Antoine Griezmann's second-half strike was enough for under-par Atletico Madrid to beat Espanyol 1-0 on Saturday, tightening their grip on third place in La Liga.

Isco struck at the death to send Real Madrid six points clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga after twice coming from behind to beat Sporting Gijon 3-2 on Saturday.

Real Madrid defender Pepe has broken two ribs after colliding with team mate Toni Kroos during the 1-1 derby draw with Atletico Madrid on Saturday, the La Liga leaders said in a statement.

Brazilian defender Filipe Luis scored for the second game running as Atletico Madrid beat Real Sociedad 1-0 on Tuesday to rack up a fifth straight win in La Liga and provisionally consolidate third place in the standings.

Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres returned to training on Monday after recovering from a sickening head clash, suggesting he could play in Wednesday's Champions League tie against Bayer Leverkusen.

Propelled by an on-fire Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid stand on the brink of a fourth consecutive Champions League quarter-final, determined to finally end their tag as Europe's nearly men.

Barcelona suffered a hangover from their remarkable Champions League comeback against Paris Saint-Germain as Alex Bergantinos's winner 16 minutes from time handed Deportivo la Coruna a famous 2-1 win on Sunday.

Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico blundered and then made two brilliant late stops as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Alaves on Monday that dented their La Liga title bid.

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.