Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola has termed his former club Barcelona as the 'best team in the world', after both the teams were being drawn against each other for the high-octane Champions League semi-final clash.

Rafa Nadal's bid to get back to top form before the French Open suffered a setback when he crashed to a 6-4, 7-6(6) defeat to 13th-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini in the third round of the Barcelona Open on Thursday.

Rafael Nadal eased past Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-1 to reach the Barcelona Open third round on Wednesday as he began his bid for a ninth title on the clay in the Catalan capital.

Andres Iniesta will always be a hero to Barcelona.

Neymar scored twice as Barcelona reached the Champions League semi-finals.

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand drew with old foe Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the fourth round of Shamkir Chess 2015, held in the memory of Grandmaster Vugar Gashimov.

Barcelona's outlay of 20 million euros ($22 million) on Jeremy Mathieu last July prompted plenty of criticism but the France centre back has been worth his weight in gold in the La Liga leaders' last two outings.

A lethal finish from Luis Suarez gave Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in a typically frantic 'Clasico' on Sunday as they stretched their lead over their rivals at the top of La Liga to four points.

Atletico Madrid were handed a chance to avenge last season's Champions League final defeat by city rivals and record 10-times winners Real after the two sides were drawn together in the last eight on Friday. Paris St Germain and Barcelona were paired together having met in the group stage, with the French side winning in Paris and the Catalans coming out on top in Spain.

Barcelona's Neymar scored twice and Luis Suarez was also on target as they reached their fourth King's Cup final in five years with a 3-1 win away to Villarreal on Wednesday that gave them a 6-2 aggregate victory.

A lacklustre Barcelona squandered the chance to go top of La Liga after crashing to a shock 1-0 home defeat by Malaga on Saturday.

Ten of the 16 sides also reached the same round two seasons ago and, as usual, the big five leagues dominate with 13 clubs hailing from either the English, Spanish, German, French and Italian leagues.

The loss also meant a heavy slide of 15 rating points for the Indian as he slipped to ninth spot in the World Chess rankings.

La Liga leaders Real Madrid were thumped 4-0 away by city rivals Atletico Madrid to open up the Spanish title race, while Chelsea strengthened their hold on top spot in the English Premier League after a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi was at the heart of another devastating attacking show.

Barca dominated possession and Luis Suarez had several early chances but it was Villarreal who took the lead with Denis Cheryshev redirecting a Mario Gaspar shot past keeper Claudio Bravo on the half hour.

Neymar took time to settle but is finally shining in Barcelona's devastating attacking trident with Villarreal the next La Liga opponents in their sights on Sunday as the Catalans continue their pursuit of Real Madrid.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu believes FIFA regulations concerning under-age player transfers needs to be revised and that current rules would have prevented Lionel Messi from joining the club.

Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets has become the latest to insist that all is well at the club, dismissing reports of a rift between Argentina forward Lionel Messi and coach Luis Enrique.

Espanyol's Felipe Caicedo came off the bench and netted two late goals to secure a 2-0 win at home to 10-man Valencia on Tuesday that sent the Barcelona-based club through to the King's Cup quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.

La Liga leaders Real Madrid returned to winning ways after two defeats, making light of playing most of the second half with 10 men to triumph 3-0 at home to mid-table Espanyol on Saturday.

Neymar's double helped Barcelona cruise to a 5-0 victory in the first leg of their King's Cup last 16 tie against Elche.

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is head strong but it appears as though he may be fighting a losing battle with the four times World Player of the Year.

'I feel as confident and motivated as at the beginning. I can't control rumours, but I still have faith'

The Argentine is reportedly unhappy with coach Enrique's way of running the dressing room at Barcelona.

Barcelona's appeal against a FIFA sanction for an alleged breach of rules on the transfer of foreign Under-18 players has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Spanish club said on Tuesday.

Barcelona defender Martin Montoya is eyeing a move to the Premier League having decided to leave the Catalan club in the January transfer window, his agent said.

Five-time chess world champion Viswanathan Anand won his maiden London Classic title after defeating British Grandmaster Michael Adams in the fifth and final round on Monday.

Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday.

Neymar scored a spectacular goal as Barcelona came from behind to beat Paris St Germain 3-1 in their UEFA Champions League match.

In an exciting weekend for football lovers, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continued their extraordinary double act, both scoring hat-tricks as Real Madrid and Barcelona maintained their battle for supremacy at the top of La Liga. Chelsea's unbeaten start to the Premier League season ended with a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday but no-one can get the better of Bayern Munich, who marched on in the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen. We present a summary of events in photos.

Lionel Messi scored yet another hat-trick and surpassed 400club goals as Barcelona came from behind to win the Catalan derby 5-1 against Espanyol.

With the distraction of two individual scoring records safely out of the way, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi can turn his full focus on helping the club win the major silverware that eluded them last season.

Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday.

Here is a recap of all the big events that shaped the world last week.

Real Madrid trimmed Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga to one point when they recovered from conceding an early goal to secure a stirring 3-1 comeback win in the 'Clasico' on Saturday.

Real Madrid will have their combative Spain centre back Sergio Ramos available for Saturday's "clasico" against Barcelona but Wales winger Gareth Bale is out, coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday.

Clashes between Real Madrid and Barcelona are rarely short on drama and Saturday's La Liga 'Clasico' may have more than its usual share with Luis Suarez poised to return from a biting ban and Barca teammate Lionel Messi on the brink of equalling the top-flight scoring record.

Barcelona forward Neymar is reportedly looking forward to welcome Luis Suarez into his and Argentina captain Lionel Messi's star-studded strike partnership when the Uruguayan returns for his four-month ban this weekend.

Lionel Messi may lack a World Cup for Argentina but his 10 years with Barcelona have seen him rewrite the history books and become symbolic with the club's golden era.