Ten-man Premier League leaders Leicester City lost at title-chasing Arsenal, while La Liga pacesetters Barcelona crushed Celta Vigo and Juventus took over from Napoli at the top of Serie A by edging their rivals.
Atletico Madrid demonstrated their remarkable team spirit to come roaring back from two goals and a man down to draw 2-2 at Liga debutants Girona on Saturday, after Antoine Griezmann had been sent off for the first time in his career.
Chelsea rode their luck to emerge with a second win in as many English Premier League games on Wednesday after Branislav Ivanovic escaped a red card and then his marker to head them to a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.
Barcelona look well set to wrap up the La Liga title.
European heavyweights Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain all maintained their leads and Benfica toppled Sporting Lisbon.
Chelsea's Diego Costa continued his stunning start to life in the Premier League with a hat-trick in a 4-2 comeback win over Swansea City on Saturday that left champions Manchester City staring up the table after a 2-2 draw at Arsenal.
From the planet's costliest player Neymar to 'tiki-taka' kings Xavi and Iniesta to the ultimate sorcerer Ronaldinho, the FIFA Under-17 World Cup has been the cradle for many of world football's household names.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Cristiano Ronaldo ensured Atletico Madrid fans will have bitter memories of the last local derby at the Vicente Calderon stadium by scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win for La Liga leaders Real Madrid on Saturday. Ronaldo's deflected free kick put Real in charge in the 23rd minute in the first meeting of the teams since the Champions League final in May. The prolific Portuguese killed off Atletico's resistance by winning and converting a penalty in the 71st minute and capped a harrowing night for the home side by tapping in the third in the 77th.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Mohamed Salah struck four times in rampant Liverpool's 5-0 thrashing of Watford that lifted them back into third spot in the Premier League on Saturday.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday
Atletico Madrid got their La Liga campaign up and running in less than convincing fashion when Antoine Griezmann's deflected free kick secured an edgy 1-0 win at home to promoted Las Palmas on Saturday.
Mexico's national coach Victor Vucetich says he has been notified by the country's soccer federation that he is no longer in the job, according to an interview posted on Thursday night on ESPN.com.
Bayern Munich and Barcelona registered easy wins, while Manchester United came from behind to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 and Chelsea surrendered the top spot after a 1-1 at home against Atletico Madrid.
Summary of World Cup qualifiers played across the world on Thursday
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Mexico have confirmed Miguel 'Piojo' Herrera will coach the national squad at the World Cup finals in Brazil next year.
Barcelona battled back from a goal down and scored twice in the second half to overcome hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 in their Champions League Group C match on Wednesday despite the absence of the injured Lionel Messi.
Lionel Messi marked his retirement about face with a goal to give 10-man Argentina a 1-0 win over Uruguay on Thursday that lifted them to the top of the South American qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia.
Making their first appearance in the WTA Finals in Singapore, Sania Mirza and Cara Black outplayed Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in their opening match to book their semi-finals berth on Thursday.
Karim Benzema scored his sixth goal in four games as Real Madrid beat Alaves 3-0 on Sunday for a fourth successive La Liga victory which took the European champions to within eight points of leaders Barcelona.
A summary of Tuesday's qualification matches next year's FIFA World Cup.
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Croatian wunderkind Borna Coric offered emphatic proof of his potential when he crushed Rafael Nadal in the Swiss Indoor tournament on Friday before local hero Roger Federer cruised into the last four.
A summary of Tuesday's Group stage matches in the UEFA Champions League.
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.
Nike Inc and some other big international companies face a grilling over their powerful role in Brazilian soccer.
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