Real were smarting from a surprise 1-1 draw at struggling Elche in their last match and were missing captain Sergio Ramos, who was out with a stomach bug.
ManchesterCity manager Manuel Pellegrini walked straight down the players' tunnel without shaking hands with counterpart Jose Mourinho after Chelsea snatched a 90th-minute winner on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho's long-running feud with Arsenal's Arsene Wenger continued on Friday when the Chelsea boss said there was one exception in English football to the rules applying to every other manager.
Arsenal's new manager Unai Emery faces a baptism of fire after the Gunners were handed an opening day fixture at home to Premier League champions Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola is a 'proven winner' who will take Manchester City to a 'whole new level', the Premier League club's chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has said.
Manchester City rediscovered their swagger to beat Chelsea 2-0 and move into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Saturday, Manuel Pellegrini winning the battle of tactical wits against Jose Mourinho.
Leaders Liverpool faltered in the English Premier League title race for the second time in six days as they were held to a 1-1 draw at West Ham United.
Jose Mourinho's delight at Manchester United's progress to the last 16 of the Europa League has been tempered by the timing of their FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea, with the manager criticising the tie being scheduled for a Monday.
Manchester City keeper Willy Caballero's penalty shootout heroics sealed a League Cup final win against Liverpool.
Manchester United's current malaise was laid bare as they struggled past third-tier Rochdale 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the League Cup third round.
'Critics will always appear because people don't like it when the same people win all the time, but I'm sure Pep is going to win'
Several Manchester United players are in the 'red zone' according to manager Louis van Gaal as he weighs up his options for Saturday's FA Cup third round tie at home to Sheffield United. A hectic holiday programme, including four games in 15 days, has taken its toll on United's squad and Van Gaal fears that many of his over-stretched players risk injury or burnout. Defender Phil Jones is ruled out through injury while winger Ashley Young might not be risked with United set to face a Premier League clash at Newcastle United three days after playing third tier Sheffield United.
Manchester City marched into the quarter-finals of the Champions League
Pep Guardiola to be a hard task master who will extract the best out of a side that has shone domestically but struggled against Europe's elite.
Barring a monumental collapse Manchester City will win at least two trophies this season, but former England captain Alan Shearer believes European bragging rights are what the club's Abu Dhabi owners crave most.
Argentina striker Sergio Aguero said on Thursday that he will leave ManchesterCity to return home to his first club Independiente after his contract expires following the 2018 World Cup.
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola praised Sergio Aguero's natural goalscoring ability after his hat-trick on Wednesday helped defeat Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0 in their opening Champions League Group C match at the Etihad Stadium.
Carlo Ancelotti says he would like to return to England's Premier League but the Italian manager with one of the most garlanded records in world football is not interested in taking any new job this season.
Chelsea's Spanish striker Diego Costa was named along with usual suspects Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 23- man FIFA Ballon D'Or short-list released on Tuesday.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho will not stoke his rivalry with fellow new recruit Pep Guardiola at Manchester City next season because it could damage his team's Premier League title hopes.
Here is a summary of stories from the English Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur fluffed their last-day lines with a 5-1 defeat at relegated, 10-man Newcastle United that left them third in the Premier League behind bitter north London rivals Arsenal.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes tiredness was behind their 3-0 defeat by Liverpool on Wednesday after a third successive Premier League loss put a hefty dent in their faltering title hopes.
Manchester City made the most of a case of mistaken identity and kept alive their faint title hopes thanks to a much-needed 3-0 victory over 10-man West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Saturday.
It was not a day for FA Cup romantics as Manchester United scrambled past Sheffield United and minor league Eastleigh came within a whisker of causing the third round's only genuine shock.
Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure will not play for Manchester City again until the Premier League club receive an apology for comments made by his agent, manager Pep Guardiola said on Tuesday. "He must apologise. If he doesn't, he won't play," Guardiola told reporters. The 33-year-old player's agent Dimitri Seluk, who had said Toure felt "humiliated" after being left out of City's Champions League squad, hit back in similarly uncompromising fashion.
Three matches into the Premier League season following a stunning title success by 5,000-1 outsiders LeicesterCity, the table already has a more familiar look.
New Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has no intention of ditching the methods that brought him success in Spain and Germany and wants to prove it is possible to win in the Premier League by playing attractive football. Guardiola won two Champions League trophies, three La Liga titles and two King's Cup crowns as Barcelona coach before two domestic doubles followed at Bayern Munich.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has apologised for shoving his Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho on the touchline during a Premier League match at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea forward Pedro fears Pep Guardiola, his former coach at Barcelona, could be in for a rude awakening at Manchester City next season.
United beat Leicester City at Old Trafford in the opening game of the season but Spurs present a very different quality of opponent.
Real Madrid are hoping the fit-again Cristiano Ronaldo can lead them into the Champions League final although strike partner Karim Benzema remains a doubt for Wednesday's return match with Manchester City.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Wednesday
Manchester City are about to find out whether Raheem Sterling has the ability to justify his enormous price tag or is just another over-rated young English footballer motivated purely by his bank balance.
Zinedine Zidane overcame the biggest challenge of his fledgling coaching career as Real Madrid brushed aside VfL Wolfsburg to overturn a first-leg deficit and reach the Champions League semi-finals.
'I selected the team, I selected the strategy and I am as disappointed as the players, but the buck stops with me.'
Manchester City look to take an important step in their transformation into one of the world's leading clubs on Tuesday by reaching the Champions League semi-finals for the first time.
It is time to deliver for Paris St Germain and Manchester City as the two mega-rich teams prepare to lock horns in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
Chelsea's on-loan Brazilian international Alexandre Pato scored on his debut to help push pathetic Aston Villa to the verge of inevitable relegation with a seventh successive Premier League defeat on Saturday. Pato, the former Milan starlet who has been kicking his heels since joining from Corinthians two months ago, came on as a 25th-minute substitute and was immediately involved in the move which led to Ruben Loftus-Cheek netting his first league goal.
Arsenal can win the Premier League title this season if they can continue playing the type of game they did during Monday night's 2-1 win over Manchester City, midfielder Mesut Ozil has said.