A bad night for the visitors also saw them denied a goal back in the second half when, after a record-equalling eight-minute check by the video assistant referee (VAR), Pau Cubarsi's strike was ruled out for offside. This was the second time in as many years these two sides had met at this stage of the competition, with Barcelona winning last year on their way to lifting the trophy for a 32nd time. But Diego Simeone's side gained revenge in emphatic fashion by putting four goals past them in an astonishing first half. Atleti's opener set the tone for what was a disastrous evening for Barcelona as Eric Garcia's backpass to Joan Garcia rolled under the goalkeeper's foot and trickled into his own net. The hosts doubled their lead in the 14th minute when the competition's top scorer this season, Antoine Griezmann, curled home a fine finish against his former club. From then on, Atleti took command and looked capable of scoring with every attack. Fermin Lopez did hit the woodwork for Barcelona, but that was a rare opportunity in the opening period as Atleti hunted for more goals. They added a third in the 33rd minute when Giuliano Simeone broke down the right before passing to Julian Alvarez and the former Manchester City forward clipped the ball across to Ademola Lookman, who drove in his second goal in as many games for his new club. Argentine Alvarez then ended his two-month, 11-match goal drought with an emphatic finish, thumping an unstoppable drive into the back of the net from distance in first-half added time. More misfortune followed for the visitors, who thought they had a goal back in the second half when Cubarsi prodded in after being set up by Robert Lewandowski. However, VAR promptly decided to review the incident, with the check lasting so long the goalkeeper's were thrown footballs to warm up with. Eventually, it was disallowed for offside and the length of the check equalled the record set by the eight-minute VAR stoppage during Bournemouth's FA Cup fifth-round win against Wolves last season. Garcia and Barcelona's night got even worse when the defender was sent off with five minutes left following a VAR review after he fouled Alex Baena as the substitute burst through towards goal. The loss has left Barcelona with it all to do when they host the 10-time winners in the return leg on 3 March.

The Gunners' lead at the top was halved when Manchester City beat Fulham on Wednesday and Mikel Arteta's side faced a tough assignment against a Brentford side who had lost just twice at home this season. It was a subdued performance in the first half as Arsenal struggled to break down a well organised Brentford side, but they took the lead in the 61st minute when Noni Madueke headed Piero Hincapie's cross back across goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. It looked as though it was going to be an important win in the title race but Keane Lewis-Potter reacted quickest to head in a flick-on in the area after a trademark Michael Kayode throw-in in the 71st minute. Brentford continued to threaten from set-pieces as the game drew to a close, even though Arteta introduced substitutes Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Riccardo Calafiori as he looked to secure the win. Both sides had chances to win it late on, with Igor Thiago denied by an excellent tackle from Cristhian Mosquera and Arsenal's Martinelli denied by Kelleher in stoppage time.

The French forward converted a low cross in second-half stoppage time to clinch the win after Alvaro Carreras had put the visitors ahead earlier in the second half. Madrid had struggled to break down a disciplined Valencia outfit until Carreras bundled his way past two defenders before steering a low, right-footed effort into the net to break the deadlock 20 minutes into the second half. Alvaro Arbeloa's side, who were without the suspended Vinicius Junior and the injured Jude Bellingham, enjoyed plenty of early possession without troubling Stole Dimitrievski in the Valencia goal. They soon began to threaten, though, and Arda Guler had a low shot deflected wide before Dimitrievski parried a powerful Mbappe drive out of harm's way. The Valencia keeper then produced an even better save to tip David Jimenez's first-time strike wide of the far post. Valencia's best chance of the first half fell to the lively Arnaut Danjuma but his left-footed drive was deflected wide by Raul Asencio, while Lucas Beltran flicked a Danjuma delivery wide of the far post early in the second period. Beltran almost restored parity five minutes after Carreras' opener, but the forward's first-time, left-footed effort struck the outside of the post. Mbappe's late goal made sure of the three points and that Real matched Barcelona's victory over Mallorca on Saturday to end the weekend as they started it, one point apart. Valencia stay 17th but are now just one point above the bottom three – although they have played a game more than all three teams in the relegation zone.

The Ballon d'Or winner opened the scoring in the 12th minute and then doubled the lead with a fine solo goal - cutting in from the right before smashing home - 25 minutes later. Facundo Medina then scored a 64th-minute own goal and two minutes later Dembele's lofted ball was brilliantly volleyed in by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Substitute Lee Kang-in netted the fifth goal for Luis Enrique's defending champions. The result moved them two points above surprise title contenders Lens, who beat Rennes 3-1 on Saturday. Roberto de Zerbi's Marseille are fourth, 12 points behind PSG.

A battling win for Pep Guardiola's second-placed side cut Arsenal's lead at the top to six points, with 13 games remaining. Bernardo Silva's 84th-minute equaliser had initially cancelled out Dominik Szoboszlai's superb free-kick 10 minutes earlier. Then in added time, Matheus Nunes was bundled over inside the box by Liverpool keeper Alisson and referee Craig Pawson pointed to the spot. Haaland made no mistake, as he scored his 21st Premier League of the season to send the visiting fans wild. City keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma then made a brilliant save to deny Alexis Mac Allister - a minute before City had the ball in the net again through Rayan Cherki's finish from inside his own half, with Alisson out of his goal after supporting his side's attack. But the effort was ruled out after a video assistant referee (VAR) check, with Szoboszlai instead sent off for fouling Haaland before the ball rolled in, and a free-kick awarded to City instead. Either way, it didn't matter as City won at Anfield for the first time since 2021, but in front of fans for a first time since 2003.