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.

Tonight’s Champions League semi-final first leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu sees Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid facing off for a fourth consecutive year in the competition — with Real aiming to confirm their dominance in the capital and Atletico looking to finally get over the final barrier of Diego Simeone’s time in charge.

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.

Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona got back to winning ways in La Liga with a 5-1 rout of Leganes.

Real Madrid got their campaign in LaLiga off to the ideal start as two goals from Gareth Bale steered them to a 3-0 win away to Real Sociedad.

Defending Copa del Rey champions Barcelona became the first team to retain the trophy since 1998 as they defeated Sevilla 2-0 after extra time in the final.

Jurgen Klopp will begin the post-mortem into Liverpool’s Europa League final loss to defending champions Sevilla by taking a long look at his own performance before that of his team.

Liverpool 1 Sevilla 3: Liverpool’s whirlwind development under Jurgen Klopp has taken a painful and significant knock after they were demolished by Sevilla in the second half of a Europa League Final in Basel, underlining that sheer character alone may not be enough to recreate former glories at Anfield.

Liverpool may boast a proud record in Europe but it is their opponents, Sevilla, who enter the history books tonight.

Has a team ever lifted a European trophy after going an entire season without winning an away game in their own league?

Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique remained upbeat after his side threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Villarreal and said: “We’re one point closer to our objective.”

Barcelona 5 Sevilla 4: Pedro shrugged off speculation over his future to score the winner in extra time and help Barcelona lift the Uefa Super Cup after a 5-4 win over Sevilla.

Dnipro 2 Sevilla 3: Colombian hitman Carlos Bacca claimed a double as Sevilla made Europa League history by seeing off Dnipro to win the competition for a record fourth time.

Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella hopes to instill belief in his players that they can overcome a 3-0 deficit to reach the Europa League final for the second time in their history (8.05pm, live on Setanta Ireland).

Barcelona seemed set to take a giant step towards sealing this season’s La Liga title when they were 2-0 up inside half an hour at Sevilla on Saturday night.

Euro roundup: Gareth Bale answered his critics in Spain as his brace helped Real Madrid beat Levante 2-0 at the Bernabeu last night.

Sevilla 0 Benfica 0 (4-2 on penalties)

Tottenham 3 Dnipro 1 (Spurs win 3-2 on agg)

Paris St Germain 2 Barcelona 2

With the transfer window opening today Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has hit out at the network of people surrounding Demba Ba, with his future on Tyneside becoming the subject of frenzied speculation.

France

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is hoping Leon Best can help ease the disappointment of the club’s failure to land its big striking targets this summer.

Newcastle managing director Derek Llambias has defended the club’s failure to sign a striker on the final day of the transfer window.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has admitted the club is struggling to persuade Jose Enrique to sign a new deal.

NEMANJA VIDIC’S agent has dismissed talk of the Manchester United captain leaving Old Trafford.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew’s hopes of securing his key players before embarking on a recruitment drive have suffered a further blow.

Eric Abidal’s remarkable return to fitness following surgery on a liver tumour was today rewarded with a recall to the France national side.

Patrice Evra and Franck Ribery were today included in the France squad for the first time since the World Cup.

ROBERTO MARTINEZ last night revealed his plan to make Wigan the Arsenal of the north ahead of their Carling Cup quarter-final at the Emirates Stadium.

France coach Laurent Blanc today named Everton striker Louis Saha in his 21-man squad and called up Lorient forward Kevin Gameiro for the first time ahead of next month’s Euro 2012 qualifying double header.

West Ham have confirmed the sale of striker Alessandro Diamanti to Italian side Brescia.

Lyon moved clear at the top of Ligue 1 today following a 3-1 win against Monaco.