La Liga

One week after being jeered by his own fans, Lionel Messi scored one goal and set up the other as Paris Saint-Germain won at a wasteful Nice 2-0 to maintain its six-point lead of the French league. Messi was booed by some PSG fans in last weekend's home defeat to Lyon, leading to increased speculation he could leave this summer. Argentina's World Cup-winning star clipped in a cross from left back Nuno Mendes in the 26th minute. Then Messi's corner from the left was headed home by veteran defender Sergio Ramos in the 76th. Nice was unbeaten in 14 matches overall before this game and went close to equalizing in the first half, but PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma kept out efforts from Nicolas Pp and striker Terem Moffi. Veteran defender Dante's shot came off the underside of the crossbar and appeared to cross the line in the 51st. But referee Jrmie Pignard was not alerted by goal-line technology that it crossed, even though video replays showed a goal should likely have been ...

Barcelona entered the final "clasico" of the season with a chance of earning a fourth straight win against Real Madrid in the same season for the first time. But when it was all over, it had endured one of its worst ever home losses to its archrival. With another hat trick by Karim Benzema, Madrid overturned Barcelona's advantage in the Copa del Rey semifinals with a resounding 4-0 win at Camp Nou Stadium to reach the final for the first time in nearly a decade. Madrid hadn't beaten Barcelona by four goals at Camp Nou since a 5-1 win in 1963. Vincius Jnior also scored as Madrid advanced 4-1 on aggregate after having lost the first leg 1-0 at home. Benzema also had a hat trick in Madrid's 6-0 rout of Valladolid in the Spanish league on Sunday. "It's obvious that after Karim improved, the team improved as well," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "When he is at his best, everything is better for us. And (Luka) Modric and (Toni) Kroos also had great games. In these types of matches,

Real Madrid surrendered the leadership of La Liga to Barcelona after being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Osasuna on Sunday evening

Rodrygo and Vincius Jnior didn't hesitate after Real Madrid opened the scoring at the Metropolitano stadium. The Brazilian duo went toward one of the corner flags and began doing their samba-like dance moves near the Atltico Madrid fans. With its young Brazilians not backing away from their dancing, Madrid beat city rival Atltico 2-1 in the Spanish league to extend its perfect start to the season on Sunday. Rodrygo and Federico Valverde scored first-half goals as the defending champions won their ninth match in a row in all competitions. Dance wherever you want, Vincius wrote on Twitter in a message directed at Rodrygo after the game, along with a photo of them celebrating the goal. The result restored Madrid as the league leader after it had been overtaken by Barcelona on Saturday following the Catalan club's 3-0 win against Elche for its fifth straight victory. Madrid leads Barcelona by two points. It was a different game, the derby is always different, Rodrygo said. This one

Real Madrid came back from a goal down and the loss of Karim Benzema through injury to win 4-1 at home to Real Mallorca and maintain their unbeaten record at the top of La Liga

The expectations were high for Barcelona coming into the new season. The club's financial maneuvers allowed for some high-profile signings that significantly boosted the squad after a trophyless campaign without Lionel Messi. The new players performed well in the preseason and Barcelona president Joan Laporta said the club would meet the Spanish league's strict financial fair play regulations. Barcelona was back in its place, seen as a reference in world soccer again, Laporta boasted a few days before the league opener. But it didn't take long for the hype to turn into more disappointment, and the Catalan club enters the second week of the season reeling and looking for ways to rebound. Another setback in a tough visit to Real Sociedad on Sunday could leave the club in a deep hole early on. Laporta was not able to register all the new signings as he had expected ahead of the opener, and on the field the team struggled yet again, beginning its league campaign with a 0-0 home draw ..

Granada was relegated from the Spanish league after missing a second-half penalty kick which could have kept the team up, with Cdiz taking advantage to stay in the first division.

In a dominating season for Real Madrid, it was fitting that it didn't even need its best players to win the Spanish league. Using its backups before the Champions League semifinals, Madrid earned a record-extending 35th Liga title with a comfortable 4-0 home win over Espanyol on Saturday. Players and coaches celebrated with the crowd at Santiago Bernabu Stadium long after the match ended, then paraded to the team's usual party spot at Cibeles plaza, but there was not a lot of time to rejoice. On Wednesday, Madrid is back at the Bernabu to host Manchester City in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals. Madrid lost 4-3 in the first match in England. "We know we have an important match ahead of us, but today we have to celebrate," said Brazilian veteran Marcelo, who reached a milestone with his 24th career title with Madrid, the most in the club's history. "We have to enjoy it, this could help us on Wednesday," said Carlo Ancelotti, who became the first coach to win the to

Karim Benzema stayed hot as Real Madrid kept momentum from its epic win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League with a 3-0 victory at Mallorca to extend its Spanish league lead. Benzema scored twice and set up Vincius Jnior's goal to help give Madrid a 10-point lead over second-placed Sevilla ahead of the clsico against Barcelona on Sunday at Santiago Bernabu Stadium. Benzema's double came five days after he scored a hat trick in less than 20 minutes to lead Madrid to the Champions League quarterfinals with a stunning comeback win over PSG. Benzema has eight goals in his last five matches in all competitions and comfortably leads the Spanish league's scoring list with 22. The match ended with concern over Benzema's fitness, though, as the French striker had to leave a few minutes from the end with what appeared to be a left leg injury. Madrid, which had already made all five substitutions, also lost forward Rodrygo and left back Ferland Mendy with injuries ahead of the mat

Real Madrid slumped to defeat in their first match after the winter break as they lost 0-1 to Getafe and coach Carlo Ancelotti said they need to get back to playing like they were before Christmas

After watching Real Madrid lose its first match in three months, Carlo Ancelotti had one simple message for his players: The holidays are over

The ongoing wave of Covid-19 cases in Spain has been reflected by a sharp rise in the number of infections being reported in La Liga as teams return to training after the short holiday break.

Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao will end 2021 in what promises to be an entertaining game in Athletic's San Mames Stadium on Wednesday night -- if the Covid-19 pandemic allows.

Sevilla kept themselves in the race for the La Liga title thanks to a late goal from Lucas Ocampos which gave them a 2-1 win at home to Atletico Madrid

Spain's top soccer league has generated 4.95 billion euros (USD 5.6 billion) from the sale of subscription broadcast domestic rights for five seasons.

Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio inflicted the latest blow on Atletico's title defense after leading Real Madrid to a 2-0 win Sunday to keep their team comfortably at the top of the Spanish league

FC Barcelona face a crucial game on Saturday when they travel to play Atletico Madrid in the eighth round of matches in La Liga.

European soccer has always been desperate for cash, but that's grown more acute after the pandemic kept crowds away from stadiums

With Karim Benzema and Vincius Jnior finally contained, Real Madrid saw its five-match winning streak come to an end with a 0-0 draw against Villarreal at home in the Spanish league.

Asensio scored a hat-trick and Karim Benzema struck a brace of goals as Real Madrid soared on their goal-scoring prowess to thrash Mallorca 6-1 and rose to the top of the table in the Spanish La Liga.