De Rossi, who turned 36 on Wednesday, led Roma for the final time in a 2-1 victory over Parma at the Stadio Olimpico in May and finished his stint in the Italian capital with 616 appearances in 18 years.
Real Madrid dropped points for the third time in seven games since Zinedine Zidane's return as they were held to a 0-0 draw away to Getafe in La Liga on Thursday, which harmed their neighbours' hopes of a top-four finish.
Fernando Torres stole the show with a dramatic double as Atletico Madrid secured a battling 2-2 draw at Real Madrid on Thursday that dumped the holders out of the King's Cup 4-2 on aggregate.
Real Madrid's 5-0 thrashing of Granada on Saturday equalled a Spanish record of 39 games unbeaten in all competitions. Reuters Sport takes a look at the factors behind their run.
Midfielder Dani Ceballos added: "It looks like us changing our coach worked. We have recovered some sensations we had lost and we have got the three points. Now our objective is to win all the games left and finish the season as well as possible."
Atletico Madrid maintained a two-point lead in La Liga with a 3-0 victory at Las Palmas and Barcelona and Real Madrid stayed hard on their heels with thumping wins over Athletic Bilbao and Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
While Gareth Bale is fully expected to regain his place in the Real Madrid side when he returns from injury, team mate Isco is making the most of his chance to prove his worth on the pitch.
Real Madrid have sacked coach Rafa Benitez after less than half a season in charge and promoted their former France great Zinedine Zidane from the B team to replace him, president Florentino Perez said on Monday.
Real Madrid's La Liga title bid took a dent after Zinedine Zidane's leaders were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Celta Vigo on Sunday, denied all three points by a late strike from Santi Mina. Lazio mounted a superb second-half comeback at the Olympic Stadium to beat Inter Milan 2-1 and move above Antonio Conte's side into second place in Serie A on Sunday.
From Novak Djokovic's top performances to Australia's ICC World Cup victory and Sania Mirza's fabulous run, we have these and many more scintillating moments frozen in time and presented to you in this special photo-feature...
Real Madrid became La Liga champions for the first time since 2012 on Sunday with a 2-0 win at Malaga, denying arch-rivals Barcelona three consecutive league titles.
A summary of Tuesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid got their Champions League title defence off to a strong start on Wednesday by convincingly beating AS Roma 3-0 at home with goals from Isco, Gareth Bale and a stoppage-time strike from returning striker Mariano Diaz.
As we sit at home and miss live action, the wondrous phenomenon of sport has delivered so many past glories that we will probably never run out of things to see, recalls Dhruv Munjal.
Gijon spoiled Asier Illarramendi's return to Real Sociedad's midfield after rejoining from Real Madrid this week when they held the Basque club, coached by Scot David Moyes, to a 0-0 draw in San Sebastian.
With the year sprinting to a close, we bring you, in pictures, some of the best action from the sports world.
Real Madrid took full advantage of Barcelona's shock defeat at Real Valladolid with a 3-0 home win over 10-man Levante on Sunday that put Carlo Ancelotti's in-form side three points clear at the top of La Liga.
Juventus shattered Real Madrid's dream of a record-extending 11th European crown when Alvaro Morata scored against his former club to secure a 1-1 Champions League draw with the holders on Wednesday and send Juve into the final 3-2 on aggregate.
Eden Hazard finally scored his first goal for Real Madrid as his side beat second-placed Granada 4-2 in a highly entertaining game at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday to go four points clear at the top of La Liga.
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
A round-up of Wednesday's league stage matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid and Barcelona pulled two points clear in La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo set a club scoring record in Real's 3-0 stroll against Levante and Neymar hit four as Barca beat Rayo Vallecano 5-2 on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid came from behind to beat Paris St Germain 3-1, while Sadio Mane grabbed a hat-trick as Liverpool demolished Porto 5-0 away in the Champions League round-of-16 on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday.
Images from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday
Atletico Madrid secured a berth in the Champions League group stage for next season and Deportivo La Coruna narrowly escaped relegation when they came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at champions Barcelona on the final day in La Liga on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga was cut to two points on Saturday as they squandered a two-goal advantage to draw 2-2 at Sevilla while Real Madrid powered their way to a 3-0 home win over Eibar.
Griezmann special earns Atletico 1-1 draw at Sevilla
Barcelona have joined captain Andres Iniesta in calling for dialogue between the Spanish government and leaders in Catalonia to resolve the crisis between the central government and its richest region following Sunday's disputed referendum.
Cristiano Ronaldo finally became the highest scorer in Real Madrid's history while Bayern Munich set a record for the greatest number of successive wins at the start of a season in the Bundesliga this weekend.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Real Madrid returned to winning ways after last weekend's drubbing at Atletico but failed to convince and were whistled by their own fans during a drab 2-0 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
A summary of Saturday's action in La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field