Cristiano Ronaldo helped Juventus continue their unbeaten start to the Serie A season with a comfortable 2-0 home victory over struggling SPAL on Saturday.
AS Roma were dumped out of the Italian Cup on penalties by second-tier Spezia after a 0-0 draw at home extended their winless streak to seven matches and heaped pressure on coach Rudi Garcia.
Bayer Leverkusen crushed hosts VfL Bochum 5-0 to stretch their remarkable unbeaten run across all competitions this season to 50 consecutive matches.
Cristiano Ronaldo converted two penalties as he scored for the ninth Serie A game in a row on Sunday to give Juventus a somewhat flattering 3-0 win over Fiorentina which kept them top of Serie A.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League quarter-final 2nd leg matches played on Tuesday
Real Sociedad will join Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, and LaLiga champions Barcelona in Europe's elite club competition next season.
Manchester City embark on a fifth Champions League campaign buoyant after a perfect start to their domestic season but still searching for the secret formula against Europe's top brass.
Juve released a statement saying "in light of the recent radiological examinations... (Pogba) needs to continue his rehabilitation program."
Barcelona must to wait to confirm a place in the Champions League last 16 after dropping points for the first time in Group D in an absorbing 0-0 draw at Olympiakos Piraeus on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Juventus will end 2013 five points clear at the top of Serie A after a 4-1 victory at Atalanta stretched their winning league run to nine games on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo has received an offer to leave Real Madrid and join Italian champions Juventus, a source close to the player said.
A summary of results from matches played in the Italian Serie A and Ligue 1
Inter Milan's lead at the top of Serie A was cut when they lost 2-1 at home to Lazio on Sunday while AS Roma beat Genoa 2-0 to record their first win in eight games and ease the pressure on under-fire coach Rudi Garcia.
Bayern Munich are confident they have overcome a mini-slump just in time for their Champions League round of 16 second leg against Juventus on Wednesday as they chase a treble of titles this season.
Juventus were given a chance to avenge last year's Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid when they two sides were drawn together for the quarter-finals of this year's competition on Friday.
Juventus did the bare minimum as they scraped into the Champions League knockout stage on Tuesday with a 0-0 draw at home to Atletico Madrid, a result which also suited the Spaniards who topped the group.
Gonzalo Higuain pulled one back three minutes later with a typically opportunist goal, the Argentine's 13th in the league this season, to set up a tense final half hour.
The 41-year-old has made 640 appearances in Serie A, within striking distance of the 647-game record of AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini. Buffon began his career at Parma before moving to the Turin club in 2001.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi rescued a 1-1 draw at Villarreal with a sensational late free-kick on Sunday but could not prevent the champions finishing the weekend third in La Liga, five points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Images from football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
Juventus launched their bid for a sixth successive league title after their record signing Gonzalo Higuain came off the bench to grab a trademark winner in a 2-1 success over Fiorentina on the opening day of the Serie A season.
Goals by Andrea Barzagli and Mario Lemina propelled Juventus to a 2-0 win at Atalanta Bergamo on Sunday and allowed them to restore their three-point advantage at the top of Serie A.
A round-up of the top-flight football matches played across Italy and Germany on Sunday
La Liga leaders Barcelona handed Real Madrid more hope in the title race as they drew 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, only avoiding defeat thanks to some outstanding saves by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
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.
Shares in the Dutch club, in contrast, surged to a record high as it advanced to the semi-final of the lucrative competition for the first time since 1996/97.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Juventus are desperate to win a first Champions League title in a quarter of a century
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.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Defending champions Bayern Munich must face Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid after they were drawn together in Champions League Group A alongside Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow.
Images from the Serie A and La Liga matches played on Saturday.
His goal completed a comeback after Cristiano Ronaldo put Juventus 2-1 in front.
'They created danger when we lost the ball or because of our errors. I believe that if we stay calm, remain really patient and make them move then the game will go our way'
Ten-man Manchester City staged a dramatic comeback with late goals from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling securing them a 3-2 win at Schalke 04 in their Champions League Round of 16 first leg.
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.
Last season's runners-up Liverpool, big-spending French league champions Paris St Germain and Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli were thrown together in the pick of the groups while holders Real Madrid must face last season's semi-finalists AS Roma.
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.
Juventus slumped to another surprise defeat on Wednesday when the champions lost 1-0 at Sassuolo while AS Roma reclaimed top spot in Serie A with a 3-1 home victory over Udinese.
