Barcelona kept Real Madrid's La Liga title celebrations on hold for a few days at least with a crushing 7-0 victory at Rayo Vallecano on Sunday after Real had cruised to a 3-0 home win over Sevilla.
Injured Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is almost irreplaceable but the Spanish champions are determined to put his temporary absence behind them, coach Pep Guardiola said on Tuesday.
Leaders Real Madrid restored their four-point advantage over chasing Barcelona when Cristiano Ronaldo netted his seventh hat-trick of the La Liga campaign in a 4-1 drubbing of city neighbours Atletico on Wednesday.
Sevilla and Valencia recorded opening day wins in La Liga, helping dispel some of the doubts surrounding their abilities to challenge for honours this season.
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.
Lionel Messi scored four as Barcelona came from behind to thrash Valencia 5-1 at home, closing the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid back to 10 points on Sunday.
As the superlatives rained down on treble-winning Bayern Munich on Sunday, it was difficult to see where the all-conquering Bavarians could find room for new signing Mario Goetze and, if speculation turns out to be true, Robert Lewandowski.
Barcelona stayed hard on the heels of La Liga leaders Real Madrid when Lionel Messi's brilliance lifted a side containing several youngsters from the club's B team to a 2-1 win at home to Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Real Madrid moved seven points clear at the top of La Liga with a comfortable 3-1 win over bottom side Real Zaragoza as Barcelona could only draw 0-0 at lowly Villarreal on Saturday.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque sprung three surprises in his 23-man squad for the World Cup in South Africa, including Barcelona pair Victor Valdes and Pedro plus Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez. Goalkeeper Valdes replaces Villarreal's Diego Lopez as Spain's third-choice behind number one and captain Iker Casillas of Real Madrid and number two Pepe Reina of Liverpool.
Barcelona slipped five points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid when Alvaro Vazquez netted a shock late equaliser to snatch a 1-1 draw for Espanyol in the Catalan derby on Sunday.
Sevilla claimed their second King's Cup triumph in four years when Diego Capel's early strike and a late breakaway goal from Jesus Navas fired them to a 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas are recovering well from injury and have been included in Spain's preliminary 30-man squad for the World Cup next month.
Cristiano Ronaldo fired a hat-trick to keep Real Madrid's title challenge alive with a 4-1 comeback victory at Real Mallorca on Wednesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed an 89th minute winner for Real Madrid as they came from behind to beat Osasuna 3-2 at home to stay hot on the heels of leaders Barcelona in La Liga on Sunday.
Midfielder Cesc Fabregas moved Barcelona a step closer to the La Liga title with a late strike in a laboured 1-0 victory at home to mid-table Levante on Saturday.
Real Madrid made the most of Barcelona's slip-up to close to within one point of the La Liga leaders on Sunday with a 2-0 win over third-placed Valencia at the Bernabeu.
Paris St Germain went out of the Europa League despite a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, losing their place to fellow big spenders Salzburg who fought back to win 3-2 at Slovan Bratislava.
Barcelona took another step towards retaining their La Liga title when goals from Bojan Krkic, Pedro and Yaya Toure fired them to a 3-0 home win over Deportivo Coruna on Wednesday.
Surprise package Real Mallorca stayed in the hunt for a spot in next season's Champions League when they won 3-2 at home to Valencia on Sunday to draw level on 51 points with fourth-placed Sevilla.
Victor Valdes is having another outstanding season for Barcelona and his continued absence from Spain's squad underlines the embarrassment of goalkeeping riches for the European champions. Valdes, who was called up once in August 2005 but did not play, has no chance of ousting Real Madrid's Iker Casillas as Spain's number one and if he makes Vicente del Bosque's World Cup squad will be third choice behind Liverpool's Pepe Reina.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain scored in a 2-0 victory away to Racing Santander on Sunday to ensure Real Madrid hold top spot in La Liga before next weekend's visit of title rivals Barcelona.
Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been ruled out for the visit of Arsenal in the Champions League next week after picking up a calf injury on Saturday, the club said in a statement.
Schalke 04, Lokomotiv Moscow and Stoke City sealed places in the last 32 of the Europa League but a 2-0 defeat at Salzburg left Paris St Germain coach Antoine Kombouare looking over his shoulder on Thursday.
Real Madrid climbed back above Barcelona to the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain both netted twice to seal a convincing 4-2 victory at city rivals Getafe on Thursday.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand played out his sixth draw on the trot, signing peace with long-time rival Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the sixth round of the Tal memorial tournament, in Moscow.
Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Real Madrid to an entertaining 6-2 victory over Villarreal that moved them two points behind leaders Barcelona in La Liga on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice on his return from suspension as Real Madrid crushed bottom side Xerez 3-0 away in La Liga on Saturday and trimmed Barcelona's lead at the top to two points.
Cristiano Ronaldo dominated Real Madrid's 2-0 home win over Malaga in La Liga on Sunday, scoring two quickfire goals before being sent off in the second half.
World champion Viswanathan Anand notched up his first title of the year when he scored an emphatic victory over German Arkadij Naiditsch to lift the Grenke Chess Classic trophy in Baden Baden, Germany.
David Villa netted twice to fire Valencia to a 4-1 win over 10-man Villarreal in La Liga on Sunday and lift Unai Emery's side to within three points of second-placed Real Madrid.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand bounced back as he jumped to joint second spot at the end of the fourth round after outplaying Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain in the fourth Bilbao Final Masters in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
New Schalke 04 coach Huub Stevens rekindled memories of leading the Germans to 1997 UEFA Cup glory with an easy 3-1 win over Maccabi Haifa in the second round of Europa League group matches on Thursday but favourites Paris St Germain lost.
Real Madrid squandered a chance to climb above Barcelona to the top of La Liga when they were held to a 0-0 draw at mid-table Osasuna on Sunday. A win would have put Real first in the standings on goal difference after Barca dropped their first home points of the season in a 1-1 draw with Villarreal on Saturday.
Barcelona twice came from behind to rescue a point in a 2-2 draw at Valencia while Real Madrid dropped points again in a goalless affair at Racing Santander in La Liga on Wednesday.
A hat-trick by Lionel Messi inspired Barcelona to an 8-0 rout of Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday as the champions responded with a devastating performance after a poor week by their high standards.
Images from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday
An injury-time strike by Jonathan Reis sent PSV Eindhoven into the Europa League knockout rounds with a 1-0 home win over Sparta Prague on Thursday.
The Turkish Football Federation has barred Fenerbahce from this season's Champions League under pressure from UEFA in connection with a match-fixing investigation involving the top Istanbul club, the federation said on Wednesday.
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.
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