BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Karim Benzema hit a hat trick to lead Real Madrid to a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league on Sunday, extending his scoring run since the return of coach...

MADRID (AP) — Surprising Getafe is standing its ground in the fight for the final Champions League spot in the Spanish league.

The southern Madrid club defeated Athletic Bilbao 1-0 on Sunday...

MADRID (AP) — Francisco "Isco" Alarcon has been left out of the Spain squad, paying the price for not playing often enough for Real Madrid under coach Santiago Solari.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Ernesto Valverde has agreed to stay on as Barcelona coach for at least one more season.

Valverde will exercise the option in his contract to continue, the defending Spanish champions said on Friday. They added Valverde also agreed to add the possibility of coaching for the 2020-21 season.

The 55-year-old Valverde joined Barcelona from Athletic Bilbao in mid-2017 to replace Luis Enrique.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona needed goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to put in a superb performance as the Spanish league leader failed to score and dropped points at Athletic Bilbao in a 0-0 draw on Sunday.

The result ended Barcelona's run of 37 league games where it scored at least one goal. Its last league game without a goal was a 0-0 draw with Getafe on Feb. 11, 2018.

MADRID (AP) — Traditional Spanish clubs Villarreal, Valencia, and Athletic Bilbao entered the season with high hopes, looking to make a run against the powerful trio of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Almost halfway through the league, they are just fighting to stay away from the relegation zone.

Athletic fired its coach last week. Villarreal did it on Monday, and Valencia is already under pressure to follow suit.

MADRID (AP) — Spanish club Athletic Bilbao has fired coach Eduardo Berizzo after the team won only two of its first 15 matches this season.

The Basque Country club made the announcement on Tuesday, a day after a 3-0 loss at Levante in the Spanish league.

The result kept the Athletic winless in 13 league matches, inside the relegation zone. Its only league win was against Leganes in the first round.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — With his actions, and now words, Lionel Messi is embracing a new role as Barcelona captain.

Messi came off the bench to set up a late equalizer by fellow substitute Munir El Haddadi and salvage a point in a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — With Lionel Messi rested for most of the match, Barcelona was held to 1-1 by Athletic Bilbao at home on Saturday in its third straight setback in the Spanish league.

Messi came off the bench in the second half to set up a late equalizer by Munir El Haddadi, but he wasn't able to lead the defending champions to victory at Camp Nou Stadium.

The result was enough to keep Barcelona in the lead after Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid went 0-0 in the derby.

MADRID (AP) — Barcelona is getting some help from its rivals to stay ahead in the Spanish league despite falling into its worst slump in two years.

The defending champion failed to win for the third straight game on Saturday, being held by Athletic Bilbao to 1-1 at home. But it was enough to retain its lead after Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid couldn't manage more than 0-0 in the derby at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid has fallen into a slump at a bad time.

The Champions League winners are suddenly struggling following a strong start to the season despite Cristiano Ronaldo's departure. And up next is Atletico Madrid, which has hit its stride after a poor early run.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish soccer has found its next great midfielder in the making.

Pablo Fornals scored one of the goals of the season in the Spanish league on Wednesday when he used one touch of his right boot to score from about 45 meters (50 yards) and put Villarreal on its way to a 3-0 victory at Athletic Bilbao.

With goalkeeper Unai Simon off his line, Fornals didn't hesitate to attempt an audacious lob when the ball was knocked into this path by a defender just past the midfield line.

MADRID (AP) — First it was Barcelona. Then Real Madrid.

Both Spanish league leaders were stunned Wednesday, with Barcelona losing 2-1 at last-place Leganes and Madrid falling 3-0 at Sevilla, marking the first time since 2015 that they lost on the same day.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Ousmane Dembele came to Barcelona's rescue for a third time this season on Saturday, when the France forward struck a second-half winner to complete a comeback at Real Sociedad 2-1.

Dembele was quickest to a poor clearance of a corner kick by Sociedad's defense in the 66th minute, rifling a left-footed shot through a crowd while goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli was off his line.

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — Real Madrid dropped its first points in the Spanish league after being held at Athletic Bilbao to 1-1 on Saturday.

Madrid needed Francisco "Isco" Alarcon to come off the bench and score three minutes later in the 64th to salvage a point from the visit to the Basque Country club. Isco slipped into the area unmarked and headed Gareth Bale's cross down off the turf and into the corner of the net.

LONDON (AP) — Chelsea has signed Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga for a record fee after selling Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid.

Chelsea announced the signing on Wednesday after paying Kepa's 80-million-euro ($92.6 million) buyout clause — the biggest fee ever for a goalkeeper.

The transfer was completed shortly after Courtois' move to Madrid was also confirmed in a deal that will see midfielder Mateo Kovacic move to the London club on a season-long loan.

MADRID (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo came through for Real Madrid again, this time with a backheel flick that saved his team from a loss in the Spanish league.

Ronaldo netted an 87th-minute equalizer with a subtle touch of the ball with his back to the goal, redirecting a low shot by Luka Modric from outside the area to give Madrid a 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lionel Messi added to his scoring streak with a first-half goal in Barcelona's 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league on Sunday.

Messi scored his eighth goal in six matches with a firm, low shot from outside the area in the 30th minute at Camp Nou Stadium, helping Barcelona to take an 11-point lead over Atletico Madrid, which plays at Villarreal later.

PRAGUE (AP) — Danny Welbeck celebrated his England callup by scoring twice as Arsenal beat AC Milan 3-1 Thursday to cruise into the Europa League quarterfinals 5-1 on aggregate.

German powerhouse Borussia Dortmund suffered a surprise exit at the hands of Salzburg. Two goals by Fernando Torres helped Atletico Madrid oust Lokomotiv Moscow while CSKA Moscow knocked out Lyon after winning the second leg in France 3-2.

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — Two security guards received minor injuries after being attacked by Marseille fans during the second leg of the Europa League last-16 match at Athletic Bilbao Thursday, Spanish police said.

The police also said three supporters of the French team had been detained.

Marseille won the game 2-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals 5-2 on aggregate.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored his first Arsenal goal as the London club rebounded from four successive losses with a 2-0 win at AC Milan in the first leg of the Europa League last 16 on Thursday.

There was another surprise in Germany where two goals from Valon Berisha led Salzburg to a 2-1 victory at Borussia Dortmund.

Atletico Madrid recorded a comfortable 3-0 home win over Lokomotiv Moscow while CSKA Moscow was beaten 1-0 in Russia by Lyon.

MADRID (AP) — The riot police officer who died of cardiac arrest during crowd trouble before a Europa League match in Spain collapsed on his own and not in a direct confrontation with fans, authorities said Friday.

Officials in the Basque region of Spain said doctors dismissed the possibility the cardiac arrest was caused by any type of trauma sustained by the officer in fighting that took place before the match between Athletic Bilbao and Russian club Spartak Moscow on Thursday.

Serie A leader Napoli wasn't good enough to advance in the Europa League on Thursday after it was knocked out in Germany by Leipzig. The last-of-32 round of matches was marred by a police officer's death in Spain after clashes with fans ahead of the game between Athletic Bilbao and Spartak Moscow.

Spanish police said the officer died in hospital after clashes outside San Mames Stadium in the Basque Country city of Bilbao in northern Spain. Spanish media said the officer died of cardiac arrest.

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — A Spanish riot police officer died of cardiac arrest after clashes involving Russian soccer fans before a Europa League match on Thursday between hosts Athletic Bilbao and Spartak Moscow, raising concerns less than four months before the World Cup in Russia.

Basque Country authorities in northern Spain said the officer died in a hospital after the confrontations outside San Mames Stadium in the city of Bilbao, which will host matches in the 2020 European Championship.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Atletico Madrid stayed within sight of Barcelona while Real Madrid's attack bailed out its porous defense in the Spanish league on Sunday.

Diego Costa and Kevin Gameiro scored second-half goals to give Atletico a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao and keep it seven points behind Barcelona at the top of the table.

Atletico will visit Barcelona on March 4 in what could be its last chance to inject some drama into the title race.

MADRID (AP) — Athletic Bilbao didn't take long to replace young French defender Aymeric Laporte after his move to Manchester City.

The Spanish club said Tuesday it had signed central defender Inigo Martinez from Basque Country rival Real Sociedad, spending 32 million euros ($39 million) on the player's buyout clause.

Laporte left to play for Manchester City after his clause of 65 million euros ($80 million) was paid on Monday.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City signed France under-21 international Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao for a club-record fee of 65 million euros ($80 million) on Tuesday, taking its spending on center backs since 2014 to about $250 million.

The 23-year-old Laporte came close to joining City in 2016 — when Pep Guardiola took charge of the current Premier League leaders — but backed out of the move after feeling the Frenchman wasn't quite ready.

MADRID (AP) — Defender Aymeric Laporte has paid his buyout clause and is leaving Athletic Bilbao, opening the way for a transfer to Manchester City.

The 23-year-old Frenchman has been closely linked with a move to the English Premier League leader and was left out of Athletic's squad in its Spanish league match on Saturday.

Athletic said the payment of the buyout clause of 65 million euros ($80.8 million) was made on Monday, effectively ending Laporte's contract with the Spanish club.

MADRID (AP) — Athletic Bilbao says it has extended the contract of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga until June 2025, ending speculation about his move to Real Madrid.

The 23-year-old Kepa admitted he had offers to leave Athletic, but decided to stay at the club he considers his "home."

Madrid reportedly wanted to sign Kepa but negotiations did not advance in recent weeks.