(Reuters) - Real Madrid, Manchester United and Paris St Germain reached the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday on a night when the goals flowed all over Europe with United the highest scorers in a 5-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen.
A round-up of Saturday's football action in La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
Valencia lost ground in the battle with Atletico Madrid and Sevilla for third place in La Liga when they conceded a late Aritz Aduriz equaliser in a bad-tempered 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.
Luis Enrique's new task is to rebuild a Spain team that ruled international football between 2008 and 2012 by winning successive European Championships and the 2010 World Cup but have been deeply disappointing at their last three international tournaments.
Hakan Sukur scored twice in the 2-0 win over Juventus, keeping their hopes of qualifying from Group D alive.
It's been a week now since Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo hobbled off the pitch after injuring his thigh against Villarreal during a La Liga match last Wednesday.
A round-up of the weekend action in Europe's leading leagues.
Struggling Rayo win at Valladolid after late penalty save
Barca must beat Villareal on the weekend if they are to stand a chance of overhauling Real in the run in.
Luis Suarez grabbed a hat-trick and Lionel Messi bagged two goals as Barcelona began their quest for a third straight La Liga title with a 6-2 rout of Real Betis on Saturday. Arda Turan, whose two goals against Sevilla helped Barca lift the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday, gave them an early lead at the Nou Camp before Ruben Castro equalised in the 21st minute. Barca went back in front thanks to a trademark 37th-minute goal from Messi before Suarez, La Liga's top scorer last season, made it 3-1 before halftime.
A board meeting will review the team's humiliating end to the season.
AC Milan's match against Torino was abandoned as fans clashed.
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.
Barcelona closed to within a point of La Liga leaders Real Madrid when Lionel Messi scored one goal, created two and conceded a penalty in a 3-1 win at home to champions Atletico Madrid on Sunday that eased pressure on under-fire coach Luis Enrique.
Barcelona's injury crisis deepened on Wednesday after tests confirmed first-choice centre back Javier Mascherano will be out of action for upto 15 days after damaging a thigh muscle in Tuesday's 4-1 La Liga win at home to Real Sociedad.
The Belgian forward came off the bench to make his Real debut in Saturday's 3-2 win over Levante, having had his start to life at the club hit by a thigh injury the day before the La Liga season began.
Chelsea's Marcos Alonso and Real Madrid's Nacho were notable absentees in defence, along with Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke.
La Liga leaders Barcelona hit two goals in the final three minutes to earn a 3-2 win at Rayo Vallecano
AC Milan, Villarreal and Nice reached the knockout stage of the Europa League after posting wins on Thursday in the penultimate round of the group stage.
Vicente del Bosque is still unsure about his future as Real Madrid coach, despite landing his fourth major trophy in less than four years in charge.
Real Madrid won the Spanish league title for the 29th time defeating Athletico Bilbao
Deportivo title hopes suffered a serious setback when they were beaten 2-1 at home to Valencia.
Real have frittered away a four-point cushion at the top of the Spanish League in the space of just two games.
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.
The 1-1 draw put Real four points clear at the top of the table.\n\n
The Bavarians have now won the German league title a record 29 times.
'I think I am now as quick as I ever was,' he said after scoring a hat-trick on Saturday.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said Cristiano Ronaldo "is 100 percent" and will face Manchester City in Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg but striker Karim Benzema and midfielder Casemiro will miss the game. Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury which forced him to miss Madrids last three games in all competitions and has resumed full training. But Benzema is yet to recover from a hamstring problem and Casemiro is still out after a knock to the hip sustained in Saturday's 1-0 win at Real Sociedad. "Cristiano is fine, he is 100 percent. He has trained and will be with us tomorrow, there is no risk," Zidane told a news conference. "We need a 100 percent Cristiano," he said. "He's a different player. His numbers show that and I'm happy he's with us tomorrow. I'd have liked Karim and Casemiro to be there too, but others will play and that's that," added Zidane. "Karim's situation is different. He still has a problem and we don't want to take any risks," he said.
Real Madrid have moved to broaden their options in attack by agreeing to sign Mexico striker Javier Hernandez on loan from Manchester United for the 2014-15 season.
Atletico Madrid stayed firmly on course for a surprise La Liga title triumph when Raul Garcia's header secured a 1-0 win for the leaders at home to seventh-placed Villarreal on Saturday.
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