Didier Drogba scored twice on his return from a three-match European suspension as Chelsea drew 2-2 at Atletico Madrid to seal their place in the knock-out round of the Champions League on Tuesday. They were joined in the last 16 by Manchester United, Porto and Girondins Bordeaux, although four-time European champions Bayern Munich are on the brink of elimination after losing at home to the French champions.
A late Bafetimbi Gomis goal gave Olympique Lyon a 2-1 home win over Toulouse to send the seven-times champions to the top of Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Olympique Lyon coach Claude Puel is under no illusions that his side face a monumental task to reclaim a Ligue 1 title they owned for seven successive seasons without their two most influential players.
Olympique Lyon's hopes of clinching an eighth consecutive Ligue 1 title suffered another blow when they were held to a goalless draw at home to Paris St Germain on Friday.
Chelsea completed a clean sweep for English teams in the Champions League group stage after beating Cluj 2-1 on Tuesday to join holders Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool in the last 16 of the competition.
Chelsea, last season's beaten finalists, are taking nothing for granted in their first match against Romanian opposition despite Cluj's lack of European experience.
Chelsea's World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari becomes the latest to try to guide the rich London club to European club football's big prize on Tuesday when the Champions League groups stages kick off.
Holders Manchester United will face familiar foes Celtic in this season's Champions League group stage.
Olympique Lyon suffered another setback when Lorient knocked them out of the French League Cup with a 1-0 home win on Wednesday.
Olympique Lyon stayed on course for a seventh consecutive Ligue 1 title by winning 2-1 at mid-table Valenciennes on Sunday.
Bayern Munich, facing an early Champions League exit, revived their chances of reaching the last 16 on Wednesday as they beat Maccabi Haifa 1-0 and rivals Juventus lost at Girondins Bordeaux. AC Milan missed a chance to qualify when they were held 1-1 at home by Olympique Marseille and Real Madrid produced an uninspiring 1-0 win over Swiss champions FC Zurich in the same group.
Monaco handed Paris St Germain their first defeat of the season in Ligue 1 when a couple of late goals earned them a 2-0 home victory on Sunday.
A 25-metre half-volley from Miohel Bastos helped Olympique Lyon defeat AS Nancy 3-1 to grab top spot in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
A late Brandao goal gave Olympique Marseille a 2-1 win at Lorient which sent them two points clear at the top of Ligue 1 on Sunday.
Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyon lost 2-0 to Lille at the Stade de France on Saturday and saw their advantage at the top cut to just one point.
Luiz Felipe Scolari said his Chelsea team did not play as well as he would have liked despite their emphatic 4-0 win over Girondins Bordeaux in their opening Champions League Group A match on Tuesday. Bordeaux manager Laurent Blanc, a winner at Stamford Bridge during his spell in central defence with Manchester United at the start of the decade, said Chelsea were far the better team.
Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba handed Olympique Marseille a slender 1-0 lead over Inter Milan in quarter-final, first leg match.
Olympique Lyon wrapped up a record seventh consecutive Ligue 1 title with a convincing 3-1 win at AJ Auxerre.
The Czech midfielder has been ruled out of the World Cup finals due to a leg injury.
Olympique Lyon's dip in form is proving to be of concern to the players before next week's Champions League tie against PSV Eindhoven.
A round-up of weekend action in the main European leagues.
Real Madrid and Juventus kept a firm grip at the top after wins in Spain and Italy.
Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been handed a four-game suspension for insulting match officials, the French League said on Thursday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been summoned by the French League's (LFP) disciplinary commission to explain derogatory remarks he made after Paris St Germain's 3-2 defeat at Girondins Bordeaux last weekend.
Parma, joint bottom of Serie A alongside Cesena, have signed Uruguay midfielder Cristian Rodriguez and Portugal forward Silvestre Varela, both on loan, the club said on Tuesday.
Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyonnais were knocked out of the French Cup 3-2 at Nantes on Tuesday with Vincent Bessat grabbing a hat-trick in the last-32 game on a night of upsets.
Hulk signs two-year contract with Atletico Mineiro.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Holders Paris St Germain reached their third consecutive League Cup final when goals by Argentina's Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria gave the French champions a 2-0 victory over Toulouse.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has suffered another injury setback after a foot problem picked up in training ruled him out of a return against Girondins Bordeaux in the Europa League
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Paris St Germain extended their Ligue 1 lead to 13 points with a 4-3 home victory against Girondins de Bordeaux on Sunday but the French champions were again exposed at the back and had Neymar sent off. A Marquinhos double, Edinson Cavani's 200th PSG goal and a goal by Kylian Mbappe put the capital side on 65 points from 26 games but they lost captain Thiago Silva to a muscle injury and Neymar picked up a straight red card for a late challenge in stoppage time.
Former European champions Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic, who both suffered the indignity of being knocked of the Champions League qualifiers by underdogs this season, will meet in the Europa Leagueafter being drawn together in the group stage on Friday.
Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic put his disciplinary woes aside on Friday.
The win lifted Hamburg, who needed a relegation playoff to stay up last season, to seventh on six points.
Liverpool's Matip did not want to play for Cameroon for the moment because of a 'bad experience' with the previous coaching staff
Paris St Germain's second-string side were held to a 4-4 draw at struggling Amiens after erasing a three-goal deficit only to concede a stoppage time-equaliser in Ligue 1 on Saturday. The result left PSG 13 points clear of second-placed Olympique de Marseille after manager Thomas Tuchel rested several regular starters ahead of Tuesday's first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with Borussia Dortmund.
For however much or little it counts, Belgium have history on their side in not having lost to the Irish for 50 years, which includes beating them by a single goal in the playoffs to win a place at the 1998 World Cup in France.
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