Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski made amends for several glaring misses when he scored a late goal and set up another as the German champions ground out a 2-0 win at battling Schalke 04 on Friday.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Porto head the standings with 22 points from nine matches, two ahead of Sporting.
Cristiano Ronaldo renewed his personal battle with Lionel Messi by scoring his 71st Champions League goal, putting him three behind the Argentine's newly-set record, in Real Madrid's 1-0 win at FC Basel on Wednesday.
Manchester United will be out for revenge against Benfica on Tuesday in their Champions League match.
Barcelona's march towards the Primera Liga title slowed on Saturday after a goalless draw with bottom-placed side Malaga.
They beat Vitoria Guimaraes 2-0 in the Portuguese Premier League on Thursday.
Its Chelsea vs Barcleona, Real Madrid vs Arsenal in the Champions League
Holders Barcelona will play Premier League leaders Arsenal in the last 16 of the Champions League, 10 years after the sides faced each other in the final, following Monday's draw for the first knockout stage.
Last year's finalists Juventus will face-off against Bundesliga champs Bayern.
Manchester United must end a surprising three-match scoring drought to avoid Champions League elimination in Lisbon.
Manchester United visit Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday with manager Alex Ferguson under extreme pressure following Saturday's 4-1 thrashing at Middlesbrough.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Champions League debut for Juventus lasted only 29 minutes as he was red-carded but the Italians began their Group H campaign impressively with a 2-0 victory at Valencia on Wednesday. Penalties either side of halftime by Miralem Pjanic sealed the points for the visitors as Valencia's return to European competition after a two-year absence fell flat.
The Dutch striker scored five minutes from time to earn Manchester United a 2-1 win over Benfica in the Champions League.
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 coach Frank Rijkaard says his side will face a daunting task when they take on his former club AC Milan in the Champions League semi-finals.
Goals by Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry gave Arsenal an impressive 2-0 home win over Juventus
Champions Liverpool were sent crashing out by Benfica.
Thierry Henry scored with a brilliant individual effort to give the English side a 1-0 victory in the first leg last 16 knock-out round.
PSV goalkeeper Gomes misjudged a 25-metre free kick from Juninho as the Dutch side went down 0-1.
Andriy Shevchenko struck with a penalty to give AC Milan a valuable 1-1 draw in the Champions League last 16 first leg match against Bayern Munich.
They may be over dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo and struggling to replace old faithfuls, yet under the wily leadership of Fernando Santos, Portugal can still be a threat.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich were made to work extremely hard for a 3-1 victory at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday that sent them eight points clear at the top of the table with five games left.
Arsenal will have to produce the biggest second leg comeback in a Champions League knockout tie to avoid a seventh successive exit at the last 16 stage when they host Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
The Champions League group stages took on a less predictable look after Thursday's draw, helped by UEFA's decision to tweak the seeding system.
Lionel Messi assumed the rare role of fan on Thursday conveying his best wishes to his idol and Argentina great Pablo Aimar who retired on Wednesday.
The Italians drew 2-2 in Greece against Egaleo, a result which sends Middlesbrough, Villarreal and Partizan Belgrade through as the three qualifiers from Group E.
Juan Mata praised Jose Mourinho's remarkable knack for coming out on top on the biggest occasions after Manchester United beat Ajax Amsterdam 2-0 on Wednesday to signal the Portuguese coach's 12th triumph in a final from 14 attempts.
Juventus scraped a 2-2 draw with Swedish underdogs Djurgarden, while Liverpool strolled to a 2-0 win at Graz AK in the Champions League's third qualifying round.
The policy of buying players cheap and selling them for a higher price a few years on is a business model that worked well for clubs like Atletico Madrid and FC Porto. With the transfer window open for the next few weeks, Rediff.com takes a look at clubs that made smart deals over the years.
