Barcelona's Lionel Messi hit his 400th career goal for the La Liga leaders.
The question is whether Manchester City can combine a gradual freshening up of their squad at the same time as they fight on the domestic and international front for trophies.
The 'Noodle' has broken again with Angel Di Maria injured during a third consecutive major tournament playing for Argentina at the end of a busy club season.
Lionel Messi is back in the Argentina squad for next month's World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Colombia after missing the last three due to injury in which his team have dropped seven points. Messi was named on Friday in coach Edgardo Bauza's 26-man squad and will captain Argentina away to arch-rivals Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Nov. 10 and at home against Colombia in San Juan five days later. Argentina have slipped down the South American group standings to fifth after a shock 1-0 home defeat by Paraguay and 2-2 draws with Peru and Venezuela, all without Messi.
Valencia lost ground in the battle with Atletico Madrid and Sevilla for third place in La Liga when they conceded a late Aritz Aduriz equaliser in a bad-tempered 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.
David Silva scored a late goal as runaway leaders Manchester City won their 13th successive Premier League game and restored their eight-point lead with a 2-1 victory against West Ham United on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid failed to build on Wednesday's notable Champions League success against Juventus when they were beaten 3-1 at a resurgent Valencia in La Liga on Saturday.
Higuain had a disappointing Copa America tournament in July, scoring two goals during the competition and missing his spot kick as Argentina lost on penalties to Chile in the final.
The current generation of Argentina players is one of the best ever even though the team have not won a major trophy in 22 years, coach Gerardo Martino said on Friday.
In the week of his 31st birthday, Messi was again a largely anonymous figure as they lost 4-3 to France in a thrilling last-16 match in Kazan.
From bloody noses to sparks on the race track, Rediff.com has the best pictures from the last week snapped right here...
Real Madrid's Spanish record 22-match winning streak ended in a 2-1 La Liga defeat at Valencia on Sunday with Nicolas Otamendi heading in the second-half winner.
Manchester won the English Premier League, the English League Cup and FA Cup this season
Last term, stung by City's woeful performance the previous season in a 3-0 Champions League loss at Anfield, Guardiola adopted a cautious approach in a goalless draw.
Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp has beaten Manchester United only twice in his career and never at Old Trafford -- his worst record against any Premier League side.
Manchester City to beat second-tier Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 and reach the FA Cup quarter-finals but Jose Mourinho's problems piled up as his Tottenham Hotspur side were bundled out in a penalty shootout by Norwich City.
Manchester City had to come from behind to hold Liverpool 1-1 as both teams lost ground in the Premier League following victories for Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
Coach Gerardo Martino believes Argentina can improve on Tuesday's 6-1 Copa America semi-final demolition of Paraguay, adding that aspects of the goalless draw against Colombia in the previous round had pleased him more.
Four years after his miss in a penalty shootout sent Argentina spinning out of the Copa America, Carlos Tevez slammed home the winning spot kick against Colombia to book his country's place in this year's semi-finals.
Lionel Messi came off the bench to score a hat-trick in just 18 minutes on Friday as Argentina hammered Panama 5-0 and eased into the quarter-finals of the Copa America.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester City failed to fire in a frustrating 0-0 home draw with StokeCity on Wednesday that dealt a damaging blow to their Premier League title hopes and left them 10 points adrift of leaders Chelsea.
A bullet header from Nicolas Otamendi put Valencia on course for a 3-1 victory over Eibar in La Liga on Sunday that boosted their hopes of claiming a Champions League place.
The FIFA 2022 World Cup will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday, November 20. Here is a list of the 26-man squads playing in the quadrennial global football extravaganza.
Sergio Aguero struck twice as Manchester City moved into second place in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Liverpool, with a 3-1 win at Bournemouth on Sunday. Just three weeks into the new season and last year's top two clubs are already perched at the top of the table.
Images from the English Premier League matches played across England on Sunday.
Five talking points from the Premier League weekend:
The 28-year-old, who joined Arsenal in 2006, scored 108 goals in 397 appearances but has struggled to hold down a first-team place this season under manager Arsene Wenger.
Talking points from this weekend's Premier League action as top two Manchester City and Liverpool both won with City remaining a point clear with two games remaining.
'We can work and fight for it' 'Yes, they had much more of the ball. Yes, they had that apparent control of the game but the biggest save is the double save of their goalkeeper and the biggest decision of the game is the unlucky decision of Michael (Oliver)'
City were not at their all-action best early on as Burnley looked comfortable at the back, but the game turned on a penalty decision that incensed the visitors when Bernardo Silva was adjudged to have been brought down by Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope just before the half hour.
Liverpool were sent spinning to a 2-0 defeat at promoted Burnley in the English Premier League on Saturday while Chelsea came from behind to win 2-1 at Watford thanks to late goals from Michy Batshuayi and Diego Costa.
Seconds after Bournemouth had a chance to snatch victory the ball went back down the other end and Sterling's deflected shot looped past helpless Bournemouth keeper Asmir Begovic.
It was not so much the maths, though Liverpool's nine-point advantage over defending champions City, with one point less over Leicester City and Chelsea, is a significant gap, especially as Juergen Klopp's side have lost one league game in 18 months.
Argentina captain Lionel Messi pulled his side level in the 57th minute after a handball by Paraguay's Ivan Peris which no-one on the pitch appealed for but was spotted by a VAR review.
The Senegal international, 26, joined Liverpool from Southampton in 2016 for 34 million pounds ($43.8 million) and has scored 40 goals in 89 games for the Anfield club.
Manchester City moved within touching distance of a first appearance in the Champions League quarter-finals after a dynamic first-half display at Dynamo Kiev helped them secure a 3-1 last-16 first-leg win
Liverpool took a giant step towards their first title since 1990 on Saturday when their 3-0 win at Bournemouth combined with Manchester United's 2-1 victory at Manchester City to leave the champions 14 points adrift of the Premier League leaders.
Manchester City came out on top in an epic Champions League battle against Monaco as late goals by John Stones and Leroy Sane secured a 5-3 victory in a last 16 first-leg thriller on Tuesday that had goals galore and a missed penalty.
'It's not easy to handle a team at a big, big club... always demanding to win competitions and every manager needs time. I have the feeling United started to play the way he wants'
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