Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyonnais were knocked out of the French Cup 3-2 at Nantes on Tuesday with Vincent Bessat grabbing a hat-trick in the last-32 game on a night of upsets.
Paris St Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic was again in a class of his own as the striker's hat-trick earned a 3-1 win against Nice and a four-point lead in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
La Liga champions Barcelona began the new campaign with a 3-0 win over Alaves on Saturday with the help of a spectacular under-the-wall free kick from Lionel Messi, who scored twice, and a curling shot from substitute Philippe Coutinho.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Paris St Germain took a big step towards the Ligue 1 title when Edinson Cavani's hat-trick inspired them.
Neymar lived up to expectations as he showed his class on his Ligue 1 debut on Sunday, scoring one and setting up another goal in Paris St Germain's 3-0 win at En Avant Guingamp.
Two goals in three minutes earned Paris St Germain a 3-2 win at bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille as the French champions regained the Ligue 1 lead on Sunday.
Javier Pastore and Edinson Cavani scored late as Paris St Germain ignored their fans' boos and recovered from a shaky start to beat visiting strugglers Evian Thonon Gaillard 4-2 on Sunday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday.
La Liga leaders Barcelona handed Real Madrid more hope in the title race as they drew 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, only avoiding defeat thanks to some outstanding saves by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Paris St Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his first Ligue 1 goal this season before missing a penalty as they beat En Avant Guingamp 3-0 to extend their lead to four points on Tuesday.
Barcelona look well set to wrap up the La Liga title.
European heavyweights Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain all maintained their leads and Benfica toppled Sporting Lisbon.
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.
Chelsea returned to their early-season form to open up a five-point lead in the Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continued to make mincemeat of La Liga defences and Juventus extended their lead in Serie A. In France, Olympique Lyonnais retained top spot with a 2-0 win at RC Lens.
Manchester United dropped further down the table after losing 5-3 against newcomers Leicester City. Barcelona and Real Madrid scored 13 goals between them during a memorable La Liga weekend, when Cristiano Ronaldo netted a hat-trick.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field