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.
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.
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.
Defender Filipe Luis has rejoined Atletico Madrid from Chelsea in a reported 16 million euro ($17.66 million) deal, the Spanish club said.
A mesmeric Lionel Messi helped Barcelona to come from behind and beat Sevilla 2-1 in a thrilling encounter on Sunday as the champions kept the pressure on La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who saw off Leganes 3-0 thanks to a double from Gareth Bale.
Zenit St Petersburg condemned violence by their fans during the 4-1 defeat by Austria Vienna in the Champions League on Wednesday, saying the trouble-makers led to the Russian team's poor performance.
Juventus moved nine points clear at the top of Serie A after defeating Palermo 4-0 at home on Sunday and Francesco Totti bagged a dramatic late equaliser as AS Roma drew 3-3 at Atalanta.
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Substitute Fernando Torres scored his 100th Atletico Madrid goal as they rallied from 1-0 down to beat visiting Eibar 3-1 and go level with Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Saturday. Two headed goals from corner kicks seven minutes apart by central defenders Jose Maria Gimenez and Saul put Atletico on track after Keko had given Eibar the lead in the 46th. Coach Diego Simeone will be glad his side ended a run of four matches without a win in La Liga and the King's Cup while Torres, who netted in added time, had been waiting since a victory at Eibar in September to reach his century for the club. Atletico are unlikely to stay joint top on 51 points beyond Sunday as rampant Barcelona, who have a better goal difference and two matches in hand, visit bottom team Levante. Real Madrid, away to Granada on Sunday, are in third place, four points off the pace.
Debutant Stephan El Shaarawy scored with a crafty backheeled volley to give AS Roma a 3-1 win over Frosinone in Serie A on Saturday, their first under coach Luciano Spalletti.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
Sevilla drew level on points with Barcelona at the top of La Liga when they snatched a 2-1 comeback victory at home to Villarreal, while champions Atletico Madrid won 1-0 in a bad-tempered clash at Getafe on Sunday.
You don't have to be a nature-lover to appreciate these captivating shots taken from around the world. The Natural History Museum has released its shortlist for its celebrated People's Choice Award -- a title that lauds the very best of wildlife immortalised by the lens. This remarkable gallery of finalists was selected from almost 50,000 submissions from 92 countries. From birds bursting with colour to giraffes to fish we're not used to seeing -- here are some of the pictures.
The visitors got off to the perfect start when a mix up at the back saw Riyad Mahrez square for Jamie Vardy to tap into an open goal in front of the Kop in the third minute. Liverpool looked for an immediate riposte, but Salah missed two gilt-edged opportunities before Sadio Mane saw an effort disallowed for offside as Juergen Klopp's men grew frustrated.
Atletico Madrid celebrated like they had won the trophy after reaching the Champions League quarter-finals by edging past PSV Eindhoven 8-7 on penalties on Tuesday following 210 goalless minutes in their last-16 tie.
A look at the pictures.
Cristiano Ronaldo's bullet header helped Real Madrid to a 2-0 victory .
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane reckons Cristiano Ronaldo is on top form as the Portuguese looks to increase his Champions League goals tally when they visit AS Roma in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday.
Alvaro Morata again proved decisive from the bench by striking a late winner against Athletic Bilbao and firing a lacklustre Real Madrid to the top of La Liga on Sunday. The Spain international has been afforded limited opportunities in his first season back at Real following two years with Juventus, struggling to usurp first choice forwards Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Morata has made just four league starts, but has scored four times in all competitions.
Many former players believe that storming out of games is a powerful tool to counter racism, a move that will force administrators to take the problem more seriously, and act in a way that compels clubs to obliterate such a culture and evict those responsible, says Dhruv Munjal.
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Real Madrid beat Leganes 4-2 on Wednesday despite resting key players including Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale as goals from Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez helped them stay top of La Liga after Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win over Sevilla.
AS Roma stalwart Francesco Totti came off the bench with four minutes left and scored twice to give his Champions League-chasing side a dramatic 3-2 win over Torino in Serie A on Wednesday.
Two goals from Arda Turan and one from Lionel Messi gave Barcelona a 3-0 win over Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup second leg on Wednesday to seal a 5-0 aggregate victory.
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'Hopefully, people will understand that, beyond medical vaccination plans, in the future we will also need to implement some 'social inoculation' plans.'
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.
Lionel Messi struck a spectacular free kick, scored another goal and set up two more in a 4-1 victory for Barcelona over nine-man city rivals Espanyol in the first leg of their King's Cup last-16 clash on Wednesday.
Antoine Griezmann headed two goals for Atletico Madrid in a 3-1 victory over Levante that kept them on the heels of La Liga leaders Real Madrid on Saturday.
India FA eye origin players for short-term solution
Top Indian side Mohun Bagan played out a 1-1 draw against Yangon United in their away match to put themselves on the verge of booking a historic knockout berth in the AFC Cup football tournament in Yangon on Wednesday.
A plane carrying 72 people, including football players from Brazil, has reportedly crashed in Colombia. Authorities are responding to an emergency after an airplane with 72 people on board has crashed on its way to Medellin's international airport.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Champions Juventus returned to the top of Serie A with a 4-0 home rout of Cagliari on Wednesday, while former leaders Napoli dropped to second after being held to a goalless draw at Genoa.
Inter Milan's Serie A title hopes suffered a setback as they conceded a stoppage-time equaliser and were held 1-1 at home by relegation-threatened Carpi and leaders Napoli swept to a 4-2 win at Sampdoria.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Angel Di Maria delivered a near-perfect performance, scoring two and setting up another as runaway leaders Paris St Germain beat 10-man Olympique de Marseille 3-1 at home on Sunday.
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A superb brace from debutant Raul Fabiani (16th and 76th minute) gave Pune FC a well earned 3-1 win over Mohammedan Sporting in their I-League opener in Kolkata on Saturday.
