'Cristiano Ronaldo v Lionel Messi' got top billing at a packed Old Trafford but it was a lesser light who scored as Portugal scraped a 1-0 friendly win over Argentina on Tuesday.
Carlos Tevez scored a solo goal after a run that started inside his own half to cap an emphatic 7-0 win for Serie A leaders Juventus over hapless Parma on Sunday.
After playing the most soporific game of the World Cup so far, France will feature in a seismic last-16 clash of former champions with a resurgent Argentina on Saturday, and they will have to drastically improve if they are to stop Lionel Messi.
Lionel Messi scored his 55th international goal to become his country's all-time leading scorer as Argentina thrashed hosts the United States 4-0 to ease into the final of the Centenary Copa America on Tuesday.
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Lampard must re-energise the team to even hold onto Chelsea's tag as best of the rest behind Premier League champions Manchester City and runners-up Liverpool.
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.
Defender Miguel Britos was sent off for head-butting an opponent as Napoli lost 3-1 at champions Juventus on Saturday, all but ending their hopes of Champions League football next season.
Brazil hammered Bolivia 5-0 in World Cup qualifiers on Thursday, giving coach Tite his third successive win in the most convincing performance from the five-time world champions for some time. Bolivia had not won a World Cup qualifier away from home since 1993 but Brazil were still excellent, particularly in the first half, when they scored four of their five goals.
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is wary of the danger posed by Juventus forward Paulo Dybala ahead of their opening Champions League Group D clash on Tuesday.
Argentina's new coach Edgardo Bauza has set his mind to wooing Lionel Messi back from international retirement as he ponders his squad for next month's South American 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Bauza was named on Monday to replace Gerardo Martino, who resigned a month ago after steering Messi's side to two successive Copa America finals which ended in penalty shootout defeats to Chile.
AC Milan clung on to beat Parma 5-4 away in Serie A on Sunday despite an dreadful defensive display which included Mattia De Sciglio scoring an extraordinary own goal from near the halfway line late in the match.
Barcelona's hopes of staging another sensational Champions League comeback fell flat against a hardened Juventus side who held the Catalans to a 0-0 draw at the Nou Camp on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals 3-0 on aggregate.
Instead, Allegri said on Monday, he would throw on all his best attacking players in an attempt to outscore his opponents in the first leg at the Juventus stadium.
A Lionel Messi masterclass, netting a brilliant free kick before laying on two more goals, put Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a resounding 3-0 win over Colombia in San Juan on Tuesday.
Edin Dzeko scored twice to set up a 3-1 win for AS Roma away to Napoli in the battle for second place in Serie A on Saturday and Paulo Dybala also notched up a brace for leaders Juventus in their 2-1 win over Udinese.
The Frenchman has failed to bring in any of his top targets in the close season and said he is still in the market for some new talent before Monday's transfer deadline.
With Argentina looking dysfunctional and under-performing throughout the qualifiers, Messi's dream of matching Maradona in Russia always looked a tall order.
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.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored with a bicycle kick which was outrageous even by his standards to lead Real Madrid to an emphatic 3-0 win away to Juventus in their Champions League quarter-final, first leg on Tuesday.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez secured victory over nine-man Atletico Madrid in La Liga's top of the table clash, while Juventus won a 12th straight Serie A game to stay hot on the heels of leaders Napoli.
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.
Napoli's decision to loan Emanuele Calaio to Genoa came back to haunt them on Monday when the 32-year-old scored with a late free kick in a 1-1 Serie A draw costing his owners two points in the race for a Champions League spot.
Argentine clubs River Plate and Boca Juniors will contest the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final, South America's equivalent of the Champions League, in Madrid on Sunday.
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Italy will even be back to four teams in the Champions League group stage this season -- although that is thanks to a controversial re-formulation of the competition by UEFA rather than a significant improvement in performances by Serie A clubs.
Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Juventus consolidated their top-flight leads at the weekend while Paris St Germain proved too strong for Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Marseille.
Later on Monday, Lukaku's brace helped Inter to a win over Napoli, taking them atop the standings on goal difference from Juventus.
A summary of the results of the football matches played across Europe on Sunday
Lionel Messi announced on Friday that he wants to return to play for the national team, reversing his decision to retire earlier this year. Messi said in June that he would not play for Argentina again after the team lost to Chile in the final of the Copa America.
The former Paris St Germain manager will be presented on Wednesday and will replace Jose Mourinho who left at the end of last season to join Chelsea.
Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga was cut after a second consecutive defeat and LeicesterCity's improbable march towards the Premier League title showed no sign of slowing as they won a fifth straight match. Juventus stayed six points clear of Napoli after Italy's top two both won and Bayern Munich extended their Bundesliga lead to seven points. Here is a summary of results from football matches played across Europe over the weekend.
Liverpool blew a chance take a vice-like grip on the title race and Chelsea suffered their worst league defeat in 23 years.
Lionel Messi notched a 20th assist of the season to help a lacklustre Barcelona secure a 1-0 win away to Real Valladolid on Saturday, maintaining the pressure on La Liga leaders Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo converted two penalties, both awarded for handballs and the second in the last minute, as Serie A leader Juventus twice hit back to draw 2-2 with Atalanta to move closer to a ninth successive Serie A title on Saturday.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday.
Inter Milan went on a rare scoring spree to thrash Serie A newcomers Frosinone 4-0 and go clear at the top on Sunday, the first time Roberto Mancini's team have won a league match by more than one goal this season.
Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek had a Europa League night to remember by scoring the first hat-trick of his career as the midfielder inspired them to a 3-1 home win over Belarus champions BATE Borisov on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid led a Spanish Armada into the Champions League last 16 with home wins on Wednesday and in-form Aaron Ramsey steadied Arsenal's boat with a battling win against rocky Borussia Dortmund.
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