Premier League sides Manchester United and Aston Villa reached the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday after seeing off lower league opponents Southampton and Gillingham.
Frank Lampard broke Chelsea's all-time scoring record with two goals as the European champions all but secured a top-four finish in the Premier League with a 2-1 win in an incident-packed game at Aston Villa on Saturday.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi brought back memories of outstanding performances by his Argentine compatriots Diego Maradona and Ricky Villa at Wembley with his match-winning display in the Champions League final on Saturday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday night.
Manchester City took another decisive step toward an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title with a 4-0 demolition of Fulham.
Frank Lampard passed the 150-goal milestone for Chelsea on Saturday with four goals in a 7-1 hammering of Aston Villa as Carlo Ancelotti's side roared back to the top of the English Premier League.
David Villa hit a spectacular volley to earn Spain a 1-0 win over world champions Italy in a friendly on Wednesday. The Valencia striker, who replaced Fernando Torres at halftime, fired the ball into the top corner past a helpless Gianluigi Buffon 13 minutes from time after Fabio Cannavaro had headed the ball clear of his area.
A hat-trick by David Villa helped Spain to a 4-1 win over Russia in their Euro 2008 opener on Tuesday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Blackburn Rovers gave their new Indian owners an immediate return on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa that lifted the club five places in the English Premier League table.
Darren Bent scored on his debut four days after becoming Aston Villa's most expensive player to give his new side a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Premier League at Villa Park on Saturday.
Aston Villa beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to win a Premier League match for the first time since August while a late goal from Paul Dummett earned a 3-3 draw for Newcastle United against Manchester United on Tuesday.
David Villa struck just after halftime to lift champions Barcelona to a laboured 1-0 home win over his former club Sporting Gijon in La Liga on Wednesday.
The battle for Champions League qualification continues with fourth-placed Aston Villa away to Luton Town on Saturday and Tottenham Hotspur, who are five points behind with a game in hand, hosting Crystal Palace.
The other semi-final will see an Italian side, Milan or Roma, come up against Bayer Leverkusen or West Ham.
Argentina have called up Mallorca's Spanish defender Pablo Maffeo for the first time ahead of this month's World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil in the squad announced by its FA on Friday.
David Villa struck twice and David Silva and Juan Mata also scored to give rampant Valencia a 4-2 win at Real Valladolid in La Liga on Sunday.
Wayne Rooney scored twice in a 4-1 victory in the English Premier League.
Chelsea's title hopes suffered a blow when the Premier League leaders finished with nine men in a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday after Manchester City won 2-0 at Hull City to cut the gap at the top to six points.
Embattled Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's immediate family members are living under 'close confinement' at a luxurious villa in Algeria, it has emerged.
Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa gained ground in the Premier League's increasingly tight battle for fourth place on Sunday as they beat Wigan Athletic and Burnley respectively.
Newcastle United made light work of north-east rivals Sunderland as Alexander Isak's double secured a 3-0 win and a place in the FA Cup fourth round at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Liverpool have agreed a 32.5 million pounds deal with Aston Villa for striker Christian Benteke, British media reported on Sunday.
Aston Villa reached the League Cup final after coming from 2-0 down to beat Blackburn Rovers 6-4 in a thrilling semi-final second leg on Wednesday.
Aston Villa moved back to fifth in the English Premier League with an astonishing 3-2 win over Everton on Sunday after a goal in the first minute and one from each side in stoppage time. In the day's other match, West Bromwich Albion failed to win for the ninth successive match and stayed bottom after being held to a 1-1 draw by Portsmouth at The Hawthorns.
Chelsea's defensive frailties were exposed again on Saturday when they gifted Aston Villa two goals from corners in a 2-1 away defeat, their second loss in three league games after they had won their first six.
Manchester United wasted a glorious chance to catch Chelsea at the top of the Premier League when they lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa on Saturday. Earlier leaders Chelsea were held 3-3 at home by Everton despite two goals from Didier Drogba.
European champions Barcelona have pledged to capture the Club World Cup for striker David Villa, who suffered a sickening leg break in Thursday's semi-final in Japan.
The Copa del Rey semi-final draw will be made on Friday.
Andre Villas-Boas could emulate Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal by remaining Chelsea's manager for 10 or 15 years, club chairman Bruce Buck said on Thursday.
Images from Sunday's action in the Premier League.
Van Dijk was sent off for fouling Alexander Isak during the first half and appeared to remonstrate with referee John Brooks before walking off the pitch.
It was Chelsea's first defeat in 19 league outings and extended their bad run at Villa Park to nine matches without a win.
Chelsea, playing with a swagger missing for much of the season, routed Aston Villa 8-0 on Sunday.
Arsenal survived a late scare to regain top spot in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa on Monday, both their goals arriving in the space of a minute in the first half.
Andre Villas-Boas can become the first opposition coach to plot Chelsea's downfall in a Premier League match this season when his old club play his in-form Tottenham Hotspur side at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta's team are third with 61 points after 27 games, a point behind Manchester City
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