Lionel Messi set a new Champions League scoring record with a hat-trick and Luis Suarez netted his first in Barcelona colours as the Spaniards comprehensively beat APOEL Nicosia 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Barcelona striker Lionel Messi has returned home to Argentina but remains doubtful for World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela with his club confirming the 29-year-old is struggling with a sore left hamstring.
Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne is facing a potentially lengthy spell on the sidelines after he was carried off on a stretcher with a suspected knee ligament injury in Wednesday's League Cup semi-final win over Everton.
Manchester City set a new top-flight record of 15 consecutive wins as their seemingly unstoppable march towards the English Premier League title continued with a 4-0 romp at bottom club Swansea City.
Pep Guardiola has criticised the weight of the match ball used in the League Cup after his team failed to score in their fourth round match against Wolverhampton Wanderers and won 4-1 on penalties.
The 29-year-old missed the last three ManchesterCity games and both of Argentina's World Cup qualifiers earlier this month following his road traffic accident in the Netherlands.
Liverpool, level on points with Manchester United, can add to the pressure if they take three points at West Ham United in Saturday's lunchtime kickoff.
Later on Monday, West Bromwich Albion and Watford were also charged for failing to control their players in Saturday's league game at the Hawthorns, which the hosts won 3-1
'There is a difference where we want to be in the Champions League, but when you're a club like Manchester United, there's a need to be in the Champions League'
Arsenal landed a meaty blow in the Premier League title race with a 2-1 win at home to rivals Manchester City that swept away a few more doubts about their title credentials.
The Argentine scores a hat-trick to become the highest foreign goal scorer in the Premier League on Sunday. Also, in bagging a 12th Premier League hat-trick he surpassed the 11 of Alan Shearer with whom he had shared the record.
ManchesterCity could be without playmaker David Silva for Saturday's home game against Bournemouth while midfielder Ilkay Guendogan may make his Premier League debut.
?The unpredictable nature of the Premier League this season means it is essential for ManchesterCity to beat second-placed Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday to keep their title aspirations alive, right back Bacary Sagna said.
The English Premier League resumed on Wednesday, after the forced break due to COVID-19. Here are IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Wednesday.
Jose Mourinho's reshaped Manchester United destroyed Premier League champions Leicester City 4-1 with a performance that thrilled Old Trafford on Saturday and justified his decision to leave out Wayne Rooney. The shake-up seemed to liberate Paul Pogba who led the way with a polished display, heading his first goal for the club on 42 minutes and starting the clever move that led to Juan Mata firing home United's second after 37 minutes.
Packed soccer schedule is a major problem as players will struggle to deliver their best
Goals from Victor Moses and Daniel Sturridge eased Liverpool through a tricky FA Cup fourth round tie at Championship (second division) Bournemouth on Saturday although they had to work hard for a 2-0 victory.
Teams progressing to the latter stages of the FA Cup next season will be allowed to field a fourth substitute in extra time, the English Football Association (FA) announced on Wednesday.
Players from European champions Barcelona made up nearly half of UEFA's Team of the Year which was revealed on Friday, while Cristiano Ronaldo made the lineup for a record 10th time. Eight players from La Liga were included in the final XI, voted for by 7.2 million UEFA.com users from a 40-strong shortlist. Lionel Messi, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Neymar were the Barcelona players included, while Real Madrid provided Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and James Rodriguez.
Lionel Messi was sent off before half-time and then angrily hit out at "corrupt" tournament organisers after Argentina beat Chile 2-1 to win a bad-tempered third-place playoff at the Copa America on Saturday.
Manchester City survived a stirring Leicester City fightback to claim a 2-1 win that lifted them above Liverpool into third in the Premier League on Saturday.
Sterling, 24, had a hand in all five goals, including an 11-minute hat-trick, as City romped to a 5-1 Champions League victory over Italian side Atalanta on Tuesday, to take his tally to 12 goals in 13 appearances this season.
Manchester City thrashed Stoke City 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to leapfrog Arsenal into third place in the Premier League.
It would take an "astronomical fee" for Swansea City to part with in-form Ivory Coast forward Wilfried Bony, manager Gary Monk said on Monday.
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has warned his players that Manchester City's 'magicians' can pick up three points even if the Foxes play a perfect game, when both sides meet in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
ManchesterCity's hopes of regaining the Premier League title suffered a potentially grievous blow on Saturday as they were held to a goalless draw by struggling NorwichCity at Carrow Road.
In the 69th minute, the Argentine slid in to meet a cross from Sterling and, although it appeared Mings got the final touch for an own goal -- ultimately, a decision for the dubious goals committee -- no-one was going to persuade Aguero that he was not responsible for putting City two up.
Photos from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Manuel Pellegrini shrugged that he was "not worried about Chelsea" despite seeing his Manchester City team fall further behind the Premier League leaders at the end of a dispiriting week for both the Chilean and his champions.
Everyone at Manchester City is flying high after the 1-0 derby win over Manchester United at the weekend but they could all come crashing back to earth after Wednesday's meeting with CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.
An Argentine football club has recreated the Sistine Chapel on the ceiling of its gymnasium, with Diego Maradona as God, Lionel Messi as Adam and a host of angels that include Mario Kempes, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Batistuta.
Following is a match by match look at the English Premier League's weekend fixtures
Xherdan Shaqiri inspired StokeCity to a convincing 2-0 victory over Premier League leaders ManchesterCity in blustery conditions at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
Lionel Messi returned from international suspension to score the winner in Argentina's 1-0 victory over Brazil in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
Wednesday night saw a few surprise results while a debutant club makes a mark
'There might be other opportunities in Asia. We've been looking at India for nearly two years now. I'd say this year we'll end up doing an investment in India'
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.
Manchester City moved 13 points clear at the top of the English Premier League table after a 2-1 win over West Ham United on Saturday - their 20th straight win in all competitions.
Manchester City's barnstorming start to the English soccer season, producing five straight wins, is in danger of becoming a fading memory after consecutive defeats by West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur allowed Manchester United to knock them off the top of the table.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will stop wearing a yellow protest ribbon if the Premier League-leading club's officials ask him to or if it adversely affects the team's form.
