Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 18th goal of the season to inspire Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain to a comprehensive 3-0 victory at 10-man Stade Brest which lifted them three points clear at the top on Friday.
New Schalke 04 coach Huub Stevens rekindled memories of leading the Germans to 1997 UEFA Cup glory with an easy 3-1 win over Maccabi Haifa in the second round of Europa League group matches on Thursday but favourites Paris St Germain lost.
Manchester City continue to boast of the costliest squad among all clubs in Europe's top five leagues, followed by Manchester United, according to a latest study by Switzerland-based independent research group CIES Football Observatory.
Paris St Germain continued their irrepressible march towards a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title with a 5-1 home win against Olympique Lyonnais to move 17 points clear at the top.
Paris St Germain went to the top of Ligue 1 on Saturday after a Kevin Gameiro header clinched a hard-fought 1-0 home victory over Stade Reims.
Real Madrid coach Mourinho surprised many by including Kaka in the starting lineup for Wednesday's 4-1 Champions League win at Ajax and he responded with a performance full of verve and creativity that suggests he may be working his way back into contention.
Lionel Messi does not deserve to win the next FIFA Ballon d'Or as he has only won one minor trophy this year, his former Barcelona team mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic said on Tuesday.
Extra time goals see Chelsea down 10-man Benfica to advance to quarters
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will become the first player since Jean-Pierre Papin to score at least 30 goals in a French league season, the former France striker predicted on Tuesday.
Mbappe says playing for Real Madrid will complete childhood dream
Nicolas Anelka's arrival at Chelsea in January last year hardly had the fans buzzing amid all the big-money signings since Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich transformed the fortunes of the west London club.
Hamburg SV and Werder Bremen stayed on course for an all-German UEFA Cup semi-final clash with 3-1 victories over Manchester City and Udinese respectively in their quarter-final, first legs on Thursday. Shakhtar Donetsk beat visitors Olympique Marseille 2-0 while Dynamo Kiev drew at Paris St Germain in a lacklustre goalless affair leaving open the possibility of a Ukrainian semi-final if the French clubs fail to put in improved performances.
David Beckham's decision to spurn lucrative club offers in Europe and return to the LA Galaxy on a fresh two-year contract was an easy one to make, the former England captain said on Thursday.
Paris St. Germain's unbeaten start to their Ligue 1 season continued on Friday with a comfortable 3-1 win over Rennes at the Parc des Princes that saw Bradley Barcola score twice to keep them top of the standings.
Schalke 04, Lokomotiv Moscow and Stoke City sealed places in the last 32 of the Europa League but a 2-0 defeat at Salzburg left Paris St Germain coach Antoine Kombouare looking over his shoulder on Thursday.
Premier League champions Manchester City were drawn on Thursday with Juventus, Wydad AC and Al Ain in Group G for next year's FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
Argentina skipper Lionel Messi has said that "in principle" last year's World Cup would be his fifth and final appearance.
Messi announced to take his talents to South Beach after his contract with PSG expires at the end of this month.
Monaco beat Paris St Germain 2-0 and they are now third in the standings with 42 points from 23 games.
Bayer Leverkusen beat Freiburg 3-2 to edge closer to a first ever Bundesliga title.
Spanish media reports said Ronaldinho was due to arrive in Spain later on Saturday to close the deal.
Manchester United were mistakenly drawn with Villarreal, even though both teams faced each other in the group stage while the Premier League side's ball was not added to the bowl as a potential opponent for Atletico Madrid.
IMAGES from matches played across European leagues on Saturday
Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic escaped a ban on Thursday for mimicking pointing a gun at the opposition bench in a Ligue 1 game against Toulouse last month.
Olympique Marseille and Paris St Germain supporters clashed on Sunday after their Ligue 1 game was postponed and the whole PSG team quarantined when three players were diagnosed with H1N1 flu.
Modest Braga, who have never won a Portuguese league title, stunned five-times European champions Liverpool 1-0 with a first-half penalty in the Europa League on Thursday.
The message of support from Newell's was posted on social media hours before Saturday's home game against Barracas Central in the Argentine league.
France teenage sensation Mbappe joins PSG from Monaco
Arsenal were 2-1 winners over Paris St Germain and Valencia beat Inter Milan 2-0 on the first day of the pre-season Emirates Cup tournament on Saturday.
Olympique Lyon's hopes of clinching an eighth consecutive Ligue 1 title suffered another blow when they were held to a goalless draw at home to Paris St Germain on Friday.
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said the German champions would never spend anywhere near the 222 million euros ($261 million) that Paris St Germain paid for Brazilian forward Neymar this month, saying he would prefer a stadium with that money.
The French taxman is delighted about the prospect of Brazilian soccer star Neymar joining Paris St Germain, the minister in charge of France's public accounts said on Thursday.
'I am not going to try and set up any particular tactical plan to counter Kylian'
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Twice UEFA Cup winners Sevilla failed to reach the knockout phase after a 1-0 defeat at Sampdoria eliminated the Spaniards. Sampdoria's victory sent them through from Group C along with VfB Stuttgart, who thumped Standard Liege 3-0 to progress to Friday's last 32 draw. Paris St Germain, twice winners Tottenham Hotspur, NEC Nijmegen and Olympiakos Piraeus also sealed places in the first knockout round.
France and Spain will step up security ahead of the Champions League quarter-finals in Madrid and Paris on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, top officials said, as Islamic State threats cast a shadow over Europe's top club soccer tournament.
Nine players from the Premier League have been called up including Ruben Dias, Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Diogo Jota. Goncalo Inacio is the only Sporting player in the squad.
Paris St Germain coach Laurent Blanc admitted it would be hard to play football when they visit Lorient in Ligue 1 on Saturday eight days after the deadly attacks in Paris.
A summary of the concluding day's action in the German Cup, French Cup and La Liga.
