Here is the round-up of all the football action across Europe on the weekend
Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz was arrested Friday after a complaint from a financial institution but released without charges, a government official said.
Real Madrid returned to winning ways after last weekend's drubbing at Atletico but failed to convince and were whistled by their own fans during a drab 2-0 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
Argentina will stage next month's Davis Cup final against Spain on an indoor court in the Atlantic resort of Mar del Plata, the International Tennis Federation said. The ITF said on its website (www.daviscup.com) that it had chosen Mar del Plata ahead of Cordoba, the other potential venue put forward by Argentina, for the November 21-23 final.
Convicts at a prison in Argentina's second largest city Cordobaturned violent during family visiting hours and took several people hostage to protest overcrowding.
Palermo have rebuffed interest from Manchester United among others for forward Paulo Dybala but could sell the Argentine at the end of the season, president Maurizio Zamparini said on Wednesday.
Barcelona followed up last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Real Madrid with another reverse on Saturday, squandering a host of chances to lose 1-0 at home to Celta Vigo and handing the lead in La Liga to their arch rivals.
Top-seed David Nalbandian beat compatriot Jose Acasuso in the Buenos Aires Open final to collect his eighth career title.
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.
The South American trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez reached a scorching 108 goals for the season following the La Liga leaders' 8-0 destruction of Cordoba on Saturday but the team's defence is yet to dispel doubts
Juventus striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss his club's title showdown with AC Milan next month.
Inter Milan began their Serie A title defence with a 1-1 home draw with Udinese on Sunday after an Ivan Cordoba own goal in injury time, while AC Milan won 3-0 at promoted Genoa helped by Kaka's brace.
Velez Sarsfield said on Thursday they were contemplating disciplinary action against their volatile goalkeeper Gaston Sessa after his latest loss of temper shocked Argentina.
P Harikrishna outplayed Spanish hope Miguel Cordoba in the fifth round to climb two places at Dos Hermanas International Chess
P Harikrishna settled for a draw against top seed Alexey Dreev of Russia but managed to grab the second spot
The rest of Barcelona's squad will have to do "a little bit more" to make up for the absence of five-times World Player of the Year Lionel Messi for the next three weeks, according to captain Andres Iniesta.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Philippe Coutinho scored his first league goal since returning to Barcelona to help his side draw 1-1 at home to an excellent Sevilla side in La Liga on Sunday.
In-form Luciano Vietto hit two second half goals as Villarreal, down to 10 men for the final 10 minutes, cruised to a 3-0 home victory over Deportivo La Coruna to go fifth in La Liga.
A round-up of Day 11 at the final Grand Slam of the year.
Paulo Dybala said his two-goal performance against Barcelona on Tuesday was the sort of night he had dreamed about since he used to play on the bumpy pitches of the Argentine second division as a slightly-built teenager.
The forward was again the stand-out Brazil player and he coolly side-footed home his 60th international goal in the 76th minute after Diego Laxalt brought down Danilo, although Uruguay claimed there was a handball in the build-up.
World soccer great Diego Armando Maradona, who died on Wednesday less than a month after his 60th birthday, was worshipped like a god for his genius with the ball, but his demons almost destroyed him.
The Copa America was played as a 12-team tournament from 1993 when the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) invited two teams from CONCACAF, the North and Central America and Caribbean region, to join in.
No amount of preparation is enough to snuff out the threat of Argentina's "assassin" Lionel Messi, Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez said ahead of Friday's Copa America clash between the teams. Messi was an unused substitute in Argentina's 2-1 win over holders Chile in their opening Group D match in Santa Clara, California on Monday after a back injury but will reappear when they face Panama in Chicago. "Leo trained normally, he will play," coach Gerardo Martino told a news conference on Thursday. Both sides have three points after Panama marked their first appearance in the world's oldest international tournament with a surprise 2-1 win over Bolivia, who face Chile in Foxborough on Friday.
Cristiano Ronald headed his 300th goal for Real Madrid in a laboured 2-0 La Liga victory at neighbours Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday that kept the gap on leaders Barcelona down to four points.
A bullet header from Nicolas Otamendi put Valencia on course for a 3-1 victory over Eibar in La Liga on Sunday that boosted their hopes of claiming a Champions League place.
Defender Filipe Luis has rejoined Atletico Madrid from Chelsea in a reported 16 million euro ($17.66 million) deal, the Spanish club said.
Lionel Messi, having reversed his decision to quit international soccer with a view to playing at another World Cup, could miss out on Russia 2018 if Argentina continue their downward spiral. Argentina played poorly in their last three qualifiers without the injured Messi and languish in fifth place in the South American group with Paraguay and Chile hot on their tails. Only four countries are guaranteed a place at the finals.
Villarreal's slide continued as a Diego Castro header gave Getafe a 1-1 draw in La Liga on Sunday but the match was overshadowed by a serious injury to Mateo Musacchio.
While it is unfair to blame the Wales winger for all of Real's recent woes, it cannot be denied that he appears to be struggling for form and confidence.
Real Madrid's La Liga title bid took a dent after Zinedine Zidane's leaders were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Celta Vigo on Sunday, denied all three points by a late strike from Santi Mina. Lazio mounted a superb second-half comeback at the Olympic Stadium to beat Inter Milan 2-1 and move above Antonio Conte's side into second place in Serie A on Sunday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Real Madrid have defied injuries to keep the pressure on leaders Barcelona and notched up over 100 La Liga goals but they now face arguably the toughest test of their title charge in an away match to Sevilla on Saturday.
A lacklustre Barcelona squandered the chance to go top of La Liga after crashing to a shock 1-0 home defeat by Malaga on Saturday.
Midfielder Dani Ceballos added: "It looks like us changing our coach worked. We have recovered some sensations we had lost and we have got the three points. Now our objective is to win all the games left and finish the season as well as possible."
Lionel Messi scored his 12th league goal of the season but Barcelona had to rely on exceptional saves from Marc-Andre ter Stegen as they rode their luck to win 2-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and stay four points clear at the top of La Liga.
Sevilla joined holders Real Madrid in the last 16 of the King's Cup when a quick-fire Iago Aspas hat-trick helped secure a crushing 11-2 aggregate victory over second-division Sabadell on Wednesday.
Fellow Serie A sides Atalanta and Lazio also won while Portugal's Vitoria Guimaraes began their match against Salzburg with not a single European player in the team.
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