Courtois's first game for Real could be against Atletico in the UEFA Super Cup on Aug 15 although the fact he has trained little since reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup with Belgium means coach Julen Lopetegui may opt to play Keylor Navas instead.
Gareth Bale is suffering at Real Madrid because his team mates are not passing him the ball enough.
Real play Athletic Bilbao while Barcelona visit Real Sociedad in fixtures that have often proved to be among their hardest away trips over the last decade.
Ajax, four-times European Cup winners who are in the knockout stages for the first time in 13 years, have enhanced their reputation as a talent factory due to the rise of homegrown Dutch players Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt.
Cristiano Ronaldo capped a remarkable year by claiming a fourth Ballon d'Or award on Monday after leading Portugal to an emotional European Championship title and Real Madrid to a record-extending Champions League crown in 2016.
Barcelona have one hand firmly on the La Liga title after winning 2-0 at Alaves on Tuesday, leaving them 12 points clear at the top of the table with four games to play.
Barcelona equalled a club record of 12 consecutive league wins as Neymar and Lionel Messi were among the scorers in a 6-0 thrashing of struggling Getafe 6-0 at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
Football's winter transfer window closed on February 1, and, surprisingly, none of Europe's biggies made even a slight move, let alone sign a player.
Villarreal set up a King's Cup semis against Barca after Gerard Moreno gave them a 1-0 win
Anthony Martial went from villain to hero as his second-half equaliser earned Manchester United a deserved point in a 1-1 draw against CSKA Moscow in Champions League Group B on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta continues rebuilding the side around goal machine Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and younger talents like Bukayo Saka.
Everyone at Manchester City is flying high after the 1-0 derby win over Manchester United at the weekend but they could all come crashing back to earth after Wednesday's meeting with CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.
Thibaut Courtois reckons Chelsea are capable of achieving what the Belgium keeper came agonisingly close to doing at Atletico Madrid last season - winning a European and domestic double.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has defended the use of the video assistant referee system at the ongoing Club World Cup in Japan after the technology sparked controversy on both instances it was used.
Barcelona eased into the King's Cup last 16 when goals from Pedro, Cristian Tello and Neymar secured a 3-0 second-leg victory at home to third-tier Cartagena on Tuesday for a 7-1 aggregate success.
He is widely admired for maintaining an almost military like discipline and is not known to smoke or drink
Gareth Bale learnt valuable lessons from his disappointing Real Madrid campaign last season, he said on Wednesday.
Angel Di Maria has claimed his former club Real Madrid put pressure on Argentina not to play him in the World Cup final in another bitter chapter in his departure from the Spanish giants.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action:
A plane carrying 72 people, including football players from Brazil, has reportedly crashed in Colombia. Authorities are responding to an emergency after an airplane with 72 people on board has crashed on its way to Medellin's international airport.
Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has eased Real Madrid's injury concerns and could be fit to play in their Champions League match at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, coach Zinedine Zidane said.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Recent episodes of vomiting suffered by Barcelona forward Lionel Messi are 'not normal' but they do not affect his performance and there is no cause for alarm, coach Gerardo Martino said on Friday.
Griezmann goal earns Atletico first win of season
Barcelona rubber-stamped a decade of domestic dominance by clinching the La Liga title on Sunday
In leading Real Madrid to their 11th European Cup less than five months after inheriting an unhappy team from Rafael Benitez, Zinedine Zidane has cemented his heroic status at the Bernabeu and appears to have assured his immediate future.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
As Barca prepare for a trip to Madrid to play Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, they are still reeling from Tuesday's 3-2 Champions League reverse at Paris St Germain, when their defence was badly exposed by the Ligue 1 title holders.
Twenty-three-times Cup winners Athletic Bilbao were dumped out in sensational circumstances by tiny island side SD Formentera, who sneaked a 1-0 win at San Mames with a header by Alvaro Muniz deep in stoppage-time to reach the last 16 for the first time with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Real Madrid opened a three-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo scored his eighth goal of the campaign in a 3-1 victory at home to promoted Las Palmas on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck the quickest hat-trick of his career on his way to netting five goals in Real Madrid's 9-1 drubbing of second-from-bottom Granada on Sunday which took Real to within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Lionel Messi said his side were superior to every team in the league after he scored a hat-trick in Sunday's 4-2 win at Deportivo which clinched the club's 25th Spanish title with four games left in the season.
Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappe starred in PSG's win as they topped group A after thrashing Galatasaray 5-0. Juventus, who have already qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League, pumped in two goals to oust Leverkusen from the tournament, while Gabriel Jesus netted a hat-trick in Manchester City's 4-1 thumping of Dinamo Zagreb. Here are Images from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday
Barcelona have emerged as favourites to be crowned champions after one defeat in their last 22 Liga games.
A summary of Saturday's action in La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga.
Albania are unlikely to pose much of a threat to France but Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann will be expected to produce sharper performances in Wednesday's Group A match when victory should assure the hosts a last 16 spot in Euro 2016.
Real coach Julen Lopetegui has come in for fierce criticism this season, having presided over a run of five games without a win -- the team going eight hours and one minute without scoring -- before Tuesday's unconvincing 2-1 triumph over Viktoria Plzen that saw the team whistled off the pitch by their own fans.
Manchester United's on-loan striker Radamel Falcao hinted he could leave the club at the end of the season in search of more regular football.
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