A toothless and haggard Real Madrid slumped to a humiliating 10th Liga defeat of the season on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at struggling neighbours Rayo Vallecano.
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.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
A round-up of Friday's action in La Liga, and Bundesliga.
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.
James Rodriguez netted twice and Dominic Calvert-Lewin became the first Everton player to score in the opening four matches of a Premier League season as they beat Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 on Saturday to stay top of the table with a maximum 12 points.
Images from football matches played in Europe on Friday.
Barcelona closed in on the La Liga title after beating 10-man Atletico Madrid 2-0 in Saturday's top-of-the-table showdown at the Nou Camp as late strikes by Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi gave the Catalans an 11-point lead at the top of the table.
Eight wins and a draw in their last nine games had seen Leicester emerge as the closest pursuers of runaway leaders Liverpool but they went down 3-1 at the Etihad despite taking an early lead through Jamie Vardy. Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Real Madrid are determined to create an intimidating atmosphere for visitors VfL Wolfsburg as they try to overturn a two-goal deficit in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Surprise leaders Leicester City face a severe test of their Premier League title credentials over the next 10 days, starting with Saturday's trip to Manchester City.
Before Leicester enchanted the sporting world last year with their miraculous Premier League title win, Atletico had worked similar wonders in 2014 by breaking the strangehold of Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Barring a monumental collapse Manchester City will win at least two trophies this season, but former England captain Alan Shearer believes European bragging rights are what the club's Abu Dhabi owners crave most.
When Barcelona host local rivals Espanyol on Saturday hoping to edge closer to the La Liga title, many may be haunted by Raul Tamudo's 89th minute equaliser which wrecked their title bid in 2006/07.
This and more from the happenings in the world of football.
Real Madrid must play with patience against VfL Wolfsburg when they try to overturn a 2-0 deficit in Tuesday's ChampionsLeague quarter-final second leg, manager Zinedine Zidane said.
Juventus's win over Real Madrid has strengthened their conviction that they are good enough to rejoin European football's elite after years of watching the Champions League final stages from the sidelines.
A Spanish judge has accepted a legal complaint filed by Brazilian investment fund DIS that alleges it was the victim of a fraud perpetrated in Barcelona's signing of forward Neymar from Santos.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice to earn Arsenal a 3-2 Premier League win over Everton on Sunday, extending the Gunners' unbeaten start to 2020 and moving them back into the battle for European places. The win lifts Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side up to ninth place in the league with 37 points, while Everton remain without a victory at the Gunners in 24 years and a point adrift in 11th.
United sacked manager Jose Mourinho on Tuesday after the sixth-placed side made their worst start to a season for 28 years.
The former Chelsea goalkeeper had to wait for 11 games to reach the landmark and produced an inspired performance that included a second-half penalty save from Watford striker Troy Deeney to help Arsenal seal the win.
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.
Claudio Bravo was pictured leaving Barcelona Airport on Tuesday and his expected move to Manchester City is likely to trigger the departure of England goalkeeper Joe Hart. The 33-year-old Bravo is set for a medical this week at the Etihad Stadium where he will team up again with Pep Guardiola, his former manager at Barca. The Spanish champions said on Saturday they had reached a "preliminary agreement with City" for the sale of the Chile captain.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Professional soccer leagues around Europe are gearing up for a return to action following the novel coronavirus stoppage, but some are more advanced than others.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed he is interested in signing Everton's young centre back John Stones, who has been linked with a 50 million-pounds ($65.72 million) move to the Etihad Stadium.
Lionel Messi came off the bench to preserve Barcelona's unbeaten run in La Liga with a sensational late equaliser in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Sevilla on Saturday as the runaway leaders came back from two goals down in the space of a minute.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Guardiola has crafted a sleek offensive unit but, after a breathless opening 15 minutes at The Emirates, they appeared to ease off as their intensity levels dropped and they allowed Arsenal back into the match.
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Pep Guardiola's formidable managerial skills will be put to the test again when his stuttering ManchesterCity side visit his former club Barcelona in a top-of-the-bill Champions League clash on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
United are unbeaten in all competitions since Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho in December and their improvement is down to the Norwegian's insistence on an attacking style of play, as opposed to the defensive fare served up by his predecessor.
Southampton confirmed that they had signed 23-year-old Walker-Peters, who spent the second half of last season on loan at the club. British media put the fee at 12 million pounds.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
