Chelsea moved within touching distance of a first Premier League title in five years with a 1-0 win over Manchester United while Lionel Messi reached a landmark with his 400th career goal for La Liga leaders Barcelona.
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.
Hellas Verona produced a huge upset by coming from behind to beat Serie A leaders Juventus 2-1 on Saturday, inflicting a third defeat of the season on the Italian champions. Cristiano Ronaldo set a new Juventus record by scoring in a 10th consecutive league game to put the visitors in front at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi after 65 minutes.
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Gonzalo Higuain has led Napoli's challenge for their first Serie A title since 1990 with a remarkable 26 goals in 28 league games, yet the fiery Argentine does not seem to have enjoyed a single moment of it. Higuain, an out-and-out striker who can safely be described as an old-fashioned number nine, stomps around the field with an expression that suggests he is carrying the whole world on his shoulders. There is always something for the 28-year-old to gesticulate angrily about, whether it be a refereeing decision, a team mate failing to pass him the ball or his coach deciding to substitute him. In his last outings, he kicked a water bottle over in disgust after being substituted at Fiorentina and then failed to join his team mates in saluting the crowd following Saturday's 3-1 win over Chievo, despite scoring in both games. His goal celebrations invariably involve thumping his chest and seem to be more an act of defiance than a show of joy.
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On a good night for English clubs in the Europa League, Manchester United hammered AZ Alkmaar 4-0, while Wolverhampton Wanderers also thrashed Besiktas 4-0 in Group K, and Arsenal came from two goals down to draw 2-2 away to Standard Liege and finish first in their pool. The upset of the night came in Group J as Crivelli scored a 90th-minute winner against Borussia Moenchengladbach to send Basaksehir through and knock the Germans out, with AS Roma grabbing the runner-up spot thanks to a 2-2 home draw with Wolfsberger as the Europa League group stage concluded on Thursday.
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Barcelona look well set to wrap up the La Liga title.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday
Lionel Messi has been included in Barcelona's squad for Wednesday's Spanish Super Cup second leg at home to Atletico Madrid after recovering from a thigh problem sustained in last week's 1-1 first-leg draw at the Calderon.
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Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring as Juventus beat visiting Bologna 2-1 on Saturday to move four points clear at the top of the Serie A table. Ronaldo struck from close range after 19 minutes, but Danilo levelled for the visitors soon afterwards.
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A summary of results from matches played in the Italian Serie A and Ligue 1
Cristiano Ronaldo finally became the highest scorer in Real Madrid's history while Bayern Munich set a record for the greatest number of successive wins at the start of a season in the Bundesliga this weekend.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
New coach Luciano Spalletti failed to inspire AS Roma as they were held 1-1 at home by bottom club Verona on his debut on Sunday and Juventus notched their 10th Serie A win in a row by hammering Udinese 4-0 away.
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The victory moved second-placed Bayern, who take on Celtic in the Champions League next week, up to 17 points, two behind Dortmund who suffered their first home loss in 41 league matches.
Rising Indian midfielder Manpreet Singh was named the 'Junior Player of the Year' by the Asian Hockey Federation in its Congress held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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An insatiable Lionel Messi scored for the eighth game in a row in all competitions as La Liga champions Barcelona saw off a gutsy Girona side 2-0 to go five points clear at the top of the standings.
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.
The Portuguese forward then fired in the penalty in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
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All the latest football news from around Europe.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field on Friday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
As we sit at home and miss live action, the wondrous phenomenon of sport has delivered so many past glories that we will probably never run out of things to see, recalls Dhruv Munjal.
A summary of the results of the football matches played across Europe 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
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Balotelli made his debut for his hometown club after completing a four-match suspension that he was handed at Olympique de Marseille last season, while the visitors were without Cristiano Ronaldo as he recovers from injury.
The victory saw the unfashionable Madrid club tighten their grip on the coveted fourth spot in the table by moving on to 58 points after 36 games, three points clear of nearest challengers Sevilla, who lost to Leganes on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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