Manuel Neuer became the first goalkeeper since 2002 to make the final short list for the FIFA world player of the year award on Monday when he was included alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the final three.
Hellas Verona produced a huge upset by coming from behind to beat Serie A leaders Juventus 2-1 on Saturday, inflicting a third defeat of the season on the Italian champions. Cristiano Ronaldo set a new Juventus record by scoring in a 10th consecutive league game to put the visitors in front at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi after 65 minutes.
Dwain Chambers achieved the first stage in his bid to run at the Beijing Olympics when he won the 100 metres final at the British trials on Saturday and must now await a legal ruling on his eligibility.
The Indian challenge ended in the $ 15000 ITF Futures men's singles event with the straight sets defeat of unseeded Rohan Gajjar in a semifinal in New Delhi on Friday.
Kenenisa Bekele set a world best for the men's indoor two miles of eight minutes 4.35 seconds at a meeting in Birmingham.
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Atletico Madrid cruised to a 3-0 home win over Real Sociedad on Tuesday to close the gap behind La Liga leaders Barcelona to five points.
Barcelona dropped their first points of the La Liga season as their star-studded forward line misfired in a 0-0 draw away to Malaga on Wednesday.
Barcelona's star striker Lionel Messi has backed Atletico Madrid to seal this year's Champions League title, saying his team don't want to see Real Madrid claim the trophy.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday
"This is the third year in a row that India makes to top 10 in Doing Business, which is a success which very few countries have done over the 20 years of the project, Without exception, the other countries that have done this are very small, population-wise, and homogeneous," Simeon Djankov, Director of Development Economics at the World bank told PTI in an interview.
Paris St Germain will play Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona were pitted against an unpredictable Napoli, while Chelsea were drawn against Bayern Munich. City, who will be at home in the second leg, have yet to beat the Spanish side with two draws and two defeats in their previous four meetings.
Barcelona were pitted against Italian champions Juventus in the Champions League quarter-final draw made on Friday to set up a repeat of the 2015 final which the Spanish side won 3-1.
Here are five talking points from the weekend in La Liga:
Fernando Torres's head injury shocked his Atletico Madrid team mates as the striker had to be carried off on a stretcher towards the end of Thursday's 1-1 draw at Deportivo La Coruna.
Barcelona equalled a club record of 12 consecutive league wins as Neymar and Lionel Messi were among the scorers in a 6-0 thrashing of struggling Getafe 6-0 at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
So, who in your opinion, dear readers, is your favourite to win the prestigious prize at the ceremony in Zurich on January 12? Take your pick and vote now!
Juve forward Cristiano Ronaldo had an unusually quiet game after scoring a hat-trick against Atletico in last year's competition, although he came within inches of grabbing a last-gasp winner when he sent a shot just past the far post.
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The Frenchman, voted the world's third best player of 2016, has been the subject of intense transfer speculation since signing a new contract with Atletico in May 2017.
Barcelona beat local rivals Espanyol 2-0 in the Catalan derby on Saturday to maintain their 10 point lead at the top of La Liga, while Real Madrid scraped a 3-2 win against bottom side Huesca on Sunday.
United are 16th in the standings with a game in hand heading into the international break.
Losing a final to Cristiano Ronaldo has become an unfortunate habit for Antoine Griezmann and he is not happy about it.
Late Griezmann strike ends Atletico's away day hoodoo
The France striker was fouled by Leicester's Marc Albrighton on the edge of the box and referee Jonas Eriksson deemed the action to have continued into the penalty area.
'I haven't always expressed myself well. I said I would like to play with Neymar and Mbappe, but that doesn't mean I want to go to PSG'
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Later on Monday, Lukaku's brace helped Inter to a win over Napoli, taking them atop the standings on goal difference from Juventus.
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Barca's second-half stamina key to their massive lead in the standings this season
Atletico Madrid's faint hopes of chasing down runaway Liga leaders Barcelona suffered a fresh blow on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Girona, meaning they could fall 11 points behind the Catalans by the end of the weekend.
Atletico Madrid will have centre backs Diego Godin and Stefan Savic available again for Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg at Barcelona.
Karim Benzema fired Real Madrid to a 1-0 win in the city derby against Atletico Madrid on Saturday which underlined Real's La Liga title credentials. Bayern Munich scored three goals in the opening 26 minutes to defeat Mainz 05 3-1 away on Saturday and go two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with their sixth straight win.
Real Madrid can bury Atletico's hopes of winning La Liga with a third straight victory against their city neighbours on Sunday that would leave the capital's second club trailing by six points.
Real Madrid will be without forward pair Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, midfielder Toni Kroos and defender Pepe for Tuesday's UEFA Super Cup encounter with Sevilla in Trondheim, Norway.
Atletico Madrid's Brazilian striker Diego Costa scored twice as they came from behind to beat Levante 3-2 at home on Saturday to go three points clear at the top of La Liga.
Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick as Barcelona clinched a 25th La Liga title on Sunday after winning 4-2 at Deportivo La Coruna despite throwing away a two-goal lead in a thrilling game which also confirmed Depor's relegation.
Griezmann goal earns Atletico first win of season
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