Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is under pressure to break up his misfiring attacking trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale when he takes the La Liga leaders to Alaves on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo's teammates have issued a strong defence of his value to Real Madrid as the Portuguese striker grapples with a barren streak that has sparked a debate about his place in the team.
Lionel Messi squeezed home a stoppage-time penalty to grab a 3-2 win for champions Barcelona at Valencia in a thrilling and controversial La Liga match on Sunday.
Barcelona are in the middle of an injury crisis as they head to Valencia for Saturday's La Liga game looking to keep up with pacemaking pair Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Without injured goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen and right back Sergi Roberto for the last two games, Barca will also be missing defenders Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique after both were hurt in Wednesday's 4-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League. Pique sprained his right ankle while Alba injured his left hamstring and both are out until November.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 400th goal for Real Madrid as Zinedine Zidane's side closed in on a first La Liga title since 2012, easing to a 4-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday while Neymar hit a hat-trick for Barcelona, who thrashed Las Palmas 4-1.
Messi stretched Barca's lead by finishing off a brilliant move with Luis Suarez in the 50th minute and the Uruguayan joined his close friend and strike partner on 15 league goals by robbing an Eibar defender and finishing inside the near post in the 68th.
The rest of Barcelona's squad will have to do "a little bit more" to make up for the absence of five-times World Player of the Year Lionel Messi for the next three weeks, according to captain Andres Iniesta. The Argentina forward faces a spell on the sidelines after sustaining a groin injury in Wednesday's 1-1 La Liga draw with Atletico Madrid. "There's no question we are stronger with Messi," Iniesta told Cadena Cope radio ahead of Saturday's match at Sporting Gijon. "When these things happen we all have to give a little bit more.
New UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin believes London is the perfect choice to stage the climax to Euro 2020 after 12 other cities across the continent host earlier matches, he said on Wednesday.
Former Barcelona great Michael Laudrup lambasted the Brazil international for "provoking" the opposition in Saturday's 5-1 win at Leganes and Neymar's flamboyant style will be scrutinised again on Wednesday when Barcelona host Atletico.
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Lionel Messi made brilliance look routine with a stunning double to help Barcelona to a 5-0 win over Real Sociedad that restored the champions' two-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on target as holders Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 on Wednesday to overturn a deficit from the first leg and advance to the quarter-finals of the King's Cup.
'I'm very happy and I can say that 2016 was the best year of my career, the trophy shows that people aren't blind and watch the games.'
Villarreal secured their place in the Champions League qualifying round with a 2-0 win at local rivals Valencia on Sunday, guaranteeing fourth place in La Liga.
Barcelona striker Lionel Messi has returned home to Argentina but remains doubtful for World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela with his club confirming the 29-year-old is struggling with a sore left hamstring.
Neymar should return to Spain with renewed enthusiasm after leading Brazil to their first soccer gold medal at an Olympic Games, Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said. Neymar, who has scored 85 goals in 141 games in his three seasons at Barcelona, was given permission to stay in Brazil until after international games early next month. "I think it's a good decision to grant him (Neymar) that," Pique told El Mundo Deportivo. "He has earned it.
Sevilla, winners of the Europa League for the past two years, will play Shakhtar Donetsk in this season's semi-final.
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Manchester City have signed French central defender Aymeric Laporte from Spanish club Athletic Bilbao, the Premier League leaders said on Tuesday.
Outgoing Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has no regrets as he prepares to leave his post at the end of July after eight years in charge during which they won the World Cup and Euro 2012.
The suggestion that Spain need to change their playing style is already meeting resistance even though another disappointing performance at a major soccer tournament suggests that tiki-taka has run its course. In many countries, a defeat as comprehensive as the one Spain suffered against Italy in Euro 2016 on Monday, when they were outplayed and lucky to lose only 2-0, would have led to calls to knock everything down and start again. In Spain, however, where many are proud of having such a distinctive style of play, there are plenty of voices calling for the team to continue trying to pass the ball all the way into the goal.
Alvaro Morata again proved decisive from the bench by striking a late winner against Athletic Bilbao and firing a lacklustre Real Madrid to the top of La Liga on Sunday. The Spain international has been afforded limited opportunities in his first season back at Real following two years with Juventus, struggling to usurp first choice forwards Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Morata has made just four league starts, but has scored four times in all competitions.
Arsenal right back Hector Bellerin will be in Spain's Euro 2016 squad, the country's football federation said on Tuesday. The 21-year-old Bellerin and the other 18 players named to face South Korea in a friendly in Wals-Siezenheim, Austria on Wednesday, have been guaranteed spots in the European Championship squad. Bellerin was included after Real Madrid right back Dani Carvajal sustained a leg muscle injury in Saturday's Champions League final victory over Atletico Madrid. The Real Madrid and Atletico players in the squad will be named later on Tuesday when Spain coach Vicente del Bosque announces his final list.
Substitute Sergio Araujo struck a late equaliser as Las Palmas held Real Madrid to a 2-2 draw and left them with a one-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday.
Premier League-based trio Diego Costa, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla were among a high-profile list of absentees when Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque named his provisional 25-man squad for Euro 2016 on Tuesday. Costa injured his hamstring against Liverpool in Chelsea's penultimate game of the season. Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres was also absent from the squad despite his improved form towards the end of the season, as were Arsenal midfielder Cazorla and Valencia forward Paco Alcacer, Spain's top scorer in their qualifying campaign.
Juergen Klopp, who has breathed new life into Liverpool in his seven months in charge, would seal his place in the hearts of the club's supporters if he pulls off victory over Sevilla in Wednesday's Europa League final.
Luis Suarez has progressed from his impressive debut La Liga campaign to produce the most prolific season of his career and fire Barcelona to a second straight title, free of the stigma of his ban for biting which accompanied him to Spain in 2014. It was fitting that the Uruguayan should score a hat-trick in the comfortable 3-0 victory at Granada on Saturday to clinch the title, taking his tally to 40 goals in 35 games. He is the first player other than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to finish as La Liga top scorer since 2009 but his contribution to Barca's title triumph goes beyond his goals and 16 assists. For Suarez is the hardest working of the feted 'MSN' partnership he forms with Messi and Neymar, a trio who have delivered 90 of Barcelona's 112 league goals. He is also the most willing to close down opponents and run into space and, naturally, he has shown himself to be the player who is keenest to throw himself into any physical battle.
Goals from Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos moved Real Madrid up to second in the Primera Liga on Sunday.
Heavyweight trio Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea kept up their 100 per cent starts to the Premier League season this weekend.
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.
A late goal by Toni Kroos sealed victory as Real Madrid defeated an impressive Celta Vigo side 2-1 to win their first home La Liga game of the campaign on Saturday.
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Gary Neville was sacked as Valencia manager on Wednesday as the club brought an end to his fraught four-month spell in charge after the former England and Manchester United defender had delivered only three league wins.
Juergen Klopp's Europa League nightmare came true on Friday when his Liverpool side was drawn to meet former club Borussia Dortmund in next month's quarter-finals.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shocking loss against Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the fourth round of Candidates Chess tournament.
Oscar Pistorius' "primal instincts" kicked in when he shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp because he was in a vulnerable and fearful state, his defence lawyer said at the athlete's murder trial on Friday.
Defender Gerard Pique grabbed a rare winner and Lionel Messi scored yet another beauty as Barcelona came from behind to beat Sevilla 2-1 at the Nou Camp on Sunday and reclaim an eight-point lead at the top of La Liga.
Real Madrid chalked up their fifth Primera league victory in a row with a 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao.
Manchester United and Liverpool, English football's two most decorated clubs, were drawn together in the last 16 of the Europa League on Friday.
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