Karim Benzema scored a first-half hat-trick as Real Madrid beat Almeria 4-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu to move within eight points of Barcelona at the top of LaLiga.
After Girona and Rayo Vallecano dealt the top two surprise midweek defeats, Madrid had the chance to cut Barca's lead – at least temporarily before the Blaugrana face Real Betis.
Benzema ensured they seized that opportunity in emphatic fashion, benefitting from excellent assists from Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo before stroking home a third from the penalty spot.
Lazaro and Lucas Robertone netted either side of a long-range fourth from Rodrygo as Almeria fought gallantly, but Madrid were ultimately deserved winners.
Benzema was heavily involved from the off and had already tested Fernando Martinez by the time he opened the scoring five minutes in, tapping home after Vinicius darted down the left to cross with the outside of his boot.
His second, arriving after 17 minutes, owed much to Rodrygo, who turned Samu Costa with a brilliant piece of skill before teeing up Benzema to sweep home.
Largie Ramazani headed wide as Almeria sought a response, but the winger was then at fault as Benzema clinched his hat-trick, tripping Lucas Vazquez to allow the Frenchman to convert from the spot.
Almeria clawed one back on the stroke of half-time, Lazaro tapping in Ramazani's low cross from the left.
But any hopes of a comeback were extinguished within three minutes of the restart, when Rodrygo rifled into the top-right corner after finding space on the edge of the area.
Almeria hit back again when substitute Robertone headed past Thibaut Courtois, but Madrid remained in control – twice going close to a fifth when Benzema shot against the post and Eduardo Camavinga had a header ruled offside.
Alcaraz sets up Sinner showdown in French Open semi-finals after dismantling Tsitsipas
Carlos Alcaraz continued his perfect start to the French Open, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to reach the semi-finals on Tuesday.
It is the second year running that Alcaraz has brushed aside Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, this time with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory in just two hours and 15 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The Spaniard set the tone early on with a break in the opening game as he comfortably cruised through the first set and was 3-0 up in the second before Tsitsipas started to mount a comeback.
The momentum stayed with Alcaraz as he stretched his lead following the tie-break though, and held his nerve to see out the third set.
The world number three has reached the semi-finals for the second consecutive year, and has booked a meeting with the new world number one, Jannik Sinner.
Data Debrief: Alcaraz keeps chasing records
Alcaraz has become the youngest player since Andy Roddick in 2003 (v Xavier Malisse) to defeat a player in all his first six meetings in ATP events.
Not only that, but among players who started their career in the Open Era, only Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe (59 each) have registered 50 Men's Singles Grand Slam wins in fewer matches than Alcaraz (60).
Parrott downs Hungary with last-gasp winner for Ireland as Euro 2024 preparations ramp up
Troy Parrott proved the last-gasp hero as Ireland stole a 2-1 friendly victory over Hungary, who suffered a blow less than two weeks before their Euro 2024 campaign starts.
Adam Idah opened the scoring in the first half at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, only for Adam Lang to level for the visitors four minutes later.
Yet Marco Rossi's team, who face Switzerland in their Euros opener on June 15, fell to late defeat as Parrott delivered a 92nd-minute winner for the home side.
That late strike ended Hungary’s 14-match unbeaten run (W9 D5) since losing 2-0 to Italy in a Nations League match back in September 2022.
Rossi may not be too concerned as that run was their longest undefeated streak since an 18-match streak between September 1954 and November 1955.
Hungary will also take comfort from the dominance of Dominik Szoboszlai, who created six chances in this match, the most of any player on the pitch and the same amount as all of his team-mates combined.
Switzerland, who join Hungary, Scotland and hosts Germany at the upcoming European Championship, were victorious on Tuesday after a 4-0 success against lowly Estonia.
Steven Zuber, Xherdan Shaqiri, Zeki Amdouni and Nico Elvedi were all on target at Swissporarena in Lucerne as Murat Yakin's men eased to a convincing warm-up win.
Switzerland continue their preparations for the Euros with their next friendly against Austria, who battled to a 2-1 victory over Serbia in Vienna.
Christoph Baumgartner scored one and assisted another for Patrick Wimmer before Strahinja Pavlovic pulled one back for Dragan Stojkovic's side.
Serbia open their Euro 2024 campaign against England on June 16 before meeting Slovenia, who were triumphant earlier in a day littered by international action.
Armenia's Varazdat Haroyan levelled after Jan Mlakar's early opener for Slovenia before veteran Josip Ilicic snatched a 2-1 victory for England's group opponents.
In the least entertaining game of the midweek action, Romania and Bulgaria shared a goalless draw in Bucharest.
Italy 0-0 Turkey: Injury worries mount for Azzurri in pre-Euro 2024 stalemate
Italy extended their unbeaten run with a frustrating 0-0 draw against Turkiye on Tuesday, though potentially suffered another injury blow in the process.
Luca Pellegrini was taken off in the 68th minute and was seen on the bench with an icepack strapped to his knee, following Francesco Acerbi and Giorgio Scalvini's withdrawals from the squad in the last week.
In the first of their two warm-ups ahead of Euro 2024, Italy came closest to breaking the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when Bryan Cristante thumped a header against the post.
Guglielmo Vicario denied Merih Demiral on the half-volley in a bright second half for Turkiye, while Giacomo Raspadori's tame shot was held by Altay Bayindir in the final seconds as both sides failed to find a way through.
Data Debrief: Not good signs for the reigning Euros champions
Italy are not favourites going into their title defence in Germany later this month, and they struggled to show much attacking flair.
Although the Azzurri extended their unbeaten run over Turkey to 14 games, they created an expected goals (xG) of just 0.67, hitting the target with two of their 11 shots.
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