Lionel Messi requires two more goals to reach 500 for Barcelona and will have his sights set on achieving the milestone against great rivals Real Madrid in Sunday's Clasico.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
AS Roma missed the chance to put pressure on Serie A leaders Juventus after playing out a frustrating goalless draw with Inter Milan in front of a half empty Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
AS Roma's Radja Nainggolan scored his first goal for the club as they edged lowly Bologna 1-0 away in a closely-fought Serie A match on Saturday to move within six points of leaders Juventus.
A spectacular piledriver from Juan Cuadrado gave Serie A leaders Juventus a 1-0 win over Inter Milan, ending a run of seven successive Serie A wins for their opponents in a pulsating end-to-end match on Sunday.
Nigeria beat Bosnia 1-0 on Saturday to record their first World Cup finals victory since 1998 and condemn the European team to an early exit in their first appearance at the tournament.
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.
Cristiano Ronaldo's goal, which took his league tally for the season to 21, meant that he joined Fabio Quagliarella and Gabriel Batistuta as the only players to have scored in 11 consecutive league appearances. He also reached yet another milestone with his 1,000th match for club and country in a remarkable career which has seen him play for Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Portugal.
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.
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is wary of the danger posed by Juventus forward Paulo Dybala ahead of their opening Champions League Group D clash on Tuesday.
Dutch teenager Max Verstappen is a rare talent comparable to the late Ayrton Senna, according to Red Bull's Formula One consultant Helmut Marko.
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.
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Barcelona are on the verge of Champions League elimination after being thrashed 3-0 by Juventus in Turin on Tuesday, and few believe lightning can strike twice.
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score 400 goals in Europe's top five leagues as Juventus dropped points for the first time this season following a 1-1 Serie A draw with Genoa on Saturday. The Portuguese striker's fifth league goal for Juve carried him to the milestone, adding to his 84 strikes for Manchester United in the Premier League and 311 for Real Madrid in La Liga.
Photos from the Champions League match played between Real Madrid and AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday
Champions Liverpool suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to lowly Burnley on Thursday, ending their 68 match unbeaten home record in the Premier League as their title defence continued to fade.
Manager Claudio Ranieri has challenged Leicester City to put in their best performance of the season when they host FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has defended centre-back Gerard Pique's right to make comments about referees favouring Real Madrid.
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.
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.
Carlos Tevez scored twice to give Serie A leaders Juventus a 3-2 win over Fiorentina on Wednesday but Lazio prevented them from celebrating the title by thumping bottom club Parma 4-0, which condemned their opponents to Serie B.
Juventus raced into a 2-0 halftime lead after Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret was sent off in the 25th minute. The visitors then had Pjanic dismissed and Napoli's Jose Callejon pulled one back before Insigne let the Turin side off the hook.
Ousmane Dembele struck early and Lionel Messi converted a late penalty as Barcelona won 2-0 at Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday after Alvaro Morata had three goals disallowed for offside for the Serie A side.
Hertha Berlin's Salomon Kalou scored twice, including a stoppage-time penalty, to earn a last-gasp 2-2 draw at Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Spain's Alvaro Morata scored a goal in each half as they beat a highly defensive Malta side 2-0 away on Tuesday to move top of their Euro 2020 qualifying group with two wins out of two games.
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.
Sevilla will attempt to draw Bayern Munich out of their comfort zone and take the game to the Germans,
A round-up of the top-flight football matches played across Italy and Germany on Sunday
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.
Lionel Messi was back in scoring business for Barcelona on Sunday, leading them to a resounding 4-0 win at home against Villarreal in a near-perfect La Liga opener for the Catalans under new coach Ronald Koeman.
Real Madrid failed to win their Champions League group for the first time in four years when a late goal by substitute Marco Reus allowed Borussia Dortmund to equalise and clinch a 2-2 draw.
The Belgian forward came off the bench to make his Real debut in Saturday's 3-2 win over Levante, having had his start to life at the club hit by a thigh injury the day before the La Liga season began.
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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.
A summary of Saturday night's matches in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his first five-goal haul in Real Madrid's 9-1 hammering of Granada while title-chasing Bayern Munich and Chelsea won again in Germany and England.
Nemanja Matic's header ended Sporting's proud four-year unbeaten home run in Europe as Chelsea seized control of Champions League Group G with a 1-0 victory in Lisbon on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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