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.
Juventus made light work of bitter rivals Inter Milan on Sunday, winning 3-1 to increase their Serie A lead to nine points after AS Roma were washed out and Napoli blundered to a 3-0 defeat at Atalanta.
Paraguay drew 1-1 with Uruguay at the Copa America to go top of Group B, one point ahead of Argentina before the tournament favourites take on eliminated Jamaica later on Saturday.
La Liga leaders Barcelona hit two goals in the final three minutes to earn a 3-2 win at Rayo Vallecano
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.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has rebuffed calls from angry fans for him to step down and backed coach Rafael Benitez after Saturday's humiliating 4-0 defeat at home to Barcelona in the La Liga 'El Clasico'.
Roger Federer made a comfortable start to his quest for a 100th title, despatching Fabio Fognini in straight sets to ease into the quarter-finals at the Paris Masters on Thursday.
Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic embraced the art of winning ugly after they beat 10-man Real Betis 2-0 to move closer to retaining their La Liga title.
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.
Atletico Madrid stayed firmly on course for a surprise La Liga title triumph when Raul Garcia's header secured a 1-0 win for the leaders at home to seventh-placed Villarreal on Saturday.
'It's evident that we are in a hole, we aren't at our best at the moment nor our most effective.'
Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero will miss Argentina's final South American World Cup qualifier against Uruguay on Tuesday as the team who have already booked their place at next year's finals prepare to field yet more reserves.
Paulo Dybala upstaged his fellow Argentine Lionel Messi by scoring two exquisitely taken goals to set Juventus on the way to an emphatic 3-0 win over an underwhelming Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronald headed his 300th goal for Real Madrid in a laboured 2-0 La Liga victory at neighbours Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday that kept the gap on leaders Barcelona down to four points.
Maria Sharapova has confirmed she has severed ties with coach Jimmy Connors after one match together. The Russian world number three said in a statement e-mailed to Tennis.com that the pairing had not been 'the right fit for this time in my career'.
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.
The prolific fashion designer had given the Chanel's Paris haute couture show a miss in January due to ill health.
Goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon sent Napoli top of Serie A after they beat Atalanta 2-0 on Saturday while an injury-time Mario Balotelli penalty helped AC Milan come from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw at Torino.
Dabang Mumbai caused a 2-1 upset win over hosts Uttar Pradesh Wizards in the Hockey India League (HIL) match, in Lucknow, on Saturday.
Images from Day 6 of the French Open in Paris on Friday.
The Real Madrid forward apologises after Real Madrid dumped out of King's Cup by Atletico Madrid.
Images from all the action from Day 1 of the French Open played at Roland Garros in Paris on Sunday
Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann struck twice as the Spanish side outclassed hapless Olympique de Marseille 3-0 on Wednesday to win the Europa League for the third time.
Mateo Kovacic's late strike avoided embarrassment for Real Madrid as the European champions surrendered a two-goal lead before drawing 3-3 with Legia Warsaw in an enthralling Champions League game played amid an empty stadium on Wednesday.
Spain are steadily turning to the next generation ahead of their Euro 2016 opener against the Czech Republic later on Monday as the defending champions look to redeem themselves after a miserable World Cup two years ago. For Spain's disappointing showing in 2014, coach Vicente del Bosque retained 16 of the squad that won the title in 2010, but only eight winners remain for Euro 2016, with players such as Alvaro Morata, Hector Bellerin and Thiago Alcantara introduced as part of a significant changing of the guard. Sergio Ramos is confident the new boys, five of whom were part of the 2013 European under 21-winning side, can lead Spain into a new golden era.
Spain captain Iker Casillas believes David de Gea is "no longer a future prospect but a strong contender" to play in goal for the national team at Euro 2016. Porto goalkeeper Casillas has been the country's first-choice keeper since 2002 but De Gea is considered favourite to start after a solid season for Manchester United. "De Gea is no longer the future but a strong contender," Casillas told Cadena Cope radio. "It's clear that all of us that are here, we think that we can play. "We are 23 players that play as starters for important clubs and we all believe that we can help the national team but deciding who starts is the coach's job." Spain coach Vicente del Bosque will not make a decision of who will play between the posts until June 13, when his team begins its European Championship campaign against the Czech Republic in Toulouse.
Alexis Sanchez had equalised for the visitors, scoring on the rebound after Manuel Neuer saved his 30th-minute penalty but the Gunners suffered when captain Laurent Koscielny limped off injured to leave the defence exposed.
Images from the EPL matches played on Sunday
Mumbai is also on the top-10 'improvers' list.
Juventus defender Dani Alves produced an inspired display capped by a stunning volleyed goal in a 2-1 win over AS Monaco on Tuesday that took the Italians into their second Champions League final in three years.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Inspirational men's team captain P R Sreejesh and fast-rising drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh are the two Indians in contention for different honours at the FIH annual awards which will be given away in a formal ceremony for the first time, in Chandigarh on February 23.
Napoli suffered their first defeat of the season on Sunday when they lost 1-0 at lowly Atalanta while Serie A leaders Juventus surged on with a 3-0 win at Empoli, helped by a Gonzalo Higuain brace.
Coach Gerardo Martino believes Argentina can improve on Tuesday's 6-1 Copa America semi-final demolition of Paraguay, adding that aspects of the goalless draw against Colombia in the previous round had pleased him more.
Atletico Madrid's players will not allow praise to go to their heads even though they are level on points with Barcelona at the top of La Liga, coach Diego Simeone has said.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri criticised his players for letting their guard down and losing 2-1 at arch-rivals Inter Milan after taking the lead in the second half at the San Siro.
Liverpool's livewire Sadio Mane scored one goal and played a crucial part in the other as they reclaimed the Premier League's top spot with a scrappy 2-1 win at second bottom Fulham on Sunday.
To finish with dignity is how Robin van Persie wants to end his playing days on Sunday when he hangs up his boots after an 18-year career.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique played down talk of a rift with his squad after their surprise home defeat by Alaves and is hoping to put things right in their Champions League opener against Celtic on Tuesday.
Barcelona left it late to snatch a 1-0 win at Valencia on Sunday after Atletico Madrid's 2-0 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna was overshadowed by the death of a visiting fan hours before kickoff.
