A first half Tiago header set up Atletico Madrid's 2-0 victory over Espanyol as they seek to get back on track following a stuttering start to the La Liga season.
Holders Real Madrid reached the Champions League final for a third year in a row after taking advantage of Bayern Munich's carelessness in attack and defence to draw 2-2 in their semi-final second leg on Tuesday, and winning 4-3 on aggregate, at the Santiago Bernabeu, in Madrid, Spain, on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi came to Barcelona's rescue for the second time in a week by snatching a late winner to give his side a barely deserved 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday which provisionally took the champions top of La Liga.
From bloody noses to sparks on the race track, Rediff.com has the best pictures from the last week snapped right here...
Barcelona capitalised on two disastrous own goals by A S Roma to thrash the Italian side 4-1 at the Nou Camp on Wednesday and take a huge step towards reaching the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in three years.
In the dying minutes of their Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid, a thunderstorm rolled in and drenched Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon stadium.
This year marks the first that two quadruple champions are competing in the same season and their battle to see who joins Argentine legend Juan Manuel Fangio in second place on the all-time list with five titles promises to light up the series.
Indian Grandmasters Vidit Gujarathi and Sahaj Grover maintained a clean slate, defeating Tomas Laurusas of Lithuania and Vyacheslav Lozhnikov of Kazakhstan respectively in the second round of the World Junior Chess Championship in Kocaeli, Turkey.
Barcelona forwards Lionel Messi, Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez combined to devastating effect to hammer Girona 6-1 on Saturday as they went 10 points clear at the top of La Liga and set a club record of 32 games unbeaten in the league.
Gareth Bale angered Real Madrid team mate Cristiano Ronaldo for the second La Liga game in a row on Saturday.
Arsenal manager Unai Emery was pleased with his team's first away clean sheet of the season.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo gave a ringing endorsement of new coach Zinedine Zidane and handed a rebuke to his sacked predecessor Rafa Benitez after Sunday's 5-1 La Liga victory at home to Sporting Gijon. Real have comfortably won both their matches since Zidane took over this month, a 5-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna and Sunday's demolition of lowly Gijon, and Ronaldo said the players had a better relationship with the former Real and France great, who is known as 'Zizou', than with the unpopular Benitez. The former Valencia, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Napoli manager was discarded after less than half a season in the job after an indifferent run of results left Real trailing city rivals Atletico Madrid and champions Barcelona in La Liga. "To be honest, with some coaches you have more empathy than with others," Ronaldo told reporters after netting a double at the Bernabeu. "The truth is, don't ask me why, that the players have more empathy with Zizou," the Portugal forward added.
Barcelona finished three points behind Real Madrid last season but there is concern the gap between Spain's biggest two sides could be far larger this season.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has once again made the shortlist of for FIFA's goal of the year award, giving him a chance to retain the trophy he won last year.
Chris Froome's credibility as triple Tour de France champion has only been boosted by the hacking of his private medical information, according to a South African physiologist who carried out tests on the Briton last year.
Chris Froome has been so strong on this year's Tour de France that at times he appears to have been toying with his rivals.
A Marco Asensio-inspired Real Madrid crushed Eibar 3-0 to close the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to five points on Sunday, with Karim Benzema starting on the bench.
Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored stunning goals to edge Barcelona towards a fourth consecutive King's Cup final with a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, although the holders were lucky to survive a late onslaught from the hosts.
Real Madrid can pip Barcelona to the La Liga title on Saturday even though their destiny is out of their hands, coach Zinedine Zidane said on the eve of the season finale.
Rediff.com has this and a whole lot more exciting action from the week gone by, encapsulated in this photo feature.
Zinedine Zidane overcame the biggest challenge of his fledgling coaching career as Real Madrid brushed aside VfL Wolfsburg to overturn a first-leg deficit and reach the Champions League semi-finals.
Real Madrid will carry their momentum from Saturday's 'Clasico' victory over rivals Barcelona into their Champions League quarter-final first leg at struggling VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday, coach Zinedine Zidane said. Real scored their first league win at the Nou Camp since 2012, inflicting the first home defeat for Barcelona since February 2015. "It is very important to have got the win here for our confidence and for the remainder of the season and with it coming right before our Champions League game in Germany," said Zidane. "We know just how important the Champions League is and we want to advance, so winning here in Barcelona was very important." The Frenchman took over from Rafael Benitez at the start of the year and on Saturday came through his first big test with flying colours.
India's Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis battled past defending champions Medina Garrigues and Yaroslava Shvedova to not only reach the semi-finals of the WTA Family Circle Cup but also secure the top place in the team rankings in the 'Road To Singapore'.
'Good football has always been important at this place and I am going to continue that. It has to be offensive football, balanced and nothing else'
With the year sprinting to a close, we bring you, in pictures, some of the best action from the sports world.
Angry Barcelona coach Luis Enrique blamed stupid mistakes after the La Liga pacesetters threw away a two goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday. Barca have drawn their last two games in La Liga and could see Atletico Madrid draw level with them if they beat Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, ahead of their trip to the Club World Cup in Japan next week.
Atletico Madrid captain Gabi said his team would not be lulled into complacency by Barcelona's faltering form when they host the Champions League holders in the second leg of their quarter-final on Wednesday.
The nine meetings offer an interesting window into Shafi Armar's efforts to try and group together what after all were excitable keyboard warriors into an actual terror group, capable of handling weapons, organising recruits, cooking homegrown explosives, selecting safe training areas, safe houses and finally, committing strikes against Indian targets.
A round-up of Sunday's matches in La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga.
Real Madrid got their Champions League title defence off to a strong start on Wednesday by convincingly beating AS Roma 3-0 at home with goals from Isco, Gareth Bale and a stoppage-time strike from returning striker Mariano Diaz.
The magazine cited Modi's unconventional announcement on Twitter of his visit to Pakistan last year
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will discuss his future with the club after Saturday's final La Liga game of the campaign at home to Getafe and said he wants to stay on despite a season without a major trophy.
Double Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has agreed a new three-year contract that will keep him at Mercedes until the end of 2018, the team announced on Wednesday.
Briton Chris Froome stunned his passive rivals to snatch the overall leader's yellow jersey in the Tour de France when he won the eighth stage with a lightning attack on the final descent on Saturday.
"Those who are carrying out assaults even in Eid congregations, are enemies of Islam and humanity," said Hasina at an Eid reception at her residence.
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.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti's decision to deploy defender Sergio Ramos in central midfield was the key to Wednesday's 1-0 Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid, according to captain Iker Casillas.
We bring you a collection of some of the best photographs taken this week by ace photographers.
'The whispers and the murmurs had reached even the king's private quarters.' 'Of a royal surgeon wielding a chain-saw like a carpenter; a chemist with a cannister of acid; the royal chief executioner instructing someone about the fine art of handling swords...' 'All this being supervised by Mohammed's closest confidant.'
Rediff.com brings you these and other exciting news from the week gone by in this photo feature...
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