Napoli's Manolo Gabbiadini netted a precious second-half equaliser to earn a 1-1 away draw at Lazio in the first leg of their Italian Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Lazio survived a storming Napoli fight back, including a missed penalty, as they won 4-2 on Sunday to finish third in Serie A and qualify for the Champions League playoff round after both teams finished with 10 men.
Images from soccer matches played across different leagues in Europe on Sunday
Belgium and England have already met during the World Cup in a match both teams seemed reluctant to win and on Saturday they will face each other again in a game they both seem reluctant to play. The two sides must pick themselves up and dust themselves down after suffering the crushing disappointment of semi-final defeats to play for the modest prize of third place in a fixture often criticised as pointless.
Cristiano Ronaldo was involved in all three of his team's goals as Juventus came from behind to beat Napoli 3-1 in a Serie A top-of-the-table clash on Saturday to maintain their perfect start to the season.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Two goals each for Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard and one for Michy Batshuayi swept Belgium to a 5-2 victory over Tunisia on Saturday that put them in command of World Cup Group G.
The Chelsea playmaker gave Lukaku a piece of his mind in Sochi on Monday after Belgium had huffed and puffed but failed to blow Panama's modest defensive fortress down before the interval.
Football action from across Europe in matches played on Saturday
AS Roma were dumped out of the Italian Cup on penalties by second-tier Spezia after a 0-0 draw at home extended their winless streak to seven matches and heaped pressure on coach Rudi Garcia.
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said he was the "proudest man on earth" and lavished praise on his "underdog" team for having the belief to upset five-times champions Brazil on Friday to reach the World Cup semi-finals for only the second time.
It took a great escape in injury time to get there after being two goals down to Japan, but Belgium can now view their quarter-final against Brazil free of the weight of expectation.
Duvan Zapata scored a goal of sheer brute force and determination to set Napoli on the way to a 2-0 win over Sassuolo which moved them another step closer to second-placed AS Roma in Serie A on Monday.
Juventus reached the halfway point of the Serie A season with a commanding five-point lead over Roma after thrashing Verona for the second time in four days on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A stoppage-time goal from Miranda gave Brazil a 1-0 win over South American rivals Argentina in a foul-strewn friendly, while Netherlands secured a 1-1 draw at neighbours Belgium.
Cristiano Ronaldo converted one penalty, missed another and also scored from open play as Portugal beat Latvia 4-1 in their World Cup qualifier on Sunday. On a typically dramatic night for the Portugal captain, Ronaldo fired the European champions ahead from his first spot kick of the evening in the first half, but missed a chance to double their lead when his second effort struck the post.
An estimated 10,000 Napoli supporters, including the team's most famous player Diego Maradona, are expected to make the trip to the Spanish capital for the first competitive meeting with Real Madrid since the 1987.
Brazil playmaker Kaka scored his first goal, a delightful curling shot, since his return to AC Milan at the start of the season but his struggling team were held 1-1 at home by Lazio in Serie A on Wednesday.
Playmaker Kaka breathed new life into struggling AC Milan by scoring twice and 18-year-old Bryan Cristante claimed his first professional goal as they beat Atalanta 3-0 on Monday for only their fifth league win of the season.
Belgium passed a test of character with a display of true grit that bodes well for a World Cup quarter-final against Brazil, coach Roberto Martinez said after they came from 2-0 behind to beat Japan 3-2 in injury time.
Two goals in three devastating second-half minutes helped Napoli reach the Italian Cup final on Wednesday with a 3-0 win over AS Roma in the second leg of their semi-final in Naples, to clinch the tie 5-3 on aggregate.
Napoli booked a clash with AS Roma in the Italian Cup semi-finals after a late instinctive Gonzalo Higuain backheel lifted Rafael Benitez's side to a 1-0 win over Lazio on Wednesday.
Napoli began their Europa League group stage campaign in scintillating fashion.
Napoli kept their hopes of a first Serie A title since 1990 alive with an epic 4-2 win over 10-man Inter Milan after a Carlos Tevez hat-trick had put leaders Juventus six points clear with a 4-0 rout of Sassuolo on Sunday.
Inter Milan's Serie A title hopes suffered a setback as they conceded a stoppage-time equaliser and were held 1-1 at home by relegation-threatened Carpi and leaders Napoli swept to a 4-2 win at Sampdoria.
It was a dramatic night at the Champions League as Barcelona's Anssumane Fati -- 17 years and 40 days old - became the youngest to net a goal in the competition. Last season's semi-finalists, Ajax were eliminated by Valencia while Napoli's coach Ancelotti was shown the door despite the team's progress. Here are Images from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
France earned a rollercoaster 4-2 home win over Croatia in an entertaining top-tier Nations League Group 3 match, while England were held to a 0-0 draw by Denmark in an uninspiring game.
Lazio thumped Empoli 4-0, their eighth successive league win, to go second in Serie A on Sunday and Napoli ended their dismal run with a 3-0 win over Fiorentina despite being denied a clear goal.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Gonzalo Higuain pulled one back three minutes later with a typically opportunist goal, the Argentine's 13th in the league this season, to set up a tense final half hour.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Four-time European Champions Ajax Amsterdam were felled at the first hurdle of the continent's second tier Europa League on Thursday, exiting in the group stage two days after rivals PSV Eindhoven celebrated long-awaited success.
Liverpool failed to muster a single shot on target in a Champions League game for the first time since a 1-0 defeat to Benfica in February 2006.
A round-up of the top-flight football matches played across Italy and Germany on Sunday
Belgium have retained injured Vincent Kompany in their final World Cup squad but put fellow defender Laurent Ciman on standby in case the Manchester City skipper is not fit for their opening match in Russia.
Atletico Madrid sealed top spot in Champions League Group D after second half goals from Frenchmen Kevin Gameiro and Antoine Griezmann but Napoli were held to a 0-0 Champions League draw at home by Dynamo Kiev.
Sevilla's love affair with the Europa League was immediately rekindled as last season's champions and three-time winners began this year's group stage with a 2-0 home victory over Feyenoord on Thursday.
