Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele scored twice and produced a mesmerising display to fire his side to a 5-1 win over Villarreal on Wednesday which stretched the champions' unbeaten run this season to 36 games with two remaining.
A summary of Saturday's action in the Bundesliga and La Liga.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona's Lionel Messi rescued a 1-1 draw at Villarreal with a sensational late free-kick on Sunday but could not prevent the champions finishing the weekend third in La Liga, five points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Saul Niguez's second-half strike gave Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win at home to Las Palmas on Saturday, their first victory in four games in all competitions.
Juventus and Inter, who have 42 points each from 17 games, both play on Monday while Lazio, with 39 from 17, have an outstanding fixture at home to Verona to come in early February.
Champions Barcelona reclaimed top spot in La Liga on Sunday by overcoming a dogged Villarreal side to win 2-0 at home with goals from stalwart defender Gerard Pique and youngster Carles Alena taking them above Sevilla.
Should Manchester United win their next two games, the gap will be cut to four points and while only a collapse of astonishing proportions would deny Manchester City the title.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Impressive performances from Lionel Messi and Ansu Fati helped Barcelona overcome an early red card to defender Clement Lenglet and win 3-0 at Celta Vigo on Thursday to make it two wins out of two in the new La Liga season.
Arsenal had scored 10 goals in two matches against BATE Borisov in the same competition in 2017 but never looked like being as prolific in the freezing temperatures of Belarus.
Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco each conjured moments of magic as Atletico Madrid recaptured top spot in La Liga from Barcelona with a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Casemiro headed an 89th minute winner to earn Real Madrid a barely deserved 2-1 victory at Las Palmas in La Liga on Sunday as they closed the gap on second-placed Atletico Madrid to four points.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A round-up off all transpired on and off the football pitch
Barca play their final league La Liga game of the season at Alaves on Sunday before hosting Napoli on Aug. 8 in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Saturday's draw left Spain third in Group E with two points and needing a win against Slovakia on Wednesday to guarantee their place in the next round of Euro 2020.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid dropped points at home for only the second time this season.
Harry Kane netted his 200th goal for Tottenham Hotspur as they won 3-1 at Ludogorets and AC Milan's 24-match unbeaten run ended
A Gareth Bale header and a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty gave Real Madrid a much-needed 2-0 victory over Eibar in La Liga on Sunday, following their hammering by leaders Barcelona last weekend, and put them six points off the top of the standings.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
West Bromwich Albion have bolstered their defensive ranks by signing centre half Jonny Evans from Manchester United on a four-year deal.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Thomas Partey scored his first goal for Atletico Madrid as they reached the last 16 of the King's Cup with a 1-0 home victory over third-tier Reus on Thursday that secured a 3-1 aggregate success.
Real Madrid defender Pepe was handed a two-match ban on Friday for insulting the referee after the 1-1 La Liga draw at Villarreal.
Images from the matches played across football leagues in Europe on Sunday.
Real Madrid conceded a late freekick to draw for the second time in four days as they were held 1-1 at struggling Villarreal, cutting their lead at the top of La Liga cut to six points on Wednesday.
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.
With a comfortable first-leg advantage, Zinedine Zidane rested much of his first team, making 10 changes from the line-up that struggled to a disappointing draw at Celta Vigo on Sunday to fall 16 points behind league leaders Barcelona.
Real Madrid crushed Athletic Bilbao 3-0 at the Bernabeu on Sunday to edge closer to the Spanish title but Villarreal's 1-0 victory at Real Betis put their celebrations on hold for at least another week. Real's victory means that with four games left to play they remain 10 points clear of Villarreal at the top of the table on 75 points and will claim their 31st league title if they win next week's match at Osasuna.
Images from Thursday's action in the Europa League Europa League - Round of 16 Second Leg - matches.
Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid resume a nail-biting La Liga title race on Saturday after all notched up victories on Wednesday. Leaders Barcelona, who ended a four-game winless streak by hammering Deportivo La Coruna 8-0 away from home, host struggling Sporting Gijon on Saturday. Atletico battled to a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao to stay level on 79 points with Barcelona, who top the table with a superior head-to-head record and host Malaga. Real stayed one point behind their title rivals after beating Villarreal 3-0 and are expected to be without top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo for their visit to struggling neighbours Rayo Vallecano. The Portuguese forward was unable to finish the game against Villarreal after suffering cramp in stoppage time but eased concerns he had suffered a serious injury.
Ousmane Dembele's late strike rescued a 1-1 draw for champions Barcelona at Atletico Madrid but Sevilla moved top with a 1-0 win over Real Valladolid. European champions Real Madrid were humiliated in a 3-0 defeat at Eibar.
The local government, meanwhile, is deploying more than 200 national police officers to prevent crowds assembling, with mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida also asking people to stay away.
Diego Forlan is to leave La Liga club Atletico Madrid after four seasons and will join Serie A side Inter Milan, the Uruguay striker announced on Monday.
Bayern Munich cantered into the Champions League group stages after a 1-0 victory at FC Zurich on Tuesday while two goals from Giuseppe Rossi rescued Villarreal against Odense.
Champions Barcelona lost 2-0 at Celta Vigo while Getafe earned an important 2-0 win over Girona in their bid to secure Champions League qualification.
London sides Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal made winning starts as did fellow Premier League club Leicester City.
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