Robert Lewandowski's brace snatched champions Barcelona a 2-1 win over lowly Celta Vigo to leave them third in La Liga, trailing leaders Real Madrid by seven points.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti on Saturday steered away from talk of Kylian Mbappe signing for the Spanish giants in the summer at the end of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos on Monday doubled down on his criticism of players moving to Saudi Arabia, due to the human rights situation in the country.

Xavi Hernandez's side, third, shared the spoils with their relegation-battling opponents, 19th, after a thrilling battle at the Olympic Stadium, but now trail leaders Real Madrid by 10 points.

Regarding his thunderbolt, Vinicius added: “I don't tend to shoot from outside the box but I felt confident and I didn't get to play the last game and it came off. I'm thrilled but now we have to rest up before Tuesday." 

League leaders Madrid opened up a five-point gap on shock title challengers Girona, second.

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said Saturday goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and winger Raphinha are fit again after injury to help the team's ailing title defence.

Ideally, sports and politics should never mix, but inevitably, sports and politics always mix.

La Liga reported racist insults aimed at Vinicius Junior ahead of a league match last week at Getafe's stadium to Spanish prosecutors on Tuesday.

"(Atletico) are taller and they took advantage of that," noted Ancelotti.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said Saturday Barcelona complaints over his club allegedly influencing La Liga referees were unprofessional.

Barcelona earned a 3-1 win at Alaves in La Liga on Saturday with Brazilian teenager Vitor Roque scoring and then sent off in a lively appearance off the bench.

Spanish forward Joselu scored twice to give Real Madrid a 2-0 win at local rivals Getafe on Thursday, propelling them back to the LaLiga summit, two points ahead of surprise package Girona.

Atletico Madrid climbed third, above struggling champions Barcelona on goal difference, with a comfortable 2-0 win at home against Valencia.

Only a few months after lifting the Spanish title, Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez dramatically announced he would walk away from the club at the end of the season.

Barcelona's title defence was derailed as Villarreal romped to a sensational 5-3 victory in La Liga on Saturday with three late goals.

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said he will quit his "cruel and unpleasant" job at the end of the season after his struggling team were beaten 5-3 by Villarreal on Saturday in La Liga.

After Real Madrid scraped a controversial 3-2 win over bottom side Almeria and a treble by Ferran Torres helped Barca win 4-2 at Real Betis, Girona demonstrated their title credentials

Under-pressure Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said on Wednesday he would resign if his squad no longer believed in him following last weekend's heavy Spanish Super Cup final loss to Real Madrid.

"Guler performed well for an hour. It was important for him to get used to playing with the team," Ancelotti told reporters.