Barcelona needed a last minute Lionel Messi penalty to see off lowly Leganes 2-1 as a poor week for the Spanish champions continued on Sunday.

Javier Maschernao has hailed Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi as “the best player in the history of the game” and fully expects him to extend his contract with the club.

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi postponed a visit to Egypt to promote a campaign to fight Hepatitis C in the wake of Barcelona's defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, Egypt's tourism ministry said Wednesday.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane warned that it was still all to play for in their Champions League last-16 clash against Napoli after the holders strolled to a 3-1 win in the first leg on Wednesday.

Scientists have found signs of brain damage that could cause dementia in a handful of former soccer players, fuelling worries about the danger of frequent knocks from heading the ball or colliding with others on the field.

Angel Di Maria scores a brilliant brace on his birthday as Paris Saint-Germain sensationally destroyed Barcelona 4-0 at the Parc des Princes in their Champions League last 16 first leg

Paris Saint-Germain host Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday with their Spanish coach Unai Emery desperate to improve his awful personal record against the Catalans.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on target as Barcelona went top of La Liga for the first time since October with a 6-0 thrashing of Alaves on Saturday.

Edgar Mendez's solo effort nine minutes from time sent Alaves into their first ever Copa del Rey final with a 1-0 semifinal, second leg win over Celta Vigo enough to progress by the same score on aggregate.

Luis Suarez booked Barcelona's place in a fourth consecutive Copa del Rey final but was sent off as a bad-tempered 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday secured a 3-2 aggregate win.

Atletico Madrid will have to win at Barcelona's Nou Camp for the first time in a decade on Tuesday if they are to reach the King's Cup final.

Holders Barcelona have a fourth consecutive Copa del Rey final in sight when Atletico Madrid visit the Camp Nou on Tuesday with the daunting task of overturning a 2-1 semi-final, first leg deficit.

Barcelona midfielder Rafinha faces a spell on the sidelines after suffering a broken nose in a clash with his own goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen in Saturday's 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.

Samir Nasri missed a second-half penalty as Sevilla squandered the chance to close to within a point of La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a 0-0 draw home to Villarreal on Sunday.

Spanish clubs have cleaned up their finances and modernised their stadiums and can now go on to surpass even the huge earnings sloshing around the English Premier League, La Liga's president said on Friday.

Lionel Messi struck another trademark free-kick as Barcelona moved to within a one point of La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored stunning goals to edge Barcelona towards a fourth consecutive King's Cup final with a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, although the holders were lucky to survive a late onslaught from the hosts.

The Spanish football league is likely to use the newly-introduced video refereeing system in 2018, league President Javier Tebas said.

European Club Association (ECA) president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge described FIFA's 48-World Cup as "nonsense" on Monday and warned soccer's governing body that the balance of power in the sport was shifting towards his members.

Diego Maradona has revealed his drug problems began when he was at Barcelona in the 1980s in an interview with an Italian private television network, Canale 5.