FA Cup winners Arsenal beat champions Chelsea 1-0 in England's Community Shield season curtain-raiser at Wembley on Sunday to end a long wait for victory over their London rivals.
Didier Deschamps is confident he has prepared his players for any tactical surprises his opposite number Roberto Martinez might spring
Chelsea's Jose Mourinho and his old friend Louis van Gaal of Manchester United had different reasons to be satisfied with a point after their teams drew 1-1 in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur gained a slender advantage in their League Cup semi-final against London rivals Chelsea as Harry Kane's penalty earned them a gritty 1-0 first-leg win.
It took a great escape in injury time to get there after being two goals down to Japan, but Belgium can now view their quarter-final against Brazil free of the weight of expectation.
Belgium go into Monday's World Cup last 16 match against Japan full of confidence but wary that relying on individual talent against similarly well-organised but less fancied teams has cost them dear in the past.
England and Belgium face a World Cup conundrum ahead of Thursday's crunch in Kaliningrad
Chelsea moved within three points of clinching the Premier League title with a 3-0 victory that condemned Middlesbrough to relegation on Monday after goals from Spaniards Diego Costa and Marcos Alonso plus a tap-in by Nemanja Matic.
Images from Europa and Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Eden Hazard expects to enjoy playing with greater freedom and less pressure on his shoulders this season as Premier League leaders Chelsea demonstrate their strength in depth by challenging for four trophies, including the Champions League.
Chelsea goalscorer Willian said they must go on the attack against Barcelona at the Nou Camp next month to have any chance of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.
Marouane Fellaini played chief tormentor as France suffered a 4-3 home defeat in a home friendly against Belgium on Sunday.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has no plans to let any of his English Premier League title-winning squad depart Stamford Bridge in the close season.
Daryl Janmaat, Gerard Deulofeu and Roberto Pereyra all scored late on in response to Eden Hazard dragging Chelsea back into the game with a curler in the 82nd minute after Tiemoue Bakayoko was sent off for a second booking on the half-hour.
Jose Mourinho will receive a third Premier League winners' medal on Sunday but the Chelsea manager is not feeling so charitable this time .
Brazil midfielder Casemiro stretched Real's advantage right before halftime with a gut-busting run to meet a cross from compatriot Vinicius, but Levante hit back shortly after the interval through former Madrid forward Borja Mayoral.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
A summary of Sunday's Premier League matches.
Images from the World Cup qualifying matches played on Wednesday night.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Zinedine Zidane has said his side are in a delicate situation as they prepare to host arch-rivals Barcelona in a La Liga title showdown on Sunday
Chelsea banished any fears of a repeat of last season's shock FA Cup fourth-round exit to Bradford City when they crushed Championship (second-tier) side Milton Keynes Dons 5-1 away to reach the fifth round on Sunday.
Diego Costa scored twice but could not prevent Chelsea losing their 100 percent Premier League record in a controversial 2-2 draw at Swansea on Sunday.
Such is the level of consistency of Manchester City (nine straight wins) and Liverpool (five straight victories), that it can be easy to lose sight of just how good this title race is.
Rewind five years and Liverpool hosted Chelsea with three games remaining, knowing victory would have left them six points clear and a first league title since 1990 almost secure.
A summary of Thursday's matches in the English Premier League.
Guus Hiddink is set to take over as Chelsea manager until the end of the season.
Premier League leaders Chelsea moved 10 points clear at the top on Sunday despite being held by Burnley in an entertaining game played amid flurries of sleet and snow.
Tottenham Hotspur have shown impressive durability in the Premier League lately, but they will need to be at their most steadfast to deny champions and league leaders Manchester City who travel to Wembley on Monday.
The 25-year-old Mata struggled for game time this season under Jose Mourinho, with Chelsea's manager preferring an attacking midfield trio comprising Brazilian internationals Oscar and Willian and Belgium winger Eden Hazard.
Defensive errors were again a common occurrence in the Arsenal backline, but Fiorentina failed to take advantage.
Germany defender Nico Schulz scored a late winner as their new-look side snatched a 3-2 win away to the Netherlands in their opening Euro 2020 Group C qualifier on Sunday, an absorbing clash that swung in fortunes from one side to the other.
Arsenal missed the chance to heighten the congestion at the top of the Premier League and suffered fresh injury blows when a frustrating 1-1 draw at Norwich City failed to take them alongside leaders Manchester City and Leicester City on Sunday.
IMAGES from the EPL match played between Chelsea and West Brom at Stamford Bridge in London on Monday
Tottenham Hotspur's hopes of a first victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 26 years disappeared as a 2-2 draw left Leicester City celebrating the Premier League title on Monday.
ManchesterCity moved up to third in the Premier League on Saturday while Newcastle United boosted their hopes of survival by coming back from two goals down at Liverpool to draw 2-2 and secure a precious point.
The 24-year-old has scored three league goals already and Shevchenko, who never replicated his superb goalscoring record for AC Milan in three subsequent years at Chelsea, believes there is much more to come from the Spaniard.
Chelsea beat Arsenal 3-2 in a pulsating London English Premier League derby on Saturday with defender Marcos Alonso scoring an 81st-minute winner after the Gunners had fought back from an early 2-0 deficit.
Liverpool beat Leicester City 2-1 to post a fourth successive Premier League victory but conceded their first goal of the season after a nightmare mistake by new keeper Alisson.
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