Barcelona fullback Dani Alves has been ruled out with a hamstring strain for 15 to 20 days, the La Liga leaders said on Monday.
Lionel Messi and Alexis Sanchez, club mates at Barcelona, sparkled as Argentina and Chile put behind them a weekend to forget with victories in the South American 2014 World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday.
Barcelona fullback Jordi Alba has recovered from flu but is still not fit enough to feature in Wednesday's Champions League Group G game at home to Spartak Moscow, the La Liga club said on Tuesday.
Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez marked their home debuts for Barcelona in La Liga with goals as the champions crushed Villarreal 5-0 in their opening match of the campaign on Monday.
'It's only 13 games in, that's the most important thing and there's so many points to be won. You need to carry on for 38 games and show consistency'
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Sunday.
A second-string Barcelona set up a King's Cup quarter-final clash against holders and great rivals Real Madrid when they came back from a goal down to beat Osasuna 2-1 on Thursday for a 6-1 aggregate victory.
Jose Mourinho attributed a large part of Barcelona's 3-1 'Clasico' victory at the Bernabeu on Saturday to luck and dismissed the idea that it would damage his side's morale in the La Liga title race.
Zenit St Petersburg striker Hulk scored after nine minutes when he muscled his way past a defender and fired home from 12 metres.
Lionel Messi notched up his 35th league goal of the season as an understrength Barcelona strolled to a crushing 6-1 home win against Getafe that put them 12 points clear at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
Manchester United inflicted yet more FA Cup semi-final misery on Tottenham Hotspur as they recovered from a poor start to win 2-1 at a packed Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Real's Cristiano Ronaldo will be going in search of his third consecutive World Player of the Year award
AS Roma edged closer to a first ever league and cup double by limping into the Italian Cup final after a 1-0 defeat at Udinese in Wednesday's second leg tie.
Images from Wednesday's football World Cup qualifiers.
Substitute Dusan Tadic fired the only goal as Southampton recorded a first league win over Manchester United for 27 years on Sunday, climbing above them into third in the Premier League.
Kevin De Bruyne, Kelechi Iheanacho, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan gave Man City a 4-0 win over Bournemouth before Nolito was sent off.
Chile got the victory they needed if they are to have any chance of progressing from a daunting Group B when they held off a strong Australian fightback to emerge 3-1 winners in another open and entertaining World Cup clash on Friday.
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has defended the Premier League leader's handling of the head injury he suffered during last weekend's 2-0 league victory over Arsenal.
Arsenal fear Sanchez injury loss could be 'big blow'.
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has no concerns over his future at the club despite being displaced in the starting line-up by Alexis Sanchez, vowing to fight his way back into manager Arsene Wenger's first-team plans. Chilean forward Sanchez has shone in the central striker's role, scoring eight goals in 15 appearances this season, while Giroud has missed much of the campaign with a toe injury.
Arsenal all but sealed Champions League qualification for an 18th successive season after they eased past relegation-threatened Hull City 3-1 in the Premier League on Monday.
Champions Inter Milan got back to winning ways with a comfortable 2-0 victory at Empoli in Serie A on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi was so distraught at Barcelona missing out on reaching the 2012 Champions League final that he was reduced to tears
Bayern Munich and Arsenal meet in their big-name Champions League round of 16 first leg on Wednesday, both hoping European success will help lift mid-season gloom on their domestic fronts.
Arsenal snatched a dramatic 2-1 victory over Burnley to keep their title hopes on track after the referee Jon Moss awarded penalties to both sides and sent off home manager Arsene Wenger in injury time.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday night.
The Londoners are fourth in the Premier League table, 13 points behind leaders Leicester City with five games left.
A dramatic game featured missed chances, defensive howlers, scuffles and two video reviews, one producing a highly controversial outcome in the second half.
Chile beat Colombia 2-0 in the Copa America semi-final on Wednesday and will face Argentina in Sunday's final after surviving a tumultuous match in Chicago.
After damaging losses to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos Piraeus in their first two fixtures, the Gunners have to win to advance to the knock-out stages
Liverpool stuttered into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 2-1 aggregate win over Inter Milan after suffering a 1-0 loss to the Italian side, who were reduced to 10 men, at Anfield on Tuesday.
Wenger dropped Rob Holding for the visit to Stoke, preferring Shkodran Mustafi alongside Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac at the back.
Chelsea's on-loan Brazilian international Alexandre Pato scored on his debut to help push pathetic Aston Villa to the verge of inevitable relegation with a seventh successive Premier League defeat on Saturday. Pato, the former Milan starlet who has been kicking his heels since joining from Corinthians two months ago, came on as a 25th-minute substitute and was immediately involved in the move which led to Ruben Loftus-Cheek netting his first league goal.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has said that the club striker Anthony Martial 'cannot have all the things he wants in life'.
IMAGES from the English Premier League match played at Selhurst Park in London on Monday
Liverpool took over at the top of the Premier League table despite being held to a 0-0 draw against Manchester United in a scrappy match on Sunday.
Premier League-leading Chelsea's success on the pitch has been recognised by the Professional Footballer's Association (PFA) with Eden Hazard and N'Golo Kante making the shortlist for the organisation's Players' Player of the Year award.
Argentina and Chile advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa America on Saturday with Chile beating Mexico 7-0 and Lionel Messi getting a goal in Argentina's 4-1 win over Venezuela to equal his country's all-time scoring record.
Arsenal qualified for a 17th successive season with a nervy 1-0 win at home to Besiktas and Malmo made it for the first time with a 3-0 win over Salzburg, whose participation ended in the qualifiers for the ninth time in a row.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
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