Pope Francis is known to be a football fan, and he is also a club member of Buenos Aires side San Lorenzo.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

While Valtteri Bottas claimed a dominant win for Mercedes and his team mate Lewis Hamilton held off Red Bull's Max Verstappen for second, Ferrari's drivers were left scrambling for minor points in a sobering start for the Scuderia.

Real are third in the league standings with 54 points after 28 games, two behind second-placed Atletico Madrid who visit Athletic Bilbao later on Saturday and nine points behind leaders Barcelona who play at Real Betis 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.

"How is a guy going to hold his hand behind his back," he wrote in Portuguese on Instagram, before finishing with an expletive commonly used in Brazil.

Revolution is in the air at Real Madrid after their Champions League empire was razed to the ground with an astounding 4-1 loss at home to Ajax Amsterdam, with a huge clear out of players expected as well as a change of manager.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

Barcelona were hailed as La Liga champions-elect in the Catalan media after their 1-0 win at Real Madrid on Saturday, while the capital's press called for sweeping changes at Real after another domestic failure.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

Here are five talking points from the weekend's action in Spain.

Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday

La Liga leaders Barcelona earned a narrow 1-0 win over Real Valladolid to move seven points clear at the top, while Real Madrid lost 2-1 at home against Girona to fall to third behind Atletico Madrid.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

Rafael Nadal to play for Spain in new Davis Cup Finals while World No 1 Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, have already said they would support the ATP Cup -- seen as a rival team event to the Davis Cup -- when it begins in Australia just a few weeks after the ITF's flagship event.

Here are five talking points from the weekend in La Liga:

La Liga leaders Barcelona handed Real Madrid more hope in the title race as they drew 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, only avoiding defeat thanks to some outstanding saves by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.

'In India, we are very far away from the per capita incomes of the West. And so the need to support many more people with much more money will come sooner in India than in other nations,' says Aakar Patel.

Founded in 1900, the Davis Cup is the largest annual international team competition in sport, but has suffered as a spectacle since many top players began opting out.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

An insatiable Lionel Messi scored for the eighth game in a row in all competitions as La Liga champions Barcelona saw off a gutsy Girona side 2-0 to go five points clear at the top of the standings.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

Lionel Messi came off the bench to inspire Barcelona to a 3-1 win over a dogged Leganes side on Sunday, creating one goal and scoring another to keep the Catalans five points clear at the top of La Liga.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Wednesday

Struggling Rayo win at Valladolid after late penalty save

Former Real Madrid striker Predrag Mijatovic criticised Gareth Bale for lacking leadership qualities

River Plate battled back to beat arch Argentine rivals Boca Juniors 3-1 in extra-time in an unforgettable and unique Copa Libertadores final second leg, played in Madrid after violence had seen the original game postponed.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

Will Priyanka start a family? Or does she have some career aces up her sleeve? Longtime Rediff.com contributor Aseem Chhabra, author of

When Griezmann fired Atletico to victory over Olympique de Marseille in the Europa League final in May it was widely viewed as his last stand for Diego Simeone's side before a move to Barca but they successfully convinced the Frenchman to stay.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

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

News of all that's transpired on and off the football fieLd