News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
The Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez double act struck again on Sunday with both players scoring to give Juventus a 2-0 win at AC Milan which strengthened their grip on Serie A.
Juventus made light work of bitter rivals Inter Milan on Sunday, winning 3-1 to increase their Serie A lead to nine points after AS Roma were washed out and Napoli blundered to a 3-0 defeat at Atalanta.
German champions Bayern Munich are close to signing former World and European champion Xabi Alonso from Champions League winners Real Madrid.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Ten of the 16 sides also reached the same round two seasons ago and, as usual, the big five leagues dominate with 13 clubs hailing from either the English, Spanish, German, French and Italian leagues.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Football's winter transfer window closed on February 1, and, surprisingly, none of Europe's biggies made even a slight move, let alone sign a player.
In England, the celebrations went on at Leicester City as they marked their fairytale Premier League success with another win while champions Juventus' long unbeaten streak in Italy came to an end.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Bayern Munich put upstarts RB Leipzig firmly in their place by sweeping to an emphatic 3-0 home win, with all the goals coming in the first half, in a disappointingly one-sided top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash on Wednesday.
The three teams with 100 percent records in this season's Champions League can secure their places in the knockout stage this week with two games to spare.
Barcelona lost for the second straight La Liga game in a 1-0 home reverse against Celta Vigo but there was no such trouble for Manchester City, who beat 10-man Manchester United 1-0 thanks to Sergio Aguero.
Chelsea moved within touching distance of a first Premier League title in five years with a 1-0 win over Manchester United while Lionel Messi reached a landmark with his 400th career goal for La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Barcelona are still trying to lure Paris St Germain centre back Thiago Silva to the Nou Camp but will look elsewhere if they fail to snare the Brazil international, coach Tito Vilanova said on Tuesday.
Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain again showed his killer instinct with two expertly-taken goals in a late 3-1 win at Torino after their less illustrious neighbours had scored first and dominated the Serie A game on Sunday.
Diego Costa continued his rich vein of form as he helped leaders Chelsea to a 3-0 win over Aston Villa while Louis van Gaal enjoyed only his second Premier League win as Manchester United manager following a 2-1 victory against West Ham.
La Liga champions Real Madrid beat Getafe 3-1 on Saturday with a goal from Gareth Bale and two strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo to go 12 points behind leaders Barcelona and warm up for next week's Champions League game at Paris St Germain.
Rising Indian midfielder Manpreet Singh was named the 'Junior Player of the Year' by the Asian Hockey Federation in its Congress held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Check out the top footballers of the weekend.
Real Madrid were the big winners in Spain as their success at Almeria was followed by a Barcelona draw and a surprise Atletico Madrid defeat.
Chelsea's unbeaten start to the season ended with a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United; Champions Manchester City took full advantage of Chelsea's surprise reverse to cut the gap at the top.
Football news from Ligue 1, Bundesliga and La liga.
AS Roma coach Rudi Garcia succeeded where his three predecessors failed by taking his team to a 2-0 win over arch-rivals Lazio on Sunday and maintaining their 100 percent record in Serie A alongside Napoli who won 2-1 at AC Milan.
Barcelona must to wait to confirm a place in the Champions League last 16 after dropping points for the first time in Group D in an absorbing 0-0 draw at Olympiakos Piraeus on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his first five-goal haul in Real Madrid's 9-1 hammering of Granada while title-chasing Bayern Munich and Chelsea won again in Germany and England.
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved a penalty and Andrea Pirlo curled in a trademark free kick late in the game to give the Serie A leaders a dramatic 1-0 win at Genoa on Sunday.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid were thumped 4-0 away by city rivals Atletico Madrid to open up the Spanish title race, while Chelsea strengthened their hold on top spot in the English Premier League after a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.
An inexperienced Germany suffered an embarrassing 3-1 defeat to Slovakia in a storm-affected friendly ahead of Euro 2016.
Napoli kept their hopes of a first Serie A title since 1990 alive with an epic 4-2 win over 10-man Inter Milan after a Carlos Tevez hat-trick had put leaders Juventus six points clear with a 4-0 rout of Sassuolo on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur's Erik Lamela scored a stunning 'rabona' goal to light up Thursday's Europa League ties, wrapping his left boot round the back of his right leg 20 metres out and blasting the ball into the top corner.
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
Leaders Chelsea have seen their lead reduced to just three points after a shock defeat, and a revival from defending champions Manchester City. Manchester United are back in third after a run of five straight wins. If Chelsea slip agains, City continue to pile on the pressure and United keep the winning momentum it will make EPL battle further interesting.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Reigning French Open champion Maria Sharapova, former world number one Venus Williams and Australian Samantha Stosur sailed into the second round of the China Open with straight set victories on Sunday.
With eight teams remaining at Euro 2016, a guide to the form of the quarter-finalists, looking at their strengths and weaknesses.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday.