Manchester United moved to the top of the Premier League with a comfortable 2-1 win over Arsenal, a match that saw striker Robin van Persie face his old side for the first time.
Mario Gomez dusted off his shooting boots to put Fiorentina in the driving seat with a 1-1 Europa League draw at Juventus while Benfica were too good for Tottenham Hotspur, winning their last-16 first leg 3-1 away on Thursday.
In his fifth World Cup, Ronaldo will arrive captaining a team of standout players who are widely seen as among the world's best but who have arguably underachieved on the biggest stage.
Leaders Juventus stayed three points clear in Serie A on Sunday after they thumped lowly Novara 4-0 and second-placed AC Milan won 4-1 at Siena with Antonio Cassano scoring for the first time since heart surgery in October.
Former Arsenal and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole says English players are afraid of leaving their comfort zone and playing overseas.
AC Milan took their time but eventually eased past bottom side Novara 3-0 to stay on the tail of Serie A leaders Juventus on Sunday as Udinese and Inter Milan also won.
A summary of Saturday's action in LaLiga, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga.
IMAGES from the FIFA World Cup Group C match played between Argentina and Poland on Wednesday.
Barcelona must wait a bit longer before they can claim their La Liga crown after drawing 2-2 with Athletic Bilbao, while Paris St Germain and Juventus continued to close in on the French and Italian titles.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a perfect hat-trick inside 32 minutes as Juventus bounced back from their midweek Champions League exit by beating Cagliari 3-1 away in Serie A on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Jose Mourinho was delighted that Manchester United were on the brink of signing France midfielder Paul Pogba from Serie A champions Juventus, the Portuguese coach said on Sunday.
Juventus were astonishingly held to a 3-3 home draw by Lech Poznan as the Europa League group stage kicked off on Thursday while holders Atletico Madrid began the defence of their crown with a 1-0 defeat at Aris Salonika.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Alessandro Del Piero, almost certainly playing his last home game for Juventus at the age of 37, celebrated with a goal as the Serie A champions beat Atalanta 3-1 on Sunday to finish their campaign unbeaten.
AC Milan coach Leonardo and Juventus counterpart Alberto Zaccheroni bid farewell in contrasting fashions on Saturday when the Brazilian's side eased to a 3-0 win in their final league game of the season.
AS Roma's lingering hopes of catching Serie A leaders Juventus were virtually extinguished after two stunning Pepe Reina saves kept them at bay and Jose Callejon's late goal handed third-placed Napoli a 1-0 home win on Sunday.
For all his titles and incomparable statistics, Ronaldo sometimes appears to have an overbearing presence on a team
Antonio Cassano's goal in his first start for six months helped AC Milan to a 4-1 win at Siena on Sunday and kept his team within three points of Serie A leaders Juventus who thumped lowly Novara 4-0.
LaLiga leaders Barcelona's pursuit of a 27th Spanish title gained momentum after a 2-1 comeback win over Real Madrid.
Madrid hailed as 'Masters of the Universe' after crushing Juve
Bayern Munich thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 5-1, while Barcelona came from behind to beat Valencia 3-1 in LaLiga at Camp Nou on Sunday.
Juventus coach Antonio Conte has suffered much in recent months but coming away from the 'hell' of a noisy and fervent Celtic Park with a 3-0 win in their Champions League last 16 first leg felt like an enormous relief.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Juventus's big spending failed to pay dividends again on Sunday when their defensive weaknesses were exposed in an exciting 3-3 home draw with coach Luigi Del Neri's former side Sampdoria.
Borussia Dortmund beat Hertha Berlin 3-2 on penalties to reach the German Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday after the match finished 1-1 after extra time.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Cristiano Ronaldo has no symptoms of the coronavirus but will miss Portugal's UEFA Nations League game against Sweden on Wednesday
Real Madrid paid more than 200 million euros ($227.76 million) to assemble their forward line of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, but the attacking trio failed them again in Wednesday's Champions League exit to Juventus.
Barcelona continued their rampant run of domestic form to beat Osasuna 2-0 away from home on Saturday and move to within two points of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, with Lionel Messi setting up goals scored by Jordi Alba and teenager Ilaix Moriba.
'ou need to find courage to beat this fear and I generally manage to do so. That's why I feel much stronger than people who say they are never scared'
'We will need to have a good day to get past a rival of this magnitude'
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has ended speculation regarding the future of Colombian international James Rodriguez by confirming the 25-year-old winger will remain at the club.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
