Real Madrid's Spanish record 22-match winning streak ended in a 2-1 La Liga defeat at Valencia on Sunday with Nicolas Otamendi heading in the second-half winner.
Malaga's stormy 4-3 La Liga defeat at Valencia at the weekend, when they finished with nine men on the pitch, left them with a raft of suspensions from the Spanish football federation (RFEF) on Tuesday.
Barcelona top the LaLiga standings with 15 points, four ahead of Real Madrid and Villarreal. Girona are seventh on seven points.
Manchester United skipper Antonio Valencia apologised for liking an Instagram post that called for manager Jose Mourinho to be sacked after Tuesday's goalless draw against Spanish side Valencia in the Champions League.
Tracking the key moves this week in the European transfer market
Real Madrid got their LaLiga title defence off to a limp start as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Mallorca.
Prolific Cristiano Ronaldo hit a 35th hat-trick for Real Madrid who swept aside Espanyol 6-0 in a ruthless attacking display in La Liga on Sunday.
Valencia climbed above Atletico Madrid and Sevilla into third in La Liga when Alvaro Negredo came off the bench to score a late winner in a 3-2 home victory over his former club Almeria on Saturday.
One of the most eagerly-awaited clashes of the Premier League season turned into a major letdown as Liverpool and Manchester United nullified each other in a largely undistinguished goalless draw at Anfield on Monday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted a superb goal just four minutes into his Manchester United debut and promised that there would be much more to come after they thrashed Turkish side Galatasaray 5-2 in a friendly in Gothenburg on Saturday.
Manchester United are expecting a host of injured players to make their returns this month but will not rush them back into the first-team, manager Louis van Gaal said ahead of Thursday's last-16 Europa League tie against bitter rivals Liverpool. Despite having nine players currently out, including captain Wayne Rooney and defender Phil Jones, United won four games in a row prior to their shock Premier League defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. "(Antonio) Valencia is coming back, Basti (Bastian Schweinsteiger) is coming back, a lot of players shall come back in March," Van Gaal told reporters on Wednesday. "... it is hard to see whether they can cope with the rhythm of the match... Basti, for example, has only one training session under his belt. "Valencia is much more closer to being on the bench, but not to play a match."
France and Ecuador drew 0-0 in their final World Cup Group E game on Wednesday to send the French into the last 16 as group winners and eliminate their opponents due to Switzerland's 3-0 win over Honduras.
Several players from United's first-choice starting line-up, including Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard, are resting after the World Cup and could miss the opening league fixture against Leicester City in less than two weeks' time.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said the international break has made his plans for the Manchester derby a bit more 'complicated' than he would have liked, especially with his South American players returning a day before the clash.
Manchester United continued to splash the cash after Torino announced that Italy full back Matteo Darmian was heading to Old Trafford.
A Neymar double and a clinical finish from Luis Suarez handed Barcelona a comfortable 3-0 victory over BATE Borisov that put them on the verge of qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League for the 12th consecutive season.
Metz draw at Marseille to end losing streak
Another unconvincing display from Manchester United was compounded by a needless red card for Angel Di Maria.
'It's a case of realising how lucky we are and how we should go out there and enjoy it. You can see that everyone did enjoy it and the message clearly did get across'
Manchester United's chances of winning the Premier League could be hindered by their Europa League campaign, manager Jose Mourinho has said.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's winner ensured that Jose Mourinho's reign at Manchester United got off to a winning start as the FA Cup holders beat champions Leicester City 2-1 in England's Community Shield season curtain-raiser at Wembley on Sunday. Ibrahimovic leapt above Leicester captain Wes Morgan in the 83rd minute to head Antonio Valencia's cross beyond Kasper Schmeichel, marking his official debut with a decisive contribution.
Likens the Portuguese's second debut at United against Newcastle to Ceasar entering Rome.
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.
Leicester City must wait at least one more day for their first-ever Premier League title after drawing 1-1 with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Juergen Klopp expressed disappointment at the officiating and his Liverpool side's poor finishing in the second leg of their League Cup semi-final at Anfield on Wednesday after Southampton claimed a late 1-0 victory to book a spot in the final.
In just a few months at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho has been dismissed from the touchline and fined for his conduct as his side endured a poor start to the season -- yet the Portuguese is still enjoying being Manchester United manager.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal cut a frustrated figure after his team lost 1-0 at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, their third successive defeat in the Premier League.
The teams finished level at 3-3 on aggregate in the tie but the Lisbon club advanced to the quarter-finals after Adan kept out Martinelli's weak effort.
Victory at Chelsea on Sunday would put Manchester United back in Premier League title contention, manager Louis van Gaal said on Friday as the former champions were again linked with Jose Mourinho. Fifth-placed United are 10 points behind leaders Leicester City with 14 games remaining and the Dutchman, buoyed by a 3-0 home victory over Stoke City last weekend, said his side should not be counted out. United finally produced some much-needed swagger at Old Trafford to give Van Gaal breathing space as his future continues to be the subject of media speculation. "The competition is still not finished," Van Gaal told reporters on Friday.
'The Europa League is a massive thing for us now -- it's a trophy and it gives us qualification for the Champions League. With the players we have got, we can be unstoppable'
Manchester United's 100 per cent start to the Premier League season ended when they were held to a goalless draw against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League match played at Selhurst Park in London on Monday
Jose Mourinho will have no qualms about frustrating entertainment-hungry Manchester United fans if it means securing a win on his return to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Substitute Raul Riudiaz's hotly disputed goal earned Peru a shock 1-0 win over Brazil in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Sunday, the defeat knocking the five-time world champions out the Copa America at the group stage.
Photos from the English Premier League match played between Manchester United and Arsenal on Saturday
Jose Mourinho was adamant on Friday that his relationship with Paul Pogba is "good" and said that the Frenchman would play in Manchester United's English Premier League match at West Ham United on Saturday.
Manchester United turned frustration into jubilation as they planted one foot in the League Cup final after a late Marouane Fellaini header gave them a 2-0 win over Hull City in the first leg of their last four clash.
Discarded striker Danny Welbeck returned to demolish Manchester United's hopes of silverware by netting the winner in Arsenal's 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final victory at Old Trafford on Monday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic noted this week in his own inimitably self-regarding fashion that he had taken just three months to conquer England.
Juan Mata struck twice, including a sublime volley, for Manchester United in a 2-1 Premier League victory over Liverpool who had Steven Gerrard sent off for a stamp at Anfield on Sunday.
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