though they top the league standings at the halfway point of the campaign.
Gary Neville was sacked as Valencia manager on Wednesday as the club brought an end to his fraught four-month spell in charge after the former England and Manchester United defender had delivered only three league wins.
Koopmeiners leads Atalanta past Milan into Coppa semis
In a big blow to Real Madrid's title hopes, Real Betis held them to a goalless draw in their La Liga encounter on Sunday.
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.
According to widespread Spanish media reports, Netherlands coach and former Barca defender Ronald Koeman is set to be named as Setien's successor.
Carlo Ancelotti has become Real Madrid president Florentino Perez's latest managerial victim, just 366 days after delivering the club their much-awaited La Decima, a 10th Champions League title.
Real Madrid were dumped out of the Copa del Rey at the quarter-final stage on Thursday after losing 4-3 at home to Real Sociedad, while record 30-times winners Barcelona were sent crashing out of the Copa del Rey in a 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao.
The Modric family took refuge in a hotel near Zadar in 1991 when the war that followed the breakup of former Yugoslavia started and after Luka's grandfather was killed by Serb militia.
Coach Ernesto Valverde and midfielder Sergio Busquets were due to give a news conference before the training session but spoke to the media after training due to their late arrival.
Neymar's acrimonious split from Barcelona escalated on Thursday as the Paris St Germain forward announced plans to sue the La Liga club, two days after Barca revealed they were suing the Brazilian over breach of contract.
Barcelona's Sergi Roberto and Robert Lewandowski struck just before halftime to give the league leaders a 2-0 home win over lowly Cadiz on Sunday in their pursuit of a 27th Spanish title.
Spanish media has reported that Solari, 42, is to be relieved of his duties
Barca feel familiar February blues as tiredness sets in
Real Madrid's resurgent La Liga run skidded to a halt as they fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at home by struggling Girona on Sunday in which captain Sergio Ramos was sent off in added time, leaving them nine points adrift of leaders Barcelona.
Brazilian Malcom, who started in place of Lionel Messi, curled home in the 58th minute to pull Barcelona level after Lucas Vazquez had fired Real Madrid ahead early on.
Roundup of the Champions League matches played on Wednesday night
With a comfortable first-leg advantage, Zinedine Zidane rested much of his first team, making 10 changes from the line-up that struggled to a disappointing draw at Celta Vigo on Sunday to fall 16 points behind league leaders Barcelona.
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.
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.
'We have to do a lot of self criticism because this is the second time that the same thing has happened to us. We cannot commit the same mistake two years in a row, there are many things we need to consider and think about'
