Barcelona first struggled to come to terms with their shock 4-0 defeat to Paris St Germain in the Champions League last 16 first leg but have sparkled in their last two games and are daring to believe they can defy history by reaching the quarter-finals.
Leaders Bayern Munich eased past VfB Stuttgart 2-0 on Saturday to grab their first win of the year, as did Borussia Dortmund who beat Freiburg 3-0 to climb off the bottom of the Bundesliga table.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Germany scored five times in 27 minutes in the first half to crush Estonia 8-0 and make it three wins in three Euro 2020 Group C qualifiers.
Borussia Dortmund snatched a late goal at Atalanta to progress with a 1-1 draw, while AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, both with three-goal leads from the away legs, completed the formality of qualifying with 1-0 wins at home on Thursday.
Bayern Munich's party was wrecked by Borussia Moenchengladbach who hit back for a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, forcing the Bavarians to wait at least a week to clinch a fourth straight Bundesliga title.
In-form Borussia Moenchengladbach struck three times in 14 minutes in the second half to floor champions Bayern Munich 3-1 on Saturday and inflict their first Bundesliga defeat of the season.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United beat AC Milan 5-4 on penalties after their International Champions Cup match in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium ended 2-2 in regulation time on Saturday.
Round-up of football matches played around Europe on Saturday.
South Korea scored, twice, and the German team crashed out of the tournament in the first round, for the first time in history. Uttaran Das Gupta discovers a stunned nation on a visit to Germany during the World Cup.
South Korea's faint hopes of reaching the last 16 of the World Cup have faded further with news that captain Ki Sung-yueng will miss their final group game against Germany.
Germany overcame an early red card to Emre Can and eventually eased to a 3-0 victory away to Estonia on Sunday in a Euro 2020 qualifier to go joint-top of Group C.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Bayern Munich had to put their Bundesliga title celebrations on hold on Saturday after beating gutsy Mainz 05 2-0 while Borussia Dortmund also won, 3-0 at Hanover 96.
Levante striker Roger Marti brushed off squandering a penalty to score the winning goal as his side pulled off a shock 2-1 La Liga victory at Real Madrid
Germany's Thomas Mueller struck twice as the nervy world champions kicked off their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign with a 2-1 victory over Scotland on Sunday.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday.
Images from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Defiant 10-man Porto upset Juventus to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate draw despite losing 3-2 to the Italians following extra time in a thrilling clash that went to the wire on Tuesday.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich survived several first-half scares in a 1-1 home draw with midtable Schalke 04 on Saturday as Philipp Lahm made his 500th appearance for the Bavarian club.
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 was in inspired form as champions Barcelona hammered Celta Vigo 5-0 on Saturday, recording a fourth straight league victory which keeps them top of La Liga after Real Madrid had put the pressure on the Catalans with a 4-1 win at Eibar.
Germany were stunned 1-0 by Mexico in the opening game of their World Cup defence on Sunday as Hirving Lozano finished off a sharp counter-attack that exposed the ragged defending that the four-times winners had displayed in their warm-up games.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United's hopes of salvaging their season in the Europa League suffered a stinging setback when they lost 2-1 at Danish side Midtjylland in the first leg of their last-32 clash on Thursday.
Karim Benzema fired Real Madrid to a 1-0 win in the city derby against Atletico Madrid on Saturday which underlined Real's La Liga title credentials. Bayern Munich scored three goals in the opening 26 minutes to defeat Mainz 05 3-1 away on Saturday and go two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with their sixth straight win.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
RB Leipzig scored twice in the opening 13 minutes but had to survive a late comeback from Manchester United to cling on to a 3-2 win on Tuesday that sent them into the Champions League knockout stage and eliminated the English side.
The 2014 World Cup was a captivating carnival of football with high drama and Germany displayed their credentials as worthy champions.
Barcelona lost for the second straight La Liga game in a 1-0 home reverse against Celta Vigo but there was no such trouble for Manchester City, who beat 10-man Manchester United 1-0 thanks to Sergio Aguero.
Images from the 2020 Euro Championships qualifiers played on Saturday
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Zlatan Ibrahimovic bagging four goals, while Juventus and Bayern Munich preserved their leads and FA Cup holders Arsenal were dumped out of the competition.
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