With the distraction of two individual scoring records safely out of the way, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi can turn his full focus on helping the club win the major silverware that eluded them last season.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, with a double black, suffered a surprising first round loss at the hands of Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the Sinquefield Cup, in St Louis, the United States.
The following is a factbox on former Dutch international who was popularly known as 'Flying Dutchman'.
Johan Cruyff, the legendary Dutch soccer striker and coach, died aged 68, according to a message posted on his website.
Karim Benzema scored his sixth goal in four games as Real Madrid beat Alaves 3-0 on Sunday for a fourth successive La Liga victory which took the European champions to within eight points of leaders Barcelona.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The victory saw the unfashionable Madrid club tighten their grip on the coveted fourth spot in the table by moving on to 58 points after 36 games, three points clear of nearest challengers Sevilla, who lost to Leganes on Friday.
Seven-times champions AC Milan, knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona in the last two seasons, were drawn against the Catalans again in the group stage of this season's competition on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Holders Barcelona produced a second-half blitz to come from behind and beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 to book a place in the King's Cup semi-finals after Atletico Madrid crashed out in a shock 3-2 defeat by Celta Vigo.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has reiterated the club's innocence of tax fraud in the signing of Neymar and insisted the operation to bring the Brazil forward to the Catalan capital was "completely legal".
New Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has come to England to prove himself and wants to produce the "beautiful football" for which his teams are famed, he told reporters on Friday. Speaking at his first news conference since joining the club, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach said his personal learning curve would be steep as he came to terms with his new team and adapted to the rigours of the Premier League. "It's the right moment to come here and prove myself," he said. Asked if he could get City to play the sort of beautiful football trademarked by Barcelona, he added. "That's why I am here. I want to play the way I want. But wherever you go you have to adapt to the quality of the players. We have to find each other as soon as possible.
Spanish champions Barcelona have exercised the buy-back clause to re-sign midfielder Denis Suarez from Villarreal, the Catalan club announced on Monday.
Tuesday's match was the latest masterclass from the South American trio, known in Spain as 'MSN', whose goals have put Barca on the brink of repeating 2009's treble of Champions League and Spanish league and Cup triumphs, the only time a La Liga club have achieved the feat.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar motored past 100 goals for the season.
Barcelona snatched a late 2-1 win at Getafe with Paulinho's strike sending them seven points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona dropped their first points of the La Liga season as their star-studded forward line misfired in a 0-0 draw away to Malaga on Wednesday.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi was at the heart of another devastating attacking show.
Espanyol's Felipe Caicedo came off the bench and netted two late goals to secure a 2-0 win at home to 10-man Valencia on Tuesday that sent the Barcelona-based club through to the King's Cup quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid returned to winning ways after two defeats, making light of playing most of the second half with 10 men to triumph 3-0 at home to mid-table Espanyol on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A round-up of Wednesday's night's UEFA Chmpions League matches.
The former Chelsea goalkeeper had to wait for 11 games to reach the landmark and produced an inspired performance that included a second-half penalty save from Watford striker Troy Deeney to help Arsenal seal the win.
Lionel Messi will have another chance to match or surpass Telmo Zarra's six-decade-old La Liga scoring record of 251 goals when Barcelona host promoted Eibar on Saturday.
Barcelona's talismanic Lionel Messi remains the driving force of a talented side on the brink of repeating 2009's historic treble despite a change in their coach and style of football, not to mention a host of players.
The Portuguese admitted he had over-stretched himself after having knee problems at the back end of the last season which he carried into the World Cup and then suffered a hamstring injury at the start of this campaign.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona striker Munir El Haddadi continued his dramatic rise in the game as part of a new-look Spain that have set their sights on Euro 2016 following a surprise early exit at this year's World Cup.
If you ask Barcelona and Spain fans about their most cherished footballing memories over the past decade the chances are they will involve an exquisite intervention from midfield maestro Xavi.
Barcelona wrap up 23rd La Liga crown with Lionel Messi goal.
Check out the top footballers of the weekend...
At least one person has been injured by an explosion on the bus taking the Borussia Dortmund soccer team to their UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg match against Monaco in Dortmund on Tuesday.
A lethal finish from Luis Suarez gave Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in a typically frantic 'Clasico' on Sunday as they stretched their lead over their rivals at the top of La Liga to four points.
Barcelona's Neymar scored twice and Luis Suarez was also on target as they reached their fourth King's Cup final in five years with a 3-1 win away to Villarreal on Wednesday that gave them a 6-2 aggregate victory.
Manchester United took over at the top of the Premier League while Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi could be out for up to two months with a knee injury and rampant Bayern Munich extended their perfect start to seven league wins.
Lionel Messi was in inspired form as champions Barcelona hammered Celta Vigo 5-0 on Saturday, recording a fourth straight league victory which keeps them top of La Liga after Real Madrid had put the pressure on the Catalans with a 4-1 win at Eibar.
