Barcelona's Lionel Messi rescued a 1-1 draw at Villarreal with a sensational late free-kick on Sunday but could not prevent the champions finishing the weekend third in La Liga, five points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Three time European champions Inter Milan were stunned 2-0 at home by Israeli side Hapoel Beer-Sheva and Manchester United were floored by a late goal from Feyenoord as the Europa League group stage got underway on Thursday.
Leicester's Mahrez finds form in time for January sales
A round-up of all football-related news...
Manchester United humbled Manchester City 4-2 in the continent's big derby of the weekend.
Napoli's decision to loan Emanuele Calaio to Genoa came back to haunt them on Monday when the 32-year-old scored with a late free kick in a 1-1 Serie A draw costing his owners two points in the race for a Champions League spot.
Carlos Tevez scored a stunning goal as Serie A leaders Juventus beat Torino 1-0 on Sunday to continue an extraordinary dominance of their neighbours.
A Neymar double and a clinical finish from Luis Suarez handed Barcelona a comfortable 3-0 victory over BATE Borisov that put them on the verge of qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League for the 12th consecutive season.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Real Madrid lifted the FIFA Club World Cup for a record fourth time on Saturday after thrashing local side Al Ain 4-1 in the final in Abu Dhabi with the help of impressive distance strikes in either half from midfielders Luka Modric and Marcos Llorente.
The last-16 knock-out round kicks-off this week with Chelsea visiting Paris on Tuesday; Zidane to coach Real Madrid as manager in his first match in Europe
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field on Saturday
Parma's Antonio Cassano grabbed his 100th Serie A goal with a stunning volley in a 1-1 draw at home to 10-man Bologna while Genoa's Davide Biondini secured the same result in an equally enthralling clash with Torino on Saturday.
FIFA's Task Force for Women's Football has called for a target of 30 percent women's participation in the governing body's leading structures and top jobs, FIFA said on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester City have signed French central defender Aymeric Laporte from Spanish club Athletic Bilbao, the Premier League leaders said on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Everyone at Manchester City is flying high after the 1-0 derby win over Manchester United at the weekend but they could all come crashing back to earth after Wednesday's meeting with CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.
Arturo Vidal's double helped Juventus to their 12th straight league win with a 4-2 triumph over Sampdoria and saw the Italian champions restore an eight-point lead at the top of Serie A.
An insatiable Lionel Messi scored for the eighth game in a row in all competitions as La Liga champions Barcelona saw off a gutsy Girona side 2-0 to go five points clear at the top of the standings.
Carlos Tevez scored twice to give Serie A leaders Juventus a 3-2 win over Fiorentina on Wednesday but Lazio prevented them from celebrating the title by thumping bottom club Parma 4-0, which condemned their opponents to Serie B.
Juventus striker Carlos Tevez struck to give the Serie A champions a 1-0 win over AC Milan on Saturday, handing coach Massimiliano Allegri a winning return to San Siro where he was shown the door eight months ago.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Zlatan Ibrahimovic bagging four goals, while Juventus and Bayern Munich preserved their leads and FA Cup holders Arsenal were dumped out of the competition.
One of the most disappointing aspects of Barcelona's failure to win major silverware last season was the lack of on-field chemistry between Lionel Messi and Neymar.
AC Milan clung on to beat Parma 5-4 away in Serie A on Sunday despite an dreadful defensive display which included Mattia De Sciglio scoring an extraordinary own goal from near the halfway line late in the match.
Juventus defeated second-placed Lazio 2-0 at home on Saturday to take another huge step towards their fourth straight Serie A title and boost their confidence for Wednesday's crunch Champions League clash in Monaco.
Lionel Messi came off the bench to inspire Barcelona to a 3-1 win over a dogged Leganes side on Sunday, creating one goal and scoring another to keep the Catalans five points clear at the top of La Liga.
Napoli put a foot in the Europa League semi-finals with a perfectly crafted 4-1 win at VfL Wolfsburg on Thursday as Marek Hamsik scored twice in an Italian masterclass to bring cheer to beleaguered coach Rafael Benitez.
AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani is to quit after 27 years at the Serie A club, he told the ANSA news agency on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Two late goals in two minutes from Sergi Roberto and Luis Suarez gave European champions Barcelona a dramatic 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Atletico Madrid were handed a chance to avenge last season's Champions League final defeat by city rivals and record 10-times winners Real after the two sides were drawn together in the last eight on Friday. Paris St Germain and Barcelona were paired together having met in the group stage, with the French side winning in Paris and the Catalans coming out on top in Spain.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Denmark international Christian Eriksen showed that Tottenham Hotspur still have plenty to look forward to following the sale of Gareth Bale with a hugely impressive debut in their 2-0 win over Norwich City in the Premier League on Saturday.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas said the club could fine forward Gareth Bale for failing to attend training ahead of an expected world record "dream" move to Real Madrid. Bale, who has not been training with the squad due to injury, was granted three days off but did not report back to the club on Tuesday despite being pictured in London.
Images from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday
Factbox on the Real Madrid and Portugal forward who was voted FIFA Player of the Year on Monday.
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