Barcelona defender Gerard Pique fears his side's shock elimination from the Champions League could disturb their bid to retain the La Liga title as they host Valencia on Sunday looking for a first win in four league games.
After an almighty push by all parties concerned, Spain's La Liga roars back into action next week after a three-month pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with matches taking place every day and with everything to play for. The season resumes on Wednesday in bizarre circumstances with the second half of a Segunda Division match between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete that was abandoned in December due to offensive chanting.
Cristiano Ronaldo's bullet header helped Real Madrid to a 2-0 victory .
Stuttering Villarreal closed to within a point of the Champions League qualification places when a second-half Cedric Bakambu double secured a 2-1 comeback win at home to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Sunday.
A Gareth Bale header and a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty gave Real Madrid a much-needed 2-0 victory over Eibar in La Liga on Sunday, following their hammering by leaders Barcelona last weekend, and put them six points off the top of the standings.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored on his return from injury as Real Madrid thrashed Osasuna 5-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday to equal the club's 1960-61 record of 15 successive La Liga wins.
Luis Suarez completed a hat-trick thanks to a cheeky Lionel Messi assist from the penalty spot as Barcelona crushed Celta Vigo 6-1 to restore their three-point cushion over Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
Madrid were not at their best but moved three points clear of rivals Barcelona.
zidane Image: Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane. Photograph: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images. An elated but pragmatic Zinedine Zidane has quickly turned his mind from the Champions League victory against AS Roma to Real Madrid's seemingly impossible task to catch Barcelona in La Liga. Real are getting better under Zidane, unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions after Wednesday's 2-0 win in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Rome, thanks to a brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo. But only a couple of hours earlier, Barcelona had left Real and Atletico Madrid with a tough task to overhaul them in the league race when they secured a six-point cushion with a 3-1 win at Sporting Gijon. With 14 matches to go for all the teams in La Liga, Barcelona have 60 points to Atletico's 54 and Real's 53 and are favourites to win a sixth title in eight seasons. "We are seven points behind and it will be difficult, but we are giving it everything and we are all happy," Zidane was quoted as saying on the Real website (www.realmadrid.com).
Barca finished the season second in the standings on 82 points, four behind champions Real Madrid who visit Leganes later on Sunday. Alaves are 16th on 39.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action in Spain.
The Frenchman nodded home an Isco cross after 55 minutes against a well-organised Granada side that attacked with pace.
La Liga leaders Barcelona earned a narrow 1-0 win over Real Valladolid to move seven points clear at the top, while Real Madrid lost 2-1 at home against Girona to fall to third behind Atletico Madrid.
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.
Villarreal's La Liga match at home to Celta Vigo was suspended shortly before the final whistle when a smoke bomb was thrown on to the pitch on Saturday.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action in La Liga.
IMAGES from football matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Real Sociedad are fourth in the table on 28 points, three points behind third-placed Sevilla.
Lionel Messi celebrated his sixth Ballon D'Or award with a brilliant hat-trick as Barcelona moved back top of La Liga with an emphatic 5-2 victory over Real Mallorca.
Images from La Liga matches played on Monday.
Real Madrid kept alive their hopes of overhauling La Liga leaders Barcelona when a James Rodriguez stunner set them on their way to a serene 3-0 home victory over struggling Almeria on Wednesday.
Xabi Alonso guided Bayer Leverkusen to a double last season as they won the German Cup and lifted their first Bundesliga title without losing a game.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti dismissed suggestions on Tuesday that he is under mounting pressure at the club as they sit second in the LaLiga standings and were knocked out of the Champions League last week.
Real Madrid can bury Atletico's hopes of winning La Liga with a third straight victory against their city neighbours on Sunday that would leave the capital's second club trailing by six points.
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.
Arne Slot is the first to win the top flight in England where many of his compatriots have suffered dents to their reputations over the years.
Barcelona have emerged as favourites to be crowned champions after one defeat in their last 22 Liga games.
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.
Barcelona beat local rivals Espanyol 2-0 in the Catalan derby on Saturday to maintain their 10 point lead at the top of La Liga, while Real Madrid scraped a 3-2 win against bottom side Huesca on Sunday.
A Champions League spot, two Europa League berths and two relegation places are to be claimed or avoided in what promises to be a nerve-wracking finale to the La Liga season on Sunday.
Griezmann special earns Atletico 1-1 draw at Sevilla
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, find themselves in the bizarre situation of having made poor starts to the campaign
Anyone who has watched the Argentine in recent years knows he can do things with a football that seem to defy the laws of physics and he does not fit into the mould of a traditional striker.
Lionel Messi was lauded by opposition supporters on Sunday after he scored an outstanding hat-trick in Barcelona's 4-1 win at Real Betis, which put the Catalans 10 points clear at the top of La Liga with 10 games remaining.
Barcelona needed Luis Suarez to be at his clinical best with a hat-trick in a 3-1 comeback win at home to modest Eibar on Sunday which put the champions level on 21 points with arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Spain's league programme will go ahead this weekend after a Madrid court upheld a challenge from six breakaway clubs and blocked proposed strike action.
Barcelona snapped their four-match winless streak in LaLiga with an emphatic 7-1 victory over Valencia on Sunday.
Real Madrid opened a three-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo scored his eighth goal of the campaign in a 3-1 victory at home to promoted Las Palmas on Saturday.
Striker Aduriz opened the scoring in the sixth minute at the San Mames with a trademark header before midfielder Garcia, who joined from Atletico Madrid last month, nodded in a second in the 24th minute.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo ended his early-season drought in emphatic style when he hit five goals in a 6-0 romp at Espanyol on Saturday to become the club's record scorer in La Liga.
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