Diego Costa has turned into a pale imitation of the player who took the Premier League by storm last year and Chelsea must get him firing on all cylinders again to have any hope of salvaging their wretched season.
Real Madrid swatted aside Granada 4-1 on Thursday to ensure the La Liga title race will go down to the wire.
A stoppage-time goal from Martin de Roon earned Middlesbrough an unlikely 1-1 draw at Premier League leaders Manchester City on Saturday.
Real's Cristiano Ronaldo will be going in search of his third consecutive World Player of the Year award
Chelsea enjoyed a somewhat fortuitous return to winning ways when they beat Aston Villa on Saturday but their fragile self-confidence will face a far more severe test at Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Valencia forward Carlos Soler scored a hat-trick of penalties as his side beat La Liga champions Real Madrid 4-1 at home in an extraordinary match on Sunday.
Hazard extra-time goal sends 10-man Real Madrid through to Copa del Rey final.
Manchester United have bid 35 million pounds for Chelsea playmaker Juan Mata, British media reported on Wednesday.
Costa, the Premier League's leading scorer with 14 goals, will miss Saturday's game following a disagreement with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte and a club fitness coach Julio Tous, the reports say.
Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante was named Player of the Year by the Premier League on Sunday, adding a third individual accolade to a list of achievements this season that includes winning a second consecutive Premier League title.
Robin Van Persie scored a dramatic stoppage time equaliser to earn Manchester United a deserved 1-1 draw at home to Premier League leaders Chelsea on Sunday.
A Sergio Aguero hat-trick helped Manchester City get back to winning ways in the Premier League with a 3-1 victory over Newcastle United, as they stayed 12 points ahead of Manchester United who had to dig deep to secure a 1-0 win at Burnley.
PSG made hard work of beating Strasbourg 4-2 in the French Ligue 1, while Real Madrid registered a comfortable 4-1 win away to Alaves in their opening game.
Brussels commuters, heading to work the morning after Belgium's painful World Cup loss to France, had to endure the French soccer anthem piped through the city's metro on Wednesday.
Martinez's team face the 1998 World Cup winners in St Petersburg on Tuesday for a place in the final
Maturing France must stifle Lukaku and Hazard, says Varane
Brazil's Willian told reporters he will be doing everything he can to send his team mate Eden Hazard home early from Russia.
Images from the English Premier League London derby played between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates on Wednesday
Wales are happy to cast themselves as underdogs in their Euro 2016 quarter-final against Belgium on Friday but such modesty belies their proven ability to bite hard.
Their skills are impressive on the field, and their looks easy on the eyes.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho gave himself the credit as his substitutions paid off with Eden Hazard and Willian scoring late to grab a 3-1 win at Norwich City in the Premier League on Sunday.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte reiterated his commitment to the Premier League leaders on Friday, following media reports that he was finding hard to adjust to life in England without his family.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
A flash of attacking brilliance from Olivier Giroud and an emphatic header from substitute Alvaro Morata earned Chelsea a 2-0 win over struggling Southampton
As the tournament gets to the next round here's look at the quarter-finalists.
Chelsea forward Eden Hazard expects ManchesterCity and Liverpool to be the London side's main rivals in the Premier League title race after the top three sides all enjoyed victories on the weekend.
Chelsea scored a second successive win over a newly-promoted side when they beat Leicester City 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday thanks to second-half goals from Diego Costa and Eden Hazard.
The Belgian forward came off the bench to make his Real debut in Saturday's 3-2 win over Levante, having had his start to life at the club hit by a thigh injury the day before the La Liga season began.
A round-up of Saturday's qualifying matches for the Euro 2020 Finals.
Aguero is expected to be the first of a number of arrivals at the Camp Nou this summer
Belgium's creativity and power proved too much for World Cup debutants Panama as the Group G favourites overcame the heroics of goalkeeper Jaime Penedo and a massed defence to run out 3-0 winners on Monday.
Brazil have conceded only one goal in this World Cup, the equal most stingy rearguard along with Uruguay, and allowed only five shots on target in four games, the fewest of any side.
Dries Mertens and Michy Batshuayi were also on target for Belgium while Eden Hazard impressed with creativity and speed for the hosts, who start their World Cup campaign on Monday against Panama in Sochi.
Players from European champions Barcelona made up nearly half of UEFA's Team of the Year which was revealed on Friday, while Cristiano Ronaldo made the lineup for a record 10th time. Eight players from La Liga were included in the final XI, voted for by 7.2 million UEFA.com users from a 40-strong shortlist. Lionel Messi, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Neymar were the Barcelona players included, while Real Madrid provided Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and James Rodriguez.
FIFA say managers cannot dictate to doctors over injuries.
Chelsea had the look of champions again as they maintained their comfortable seven-point advantage at the top of the Premier League with a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth on Saturday -- but Tottenham Hotspur will not give up the chase.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte gave short shrift to media reports linking him with a move away from the English Premier League leaders and said he was eager to build "something important" at Stamford Bridge.
Italy were clinical in their approach as they beat Belgium 2-0 in their Euro 2016 Group E encounter on Monday.
Belgium will boast the most valuable squad at Euro 2016, with their 23 players worth over 50 million pounds ($72.54 million) more than world champions Germany, according to a study. Marc Wilmots's squad are worth 318.9 million pounds, according to an analysis by bookmakers Profit Accumulator, which looked at the most recent transfer fees paid for the 23 players representing each nation at the tournament in France. That puts Belgium well ahead of the next most valuable squads from Germany (264.5 million), England (189.7m) and France (183m). Belgium's squad have an average transfer fee of 13.9 million pounds, with Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne topping the list having joined the English club for 55 million.
