Madrid's trip to San Sebastian was full of intrigue after Barca failed to beat Sevilla and the Catalan side's defender Gerard Pique said the title was now Madrid's for the taking.
Lionel Messi was back in scoring business for Barcelona on Sunday, leading them to a resounding 4-0 win at home against Villarreal in a near-perfect La Liga opener for the Catalans under new coach Ronald Koeman.
'We created so many chances and simply weren't effective with them. In fact we created a rainbow of different chances and there are just some days when the ball refuses to go in.'
Barcelona gave up more ground to Real Madrid in La Liga's title race on Tuesday after being held to a 2-2 draw at home to third-placed Atletico Madrid as a late penalty from Saul Niguez cancelled out Lionel Messi's 700th career goal. The draw meant the Catalans stayed second in the standings on 70 points and leaders Real Madrid, who have 71, will go four points clear at the top with five games left if they beat Getafe at home on Thursday.
Juventus will end 2013 five points clear at the top of Serie A after a 4-1 victory at Atalanta stretched their winning league run to nine games on Sunday.
Liverpool blew a chance take a vice-like grip on the title race and Chelsea suffered their worst league defeat in 23 years.
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.
IMAGES from Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Angel Correa saw La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid snatch a 2-1 victory away to Granada on Saturday
Chelsea's Marcos Alonso and Real Madrid's Nacho were notable absentees in defence, along with Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke.
Athletic Bilbao ended tiny Mirandes's remarkable run with a ruthless 6-2 win in their King's Cup semi-final second leg on Tuesday to set up a final with either Barcelona or Valencia.
Beat Real Madrid's unbeaten run in the 1988-89 season, and thump Rayo Vallecano 5-1
Fernando Llorente netted a dramatic late winner for Athletic Bilbao to eliminate Sporting and Atletico Madrid comfortably held on to a first-leg lead to oust La Liga rivals Valencia on Thursday and set up an all-Spanish Europa League final.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League quarter-final played between Atletico Madrid and Leipzig on Thursday.
Images from La Liga matches played on Saturday.
Teenager Curtis Jones grabbed a 58th-minute winner as an injury-hit Liverpool qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Ajax Amsterdam at Anfield on Tuesday.
Images from matches played across top football leagues in Europe.
Juventus beat Cagliari 3-1 away on Thursday to end a three-match winless streak and move four points clear at the top of Serie A.
Inter moved on to 68 points, ahead of Lazio on goal difference as the sides are level on their head-to-head records. They are eight points behind Juventus with six games to play.
Real Sociedad's Inigo Martinez scored from inside his own half in the Basque derby on Sunday, but Fernando Llorente's brace made sure Athletic Bilbao earned a 2-1 away win in La Liga.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque sprung three surprises in his 23-man squad for the World Cup in South Africa, including Barcelona pair Victor Valdes and Pedro plus Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez. Goalkeeper Valdes replaces Villarreal's Diego Lopez as Spain's third-choice behind number one and captain Iker Casillas of Real Madrid and number two Pepe Reina of Liverpool.
The draw interrupted a run of four straight league wins for Zinedine Zidane's side and left them second on 67 points after 31 games, three behind leaders Atletico who thrashed Eibar 5-0 earlier in the day.
Athletic Bilbao boosted their chances of securing a place in next season's Europa League when they fought back from a goal and a man down to snatch a 2-1 victory at struggling Osasuna on Sunday.
David Villa equalled Raul's Spain scoring record of 44 but the world and European champions had to withstand a Scotland fightback before Fernando Llorente's late goal secured a 3-2 win in a Euro 2012 qualifier on Tuesday.
Barcelona have signed Spain striker David Villa from Valencia for 40 million euros ($49.66 million), Valencia president Manuel Llorente said on Tuesday.
Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque is facing calls to replace striker Fernando Torres with Fernando Llorente for Saturday's quarter-final with Paraguay.
The cream began to rise to the top of the Euro 2012 qualifying groups with world and European champions Spain, Germany, Netherlands and Portugal all winning their matches in style on Friday.
All week Spanish fans have been debating which Fernando should lead their line -- the out-of-form Torres or the favoured Llorente.
Lionel Messi netted two late goals as champions Barcelona thrashed Sevilla 4-0 on Saturday to stretch their advantage over second-placed Real Madrid at the top of La Liga to five points.
European champions Spain set a world record of 15 successive international wins by beating South Africa 2-0 in the Confederations Cup on Saturday.
Lionel Messi scored his maiden goal for Paris St Germain in Tuesday's 2-0 Champions League victory against Manchester City.
Juventus's Montenegro striker Mirko Vucinic has been left out of their squad for the trip to Lazio in Serie A on Saturday (1945 GMT) after his move to Inter Milan fell through this week.
Alhassane Keita's goal gave struggling Real Mallorca a 1-0 first-leg advantage over Real Betis in their King's Cup quarter-final on Thursday. The Guinean forward evaded two defenders chasing a long ball over the top to score midway through the second half.
images from the UEFA Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
Argentine striker Lautaro Acosta scored an injury-time winner to give Sevilla a 2-1 victory at home to Athletic Bilbao in their King's Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar struck twice to help Real Madrid register a 5-2 win at 10-man Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and cut Barcelona's lead at the top of the Primera Liga to three points.
Images from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday
Images from the FIFA World Cup qualifying matches on Sunday night.
Sergio Aguero struck twice as Manchester City came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 at Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday.
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