Triple European champions Manchester United and their under-fire coach Louis van Gaal face a tricky task against little-known Midtjylland in the last 32 of the Europa League following Monday's draw.
Juergen Klopp, who has breathed new life into Liverpool in his seven months in charge, would seal his place in the hearts of the club's supporters if he pulls off victory over Sevilla in Wednesday's Europa League final.
After a six-match unbeaten start to his reign as Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp came down to earth with a bump as his side lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.
Given the improvements at Chelsea and Arsenal, it will still be a significant achievement for United to secure a top four finish and in the Champions League, a decent run in the knockout stages would also be a sign of progress.
IMAGES from Europa League matches played on Thursday.
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In an exciting weekend for football lovers, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continued their extraordinary double act, both scoring hat-tricks as Real Madrid and Barcelona maintained their battle for supremacy at the top of La Liga. Chelsea's unbeaten start to the Premier League season ended with a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday but no-one can get the better of Bayern Munich, who marched on in the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen. We present a summary of events in photos.
Gianluigi Buffon celebrated his 100th Champions League game for Juventus in typical fashion on Wednesday, making a string of brilliant saves in a 2-0 win at Monaco in the first leg of their semi-final.
The Turin-based club have suffered in recent weeks with three of their players having tested positive for the virus -- forward Paulo Dybala, defender Daniele Rugani and midfielder Blaise Matuidi.
A round-up of Wednesday's night's UEFA Chmpions League matches.
Bayern Munich's long-time team doctor Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt has surprisingly resigned.
Bayern Munich's Douglas Costa scored a first-half winner as the holders did the bare minimum to beat VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 on Tuesday and move into the German Cup quarter-finals.
Cristiano Ronaldo will play no part in Real Madrid's game against Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday after the prolific Portuguese forward was left out of the squad on Friday.
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
African Nations Cup underdogs Congo boosted their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals after they beat more fancied Gabon 1-0 to throw Group A wide open on Wednesday.
The last time the five times European champions reached this stage of Europe's elite club competition was in 2009 when they went out to Chelsea in a dramatic 7-5 aggregate defeat.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich survived several first-half scares in a 1-1 home draw with midtable Schalke 04 on Saturday as Philipp Lahm made his 500th appearance for the Bavarian club.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan will prove his worth at Manchester United once he adapts to the rigours of English football, according to his manager Jose Mourinho.
Check out the top footballers of the weekend.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Mesut Ozil faces around six weeks out with a knee ligament injury, a problem that was only discovered when the midfielder joined up with the Germany squad for international duty last week.
Real Madrid produced a gutsy performance to earn a 1-0 win at Sevilla, on Sunday, which took them level on points at the top of La Liga
The result also means second-placed Real Sociedad can reclaim top spot if they beat Eibar on Sunday.
Juventus progressed to the Champions League last 16 after a Cristiano Ronaldo goal and a late header from substitute Alvaro Morata gave them a comeback 2-1 home win over Hungarians Ferencvaros on Tuesday.
Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben has been ruled out for around six weeks after sustaining a groin muscle injury in Saturday's friendly against lower division side Lippstadt, the Bundesliga champions said.
A round-up of Saturday's action in La Liga and the Bundesliga.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Wednesday.
Champions Bayern Munich comfortably beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday to lay down a marker as they eye a record-extending sixth straight German league title.
Bayern Munich had to put their Bundesliga title celebrations on hold on Saturday after beating gutsy Mainz 05 2-0 while Borussia Dortmund also won, 3-0 at Hanover 96.
Borussia Dortmund snatched a late goal at Atalanta to progress with a 1-1 draw, while AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, both with three-goal leads from the away legs, completed the formality of qualifying with 1-0 wins at home on Thursday.
Eintracht Frankfurt beat 10-man West Ham United 1-0 in their Europa League semi-final
There were, however, no eye-catching major deals in the final 24 hours of transfer activity for European clubs which continues the trend of recent January windows.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi, Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo are the three final contenders for the 2013 Ballon d'Or award.
Lightning struck twice for Marc-Andre ter Stegen on Saturday when the Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper scored a bizarre own goal in a 1-1 draw at Eintracht Braunschweig and his opposite number also put through his own net.
Thomas Mueller and Thiago Alcantara struck twice as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich thumped Werder Bremen 5-0 on Saturday to open an eight-point gap at the top with their first win in three games. The Bavarians, who claimed one point from their previous two matches, terrorised visiting Werder with Kingsley Coman setting up three goals in an eye-catching dress rehearsal for the Champions League last-16 second leg against Juventus next week. "It may look easy ... but it was not," said Bayern coach Pep Guardiola. "It was important to win after losing to Mainz 05 (last week). "As for Kingsley, he is a young player but today he showed his quality. We will need such a player on Wednesday." Guardiola can also count on Mario Goetze again after the attacking midfielder made his comeback from a four-month injury layoff.
European heavyweights Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain all maintained their leads and Benfica toppled Sporting Lisbon.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp is not about to change his team's trademark style against Champions League quarter-final opponent
'The current squad is one in transition, but they have some real talent and are showing a strong sense of togetherness' 'I expect to see them continue to grow and develop over the coming weeks and I wish them and my successor well for the rest of the season'
Napoli went down 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig, Arsenal and AC Milan enjoyed comfortable away wins, and Borussia Dortmund's Michy Batshuayi scored twice to secure a 3-2 victory in Europa League last 32, first leg action
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski netted the Bundesliga's fastest hat-trick on his way to a sensational five-goal haul as a halftime substitute in their 5-1 demolition of VfL Wolfsburg on Tuesday.
Alex Ferguson has revealed that David Moyes, the man chosen as his managerial successor at Manchester United, was sixth on a list of ideal replacements headed by Pep Guardiola and four others, who were all 'unavailable' at the time.
Champions Bayern Munich demolished VfB Stuttgart 4-0 on Saturday with all the goals coming in the first half as they increased their lead to eight points and stayed on course for a record fourth consecutive title on a day of red cards in the Bundesliga.
