Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga was cut to two points on Saturday as they squandered a two-goal advantage to draw 2-2 at Sevilla while Real Madrid powered their way to a 3-0 home win over Eibar.
Barcelona's stuttering title bid suffered another setback when they lost 2-1 at home to Valencia on Sunday, while Atletico Madrid moved level on points with the La Liga leaders after a comfortable win over Granda.
Having absorbed the body blow of losing striker Radamel Falcao in the close season, Atletico Madrid have emerged as genuine contenders to break the title stranglehold of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Luis Suarez struck twice and Lionel Messi scored on his 500th appearance for Barcelona who set a new Spanish record of goals in a calendar year with a 4-0 win over Real Betis that lifted them top of La Liga on Wednesday.
Real Madrid closed to within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona after demolishing nine-man Rayo Vallecano 10-2 while Atletico Madrid missed a chance to seize top spot outright by losing 1-0 at Malaga.
Cristiano Ronaldo finally became the highest scorer in Real Madrid's history while Bayern Munich set a record for the greatest number of successive wins at the start of a season in the Bundesliga this weekend.
Lionel Messi marked his 300th La Liga appearance with a record-equalling hat-trick and an assist for Neymar as Barcelona stayed hard on the heels of leaders Real Madrid with a 5-0 romp at home to Levante on Sunday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football fieLd
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
La Liga leaders Real Madrid suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at mid-table Athletic Bilbao on Saturday after a bullet header from Aritz Aduriz in the first half secured the points.
Atletico Madrid fell to their heaviest league defeat of the season
Raheem Sterling struck twice as the Premier League champions Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park on Sunday to stay within two points of leaders Liverpool.
Real Madrid were the big winners in Spain as their success at Almeria was followed by a Barcelona draw and a surprise Atletico Madrid defeat.
Lionel Messi netted the 400th goal of his storied career on Saturday as Barcelona trounced Granada 6-0 to maintain the pace at the top of La Liga.
Check out the top footballers of the weekend.
An Aaron Ramsey strike and a Kalidou Koulibaly own goal gave Arsenal a 2-0 victory over Napoli in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final, while Chelsea beat a stubborn Slavia Prague 1-0.
The three-horse race for the La Liga title tightened on Sunday when leaders Real Madrid drew 2-2 at city rivals Atletico and Barcelona won 4-1 at home to Almeria.
Atletico Madrid got their La Liga campaign up and running in less than convincing fashion when Antoine Griezmann's deflected free kick secured an edgy 1-0 win at home to promoted Las Palmas on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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