"la-liga"

Atletico were held to a 1-1 draw away to Betis in a game where Yannick Carrasco put them ahead after just five minutes only for Cristian Tello to equalise in the 20th minute of the game on Sunday

Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved Lucas Ocampos's penalty early on but was beaten by Marcos Acuna's second-half header on Sunday.

Elche once again showed how much they have improved since Fran Escriba returned as coach and Dani Calvo's 61st minute header off the underside of the bar gave them the lead against a lackluster Real Madrid, who once again failed to perform against a rival in the bottom half of the table on Saturday

Goals from Jordi Alba and Illax Moriba gave Barca a hard-fought win against a rival that caused them lots of problems, especially in the first half

On Saturday, FC Barcelona produced one of their best displays of the season to win 2-0 away to Sevilla.

Wednesday's 3-0 win at home to Elche moved Barca a point above Sevilla into third place in La Liga, five points behind Atletico Madrid, but with an extra game played, Ronald Koeman's side needs all three points

Barca coach Ronald Koeman said in his pre-game press conference that this game and Saturday's trip to Sevilla were vital for his side's title chances, and he made changes to try and keep his squad fresh

Atletico Madrid's loss to Levante made Atletico's lead at the top of La Liga cut to three points with a game in hand

The six-time Ballon d'Or winner was named in Ronald Koeman's starting XI for a meeting with Alaves on Saturday, a game in which he scored twice in a 5-1 win. That outing has taken him level with a former team-mate Xavi when it comes to league outings for the Blaugrana.

Messi's 650th goal came through a free-kick and he successfully registered a strike in the 20th minute of the match against Athletic Club.

Messi had missed Barcelona's 1-1 draw against Eibar on Tuesday, but for the clash on Sunday, the striker made his way back into Ronald Koeman's side.

Benzema and Luka Modric scored inside the first 13 minutes in the Basque Country to put Zinedine Zidane's men on their way to a fourth straight league win

I have no explanation for tonight. We've had good and bad moments in games like today's. Especially at the beginning, when they scored a goal after three minutes. We had time to get back into the game and then things

Fati sustained the injury during the team's La Liga match against Real Betis here on Saturday. The player played for 45 minutes in the match and was then substituted.

Sociedad return to the top of the table, one point ahead Real Madrid, who had temporarily taken first place after their 4-1 win over Huesca

"We are angry, and angry because we wanted the three points. We are failing a lot in front of the goal, I am the first. We have had many chances, but we have only scored one," Goal.com quoted Griezmann as saying.

"I'm worried by our performance in attack. It's not an attitude problem, nor concentration, but it's a question of being more assured in front of goal," Goal.com quoted Koeman as saying.

Madrid's win earns them a six-point lead over the Catalans, having played one game more

The first match between these two teams in La Liga was dated back to late 1920. Both teams have had equal success so far in the history of El Clasico with Real Madrid winning 73 to Barcelona’s 72.