Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo hauled Real Madrid back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Villarreal on Sunday and regain top spot in La Liga from Barcelona.

Sevilla captain Vicente Iborra came off the bench to lead his side to a second-half comeback at fierce local rivals Real Betis on Saturday, assisting and scoring in a 2-1 win to provisionally take Jorge Sampaoli's side joint-top of La Liga.

Sevilla left-back Sergio Escudero was rewarded for his fine form this season with a new four-year contract, the Spanish club confirmed on Thursday.

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique labelled harsh treatment dished out to his players by Barca fans nonsensical as the Spanish champions squeezed past Leganes 2-1 on Sunday.

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.

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.

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

Sevilla made Argentine midfielder Walter Montoya their third signing of the January transfer window on Saturday on a four-and-a-half year deal from Rosario Central.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on target as Barcelona shrugged off the loss of the injured Sergio Busquets to remain just two points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a 4-0 win at Eibar on Sunday.

Sevilla produced another late fightback to remain just one point behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid after twice coming from behind to edge out rock bottom Osasuna 4-3 on Sunday.

Antoine Griezmann struck for the third time in as many games in 2017 as Atletico Madrid secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey 4-3 on aggregate despite losing 3-2 at home to Las Palmas on Tuesday.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has dismissed all the transfer talks linking Philippe Coutinho to top La Liga clubs, indicating the club has no plans to sell the midfielder.

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez insists the Catalans are "obliged" to chase down Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, despite losing more ground on the European champions in a 1-1 draw at Villarreal on Sunday.

Real Madrid marked Zinedine Zidane's first anniversary as manager with a comfortable 3-0 win over Sevilla in the first leg of their King's Cup last 16 tie at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.

The relentless demands for success at Real Madrid have cost many high-profile and heavily experienced coaches their jobs, but Zinedine Zidane has made the move into senior management look serene as he celebrates a year in charge as a European and world champion.

Coach Juande Ramos has left Spanish side Malaga after a poor run of recent results, the two parties confirmed on Tuesday.

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique says Neymar's performances remain at their peak, despite the Brazilian's flagging goal tally this season.

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez hopes teammate Lionel Messi will follow his lead by signing a long-term contract to see out the remainder of his prime years at the Camp Nou.