APRNEWS - Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has said his players are not feeling the pressure as they close in on a fourth Liga title in five years.

Barca will lift the trophy if they beat Alaves on Tuesday night and Levante on Saturday, although they could wrap up the title on Wednesday if Atletico Madrid lose at home to Valencia.

APRNEWS - Zinedine Zidane stood for 29 minutes fielding questions but all of them really came down to two: Why now? And, what next?

In a packed auditorium in the belly of the Santiago Bernabeu on Monday night, Raul and Roberto Carlos took their seats in the front row while journalists squeezed up against the walls, an hour and a half after the official announcement.

APRNEWS - Spanish football heads into the post-Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta era as the 2018-19 La Liga season begins this weekend.
With these two greats of the modern age having moved on, AFP Sport picks out six new signings to watch in the coming campaign.

THOMAS LEMAR (ATLETICO MADRID)
Age: 22

AFP - For a club like Atletico Madrid, success never comes easily, but Wednesday's Europa League final victory over Marseille served to underline just how far they have travelled in the years since Diego Simeone became coach.

AFP - Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted that Real Madrid's season is now effectively all about their looming Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain as the Spanish giants trail off the pace in La Liga.

REUTERS - Cristiano Ronaldo scored two penalties as stumbling Liga champions Real Madrid hit back from their miserable start to 2018 with a rousing 4-1 win at Valencia on Saturday to move within two points of recapturing third place in La Liga.

REUTERS - Real Madrid visit third-placed Valencia on Saturday in the middle of a deepening crisis with pressure mounting on coach Zinedine Zidane following their King’s Cup elimination at the hands of local rivals Leganes.

AFP - Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane on Wednesday dismissed media speculation linking superstar Cristiano Ronaldo with a move away from the Bernabeu.

"I can't imagine a Madrid without Cristiano," said the Frenchman, a World Cup winner as a player.

AFP - Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos could miss two to three weeks, Spanish media estimated, after the club said on Friday that he has a calf injury.

"He has been diagnosed with a muscular tear of the left soleus muscle," Real Madrid said in a statement, adding that "his recovery will continue to be assessed."