News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Liverpool will attempt to sweep away the January blues on the last day of a wretched month when they host commanding Premier League leaders Chelsea at Anfield on Tuesday.
A round-up of Sunday's action in the Premier League.
A majestic solo dribble shredded Chelsea's defence before Messi played in Dembele for the second and the Argentine maestro killed the tie off when he smashed a third through the legs of Courtois again in the second half.
If two or more clubs are level on points at the end of the group stage, a number of criteria will be taken into consideration to decide the qualifiers for the next round, starting with the head-to-head record among the teams in question. It then goes to superior goal difference and then goals scored in those matches.
Chelsea need to improve a lot before they could be considered Premier League title contenders, manager Antonio Conte has said after his resurgent side beat Southampton 2-0 on Sunday.
Leicester City said they had a request to postpone Thursday's game against Tottenham Hotspur rejected by the league.
'We want to thank him (Costa) for what he did with this club. We wish him all the best for the future'
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon denied that Friday's Euro 2016 opponents Sweden are a one-man team but says they are wary of "superstar" forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Buffon shone alongside defenders Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci as Italy beat Belgium 2-0 in their Group E opener, but the quartet now face the ominous prospect of subduing Ibrahimovic in Toulouse.
Chelsea forward Pedro fears Pep Guardiola, his former coach at Barcelona, could be in for a rude awakening at Manchester City next season.
Pogba suffered the injury in United's 3-0 Champions League win over Basel this month.
The victory, Chelsea's 28th of the season, put the long-time league leaders 10 points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have only three games left to play.
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
IMAGES from the Serie A match played between Juventus and Sampdoria on Sunday.
Chelsea agreed a deal to sign Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, subject to the Spain international agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.
Federico Valverde finished off a stunning move in extra time to give Real Madrid a 3-2 victory over arch-rivals Barcelona
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Chelsea to host Burnley in Premier League season ope
The fixture list suggests that Chelsea should still be able to finish above challengers Tottenham Hotspur. But strange things can happen when the pressure reaches it's greatest intensity and here was certainly something strange about Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Chelsea goalscorer Willian said they must go on the attack against Barcelona at the Nou Camp next month to have any chance of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.
Italy's victory over Belgium was celebrated as a triumph of the team over individual talents, but Friday's opponents Sweden are relying on the singular genius of frontman Zlatan Ibrahimovic to get their Euro 2016 campaign off the ground.
Giuseppe Rossi continued his remarkable comeback with a 15-minute hat-trick as Fiorentina recovered from two goals down to defeat previously unbeaten title-holders Juventus 4-2 in Serie A on Sunday.
Antonio Valencia's early thunderbolt put Manchester United en route to a 4-0 Premier League victory over Everton on Sunday, but they needed a flurry of late goals to finally subdue their unfortunate visitors.
Having spent much of his time at Chelsea operating in Eden Hazard's shadow, Willian has emerged as a leading light in the team ahead of their Champions League showdown with Barcelona.
Inter moved on to 68 points, ahead of Lazio on goal difference as the sides are level on their head-to-head records. They are eight points behind Juventus with six games to play.
The English Premier League boasts some of the top managers in the game but to see the best players in the world you have to watch Spanish soccer, Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu said.
Manchester City's bid to chop Arsenal's Premier League lead to two points was scuppered as Harry Kane's record-breaking goal earned Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win.
Fabinho's first-half goal earned Liverpool a 1-0 win at Burnley
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Chelsea's Spanish striker Diego Costa was named along with usual suspects Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 23- man FIFA Ballon D'Or short-list released on Tuesday.
Spain boss Vicente del Bosque is not expecting a repeat of their crushing 4-0 victory over Italy in the final four years ago when the two sides meet in the last 16 of Euro 2016 on Monday. Spain destroyed the Italians in one of the most one-sided finals in the competition's history at Euro 2012 to clinch their second consecutive European title and reaffirm their status as the world's then dominant side.
Chelsea took a major step towards the Premier League title with an impressive 3-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur have the chance to exert psychological pressure on Premier League leaders Chelsea when they open the weekend programme at home to Watford on Saturday.
IMAGES from the EPL match played between Chelsea and West Brom at Stamford Bridge in London on Monday
Lionel Messi marked his record 506th appearance for Barcelona in La Liga by scoring a penalty but the Catalans could only draw
British media reported that the fee for the 24-year-old would be around 75 million pounds ($96.68 million), making him the club's second most expensive signing after last year's world record deal for French midfielder Paul Pogba.
Martial scored his 23rd goal for United in all competitions this season against LASK Linz in Wednesday's Europa League last-16 victory.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri shunned the plaudits after his side move closer to the treble by beating AS Monaco to reach the Champions League final on Tuesday.
Manchester City failed to fire in a frustrating 0-0 home draw with StokeCity on Wednesday that dealt a damaging blow to their Premier League title hopes and left them 10 points adrift of leaders Chelsea.
Arsene Wenger hailed his team's first-half performance as "nearly perfect" and allowed himself to entertain the possibility of winning the title, despite Manchester City winning all six of their games so far to sit five points ahead of Arsenal.
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