Manchester's two-pronged assault on the Champions League finally sprang to life on Tuesday when United won their first match of the campaign by beating Romanians Otelul Galati 2-0 away and City left it until stoppage time to beat Villarreal 2-1.
Heavyweight trio Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea kept up their 100 per cent starts to the Premier League season this weekend.
Fees paid by Premier League clubs passed one billion pounds for the first time, according to financial analysts Deloitte. That was inflated by the world record 89 million pounds ($115.98 million) that Manchester United paid Juventus for France midfielder Paul Pogba.
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.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic bagging four goals, while Juventus and Bayern Munich preserved their leads and FA Cup holders Arsenal were dumped out of the competition.
La Liga leaders Barcelona handed Real Madrid more hope in the title race as they drew 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, only avoiding defeat thanks to some outstanding saves by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Udinese climbed above Napoli to the top of Serie A, on Sunday, as goals from Mehdi Benatia and Antonio Di Natale gave the Bianconeri a comfortable 2-0 home win over lowly Bologna.
The Catalans will not just be looking to extend their domestic hegemony, though, as they have spent a combined 250 million euros ($280 million) on a renewed bid to win the Champions League.
Juventus look set to wrap up their fourth successive Serie A title in the next seven days although the crowd violence which marred Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Torino could take the shine of their celebrations.
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.
Playmaker Kaka breathed new life into struggling AC Milan by scoring twice and 18-year-old Bryan Cristante claimed his first professional goal as they beat Atalanta 3-0 on Monday for only their fifth league win of the season.
Images from Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona was released from hospital after being admitted earlier on Friday with internal bleeding in the stomach which was discovered during routine examinations, his daughter Dalma said.
Juventus joined AC Milan at the top of Serie A but failed to get the win they needed to end the year clear in Serie A after a disappointing 0-0 draw at title rivals Udinese on Wednesday as Napoli hit six against Genoa.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The 29-year-old missed the last three ManchesterCity games and both of Argentina's World Cup qualifiers earlier this month following his road traffic accident in the Netherlands.
Coaches finally put World Cup hopefuls out of their misery on Tuesday when they named their final squads for the tournament, shattering some dreams while also handing out the opportunity of a lifetime.
Robert Lewandowski scored a brilliant free kick to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in their last Champions League Group D outing on Tuesday, ending the 100 percent record of their opponents. The Poland international curled the ball over the wall and into the corner of the net in the 28th minute but the goal had no impact on the final standings with Atletico guaranteed top spot and Bayern in second place.
Napoli striker Ezequiel Lavezzi and defender Fabricio Coloccini missed out when Diego Maradona named his 23-man Argentina World Cup squad on Wednesday.
Juventus moved top with 19 points to Inter's 18 and it was a deserved victory in an absorbing contest.
Indian-origin British filmmaker Asif Kapadia says he lived with the idea of making a documentary on Diego Maradona for 25 years, since the 1990s when he was a film student and read a book on the legendary footballer.
Substitute Giampaolo Pazzini scored twice and won a penalty on a dream debut as Serie A champions Inter Milan roared back from 2-0 down to beat visiting Palermo 3-2 in an enthralling encounter on Sunday.
AS Roma soothed internal strife by clambering up to second in Serie A with an easy 3-0 home win over Cagliari on Saturday.
Samuel Eto'o scored twice as Inter Milan swatted aside Bologna 4-1 on Saturday to record their fourth successive win under new coach Leonardo and continue their ominous climb up the Serie A table.
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
European heavyweights Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain all maintained their leads and Benfica toppled Sporting Lisbon.
Serie A leaders AC Milan lost 1-0 to AS Roma after striker Marco Borriello burst his former club's bubble and put his new side back in the title picture at a freezing San Siro on Saturday.
Sevilla sneaked into the last 32 of the Europa League on Wednesday with a 2-2 draw at home to Borussia Dortmund as the German side failed to translate their devastating domestic form into European success.
Inter Milan's title challenge faltered when they were held 1-1 at Atalanta in Serie A on Saturday but goalkeeper Samir Handanovic at least saved them from suffering a defeat. The home side took the lead in the 17th minute when JeisonMurillo scored an own goal. Inter equalised in the 25th when Atalanta defender Rafael Toloi repeated the feat by slicing the ball past his own goalkeeper. The draw meant Inter missed the opportunity to replace Napoli as Serie A leaders, if only briefly. Instead, they are in second place on 40 points, one behind the leaders who were meeting Sassuolo later on Saturday.
Barcelona have been linked to a host of forwards during the winter transfer window as they seek experienced backup options for Luis Suarez.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard came off the bench to score a hat-trick in the last 15 minutes as the struggling Premier League side came from behind to beat Napoli 3-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.
Holders Atletico Madrid won for the first time in the Europa League this season, beating Rosenborg 3-0, while Emmanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick as Manchester City beat Lech Poznan 3-1.
Diego Maradona clambered over reporters at a packed news conference on Saturday to embrace friend and former Napoli team-mate Salvatore Bagni before saying his Argentina team should beat Mexico at the World Cup.
Following this stunning turn-around of fortunes for Barcelona, here is a flashback of some of the best come-from-behind wins recorded in Europe's premier club competition.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Brazilian winger Anderson wants to help Fiorentina qualify for next season's Champions League after he completed his loan move from Manchester United.
Tendulkar retired in 2013 and since then, the No.10 jersey has only been seen once on an Indian player when Shardul Thakur wore it earlier this year on his ODI debut during the tour of Sri Lanka.
Juventus won 2-0 at Lazio on Friday to extend their winning run in Serie A to five matches thanks to an early own goal from Santiago Gentiletti and a glorious Paulo Dybala effort.
Champions Bayern Munich twice needed to come from a goal down to beat hosts Augsburg 3-2 on Friday courtesy of Kingsley Coman's two goals, and cut the gap with leaders Borussia Dortmund to two points.
'This team is really good and we have invested a lot in it. Now we have to work with that'
