Diego Costa last night made a goalscoring return to Atletico Madrid with a second-half strike in their comfortable 4-0 Copa de Rey win at Lleida.

Real Madrid kept up the pressure at the top of LaLiga with a clinical 4-0 win at relegated Granada.

Lionel Messi made it 51 goals for the season as Barcelona turned up the heat on Real Madrid with a thumping 4-1 home win over Villarreal in LaLiga.

Real Madrid 3 - Atletico Madrid 0: Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid swept aside city rivals Atletico 3-0 at the Bernabeu in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final last night.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid swept aside city rivals Atletico 3-0 at the Bernabeu in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.

Lionel Messi struck a late winner for the second straight weekend as Barcelona defeated LaLiga title rivals Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon.

Barcelona 1 Atletico Madrid 1 (Barcelona win 3-2 on agg): Barcelona secured a place in the final of the Copa del Rey after a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou last night, but will have to do without Luis Suarez who was one of three players sent off in a fiery clash.

Barcelona secured a place in the final of the Copa del Rey after a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid at the Nou Camp, but will have to do without Luis Suarez who was one of three players sent off in a fiery clash.

Alaves failed to make the most of their chances as Atletico Madrid left Mendizorroza with a goalless draw.

Atletico Madrid may have been the more impressive team for long spells of Saturday afternoon’s top of the La Liga table clash at the Camp Nou, but Barcelona’s 2-1 win means the Catalan side have now taken control of the Spanish title race.

Colombia forward Radamel Falcao expects his future to be resolved soon after indicating a potential loan move to Chelsea can soon be done.

Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid drew 0-0 in a tight and tense Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Estadio Vicente Calderon on Tuesday night.

Atletico Madrid’s players firmly believe they will hit back from a first-leg deficit and beat Bayer Leverkusen to stay alive in the Champions League tonight.

Atletico Madrid have a mountain to climb if they are to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals after they endured a night to forget at Bayer Leverkusen.

Atletico Madrid have a mountain to climb if they are to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals after they endured a night to forget at Bayer Leverkusen.

This evening’s 2014 Ballon D’Or ceremony in Zurich brings an end to a long build-up period to the award which seems to have started almost as soon as Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2013 prize last January, writes Dermot Corrigan.

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has laughed off reports that Manchester United are preparing a €20 million offer for Diego Godin in January.

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique says he is honoured to be Lionel Messi’s coach after the Argentinean became the top goalscorer in Primera Division history.

Luis Suarez’s controversial on-field antics appear to have counted strongly against him when an expert panel drew up a 23-man shortlist for the 2014 Fifa Ballon d’Or award.

Atletico Madrid produced a storming second half to hammer Malmo 5-0 at the Vicente Calderon in Group A last night.

Italy 0 Uruguay 1

Fifa will investigate the Luis Suarez alleged biting incident with Liverpool’s Uruguay striker likely to face a lengthy ban if found guilty.

FIFA has announced it will investigate the Luis Suarez alleged biting incident with Liverpool’s Uruguay striker likely to face a lengthy ban if found guilty.

Italy 0 Uruguay 1

WORLD CUP GROUP D:

England 1 Uruguay 2

The Real Madrid supporting press in the Spanish capital were unsurprisingly euphoric yesterday morning, as Blancos fans were reassured that it had not all been a dream – the night before their side really had finally secured the long-awaited tenth European Cup by beating city neighbours Atletico Madrid 4-1 after extra-time.

Real Madrid 4 Atletico Madrid 1

Gareth Bale finally helped Real Madrid fulfil the dream of ’La Decima’, securing a memorable 10th Champions League triumph with an extra-time win against neighbours Atletico Madrid.

One thing was for sure going into Saturday’s all or nothing La Liga clash between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou. The fifth Argentinian coach in history was going to win the trophy.

Barcelona 1 Atletico Madrid 1

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has allayed fears over the severity of the injury suffered by striker Diego Costa in yesterday’s 2-0 derby victory at Getafe, which moved Los Rojiblancos a step closer to the Primera Division title.

When Diego Simeone took charge at Atletico Madrid, just over two years ago, the challenge he faced was huge.

A controversial Mario Balotelli penalty earned AC Milan a 1-1 draw against Ajax.

Real Madrid 1 Atletico Madrid 2 (aet)

In Barcelona they joke that if Catalonia wins independence at least Real Madrid will be able to win La Liga. Come next Saturday night even that might be beyond Jose Mourinho and his men.

Atletico Madrid 3 Athletic Bilbao 0

Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a hat-trick in a sensational performance as Real Madrid beat city rivals Atletico 4-1 to go four points clear in La Liga last night.

ACCORDING to FIFA and the Ballon d’Or voters, the coach of last year was Pep Guardiola.

Republic of Ireland 2 Uruguay 3