Barcelona took another step towards retaining their La Liga title when goals from Bojan Krkic, Pedro and Yaya Toure fired them to a 3-0 home win over Deportivo Coruna on Wednesday.
Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski scored a quick-fire second-half double to set the leaders on course for a thrashing of Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo ensured Atletico Madrid fans will have bitter memories of the last local derby at the Vicente Calderon stadium by scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win for La Liga leaders Real Madrid on Saturday. Ronaldo's deflected free kick put Real in charge in the 23rd minute in the first meeting of the teams since the Champions League final in May. The prolific Portuguese killed off Atletico's resistance by winning and converting a penalty in the 71st minute and capped a harrowing night for the home side by tapping in the third in the 77th.
Atletico Madrid have been unable to repeat the magnificent achievements of last season in this campaign but can congratulate themselves on a job well done if they secure a lucrative Champions League berth on Saturday.
Real and Barca have won the title in 15 of the last 16 seasons, with Atletico breaking the duopoly in 2014.
Real Madrid climbed back above Barcelona to the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain both netted twice to seal a convincing 4-2 victory at city rivals Getafe on Thursday.
Alexis Sanchez struck twice and created a goal for Neymar as Barcelona recovered from conceding early to maintain their perfect La Liga start with a 4-1 win at home to Real Valladolid on Saturday.
Barcelona have sacked manager Xavi Hernandez, the La Liga club said on Friday, four weeks after confirming he would honour the last year of his contract and lead them through next season.
Gareth Bale injured himself in the warmup and was forced to wait for his Bernabeu debut but Real Madrid did not miss him as Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in a 4-1 win over Getafe in La Liga on Sunday.
Lionel Messi overhauled Real Madrid great Alfredo Di Stefano's La Liga goals tally as Barcelona and Atletico Madrid each won on Saturday to pull three points clear of Real at the top.
Real Madrid wasted a chance to keep the pressure on the top two in La Liga with a 2-2 draw away to Osasuna where Sergio Ramos was sent off and record signing Gareth Bale substituted.
Messi, who has struggled for form in recent weeks due to a niggling injury, looked on a mission to grab the winner and after twice coming close he completed his treble to put Barca ahead in the 85th minute, reacting quickly to a poor Sevilla clearance to dink the ball over goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.
Real Madrid gifted Barcelona the La Liga title when a second-string side could only draw 1-1 at Espanyol on Saturday to leave Tito Vilanova's leaders seven points clear with their rivals having only two games left.
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.
Lionel Messi scored twice to help Barcelona shake off the disappointment of their midweek Champions League semi-final exit with a 4-1 victory at Villarreal in La Liga on Saturday.
Lewandowski strike gives Barcelona 1-0 win over Alaves
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain scored in a 2-0 victory away to Racing Santander on Sunday to ensure Real Madrid hold top spot in La Liga before next weekend's visit of title rivals Barcelona.
Barcelona's Bojan Krkic scored twice in a 4-1 home win over Athletic Bilbao that put his side three points clear at the top of La Liga 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.
Rafael van der Vaart scored an injury-time winner as Real Madrid came back to beat Sevilla 3-2 and replace Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Saturday, after the champions were held 2-2 in Almeria.
Barcelona restored their two-point lead at the top of La Liga when Lionel Messi finished a slick move to fire the champions to a hard-fought 2-1 home win over Malaga on Saturday.
James Rodriguez headed the opener before going off injured in Real Madrid's win.
A controversial Gerard Deulofeu strike sent Barcelona on their way to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Malaga on Saturday as they stretched their lead at the top of La Liga.
Real Madrid opened a two-point lead over Villarreal at the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo set a club scoring record in a 3-0 stroll at home to Levante on Saturday.
All the action from La Liga and Serie A matches played on Sunday.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar motored past 100 goals for the season.
A moment of genius from Lionel Messi lit up the Nou Camp as Barcelona eased to a 3-1 win over Villarreal in La Liga on Saturday that put them two points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of the standings.
David Moyes' honeymoon as coach of Real Sociedad came to an abrupt end when they were trounced 4-0 by Villarreal.
Real Madrid's faint hopes of retaining their La Liga title receded further when Kaka was sent off and they drew 0-0 at struggling Osasuna on Saturday, while Valencia climbed to seventh with a 2-0 win over Sevilla.
Atletico midfielder Saul Niguez, however, criticised his side for not showing enough ambition early in the game.
'The football world is not ready to accept a player who fights against the system.'
Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez were on scintillating form as leaders Barcelona made light of the absence of injured World Player of the Year Lionel Messi with a 5-0 win at home to Real Mallorca in La Liga on Saturday.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is expecting another gruelling game at Athletic Bilbao when the La Liga champions visit San Mames on Sunday.
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.
A superb strike from Jose Luis Morales condemned Real Madrid to a 1-0 defeat away to Levante on Saturday which saw them unseated at the top of the La Liga standings by Barcelona. Real's problems deepened with a suspected ankle injury to Eden Hazard, who limped off the pitch four days before their Champions League showdown with Manchester City and a week before their showdown with Barca in the 'Clasico'. Real's problems deepened with a suspected ankle injury to Eden Hazard, who limped off the pitch four days before their Champions League showdown with Manchester City and a week before their showdown with Barca in the 'Clasico'.
Athletic Bilbao missed a chance to tighten their grip on Spain's fourth Champions League qualification place when they had to come from behind to rescue a 1-1 draw at 10-man Villarreal in La Liga on Monday.
Real Madrid survived an early red card for Sergio Ramos to see off city rivals Rayo Vallecano 2-0 at the Bernabeu on Sunday, matching the wins of La Liga leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid over the weekend.
Midfielder Santi Cazorla gave the home side the lead in the fourth minute of the game, which was rescheduled due to Real's participation in last month's Club World Cup, by bending a wonderful shot into the bottom corner.
Substitute David Villa scored a superb last-gasp winner and Cesc Fabregas netted twice as leaders Barcelona came from two goals down to stun 10-man Sevilla 3-2 and extend their perfect La Liga record on Saturday.
Real Madrid's stuttering start to La Liga continued when they lost 1-0 at Sevilla to slip eight points behind leaders Barcelona who were 4-1 victors at Getafe earlier on Saturday.
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