Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks the five best matches of the final round.
Unbeaten Liverpool have 45 points from 17 games with champions Manchester City, who beat Everton 3-1 on Saturday, a point behind.
The result leaves Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United in 10th with nine points, their worst start after seven games for 30 years, and they have won just one of their last six league games.
Jose Mourinho's wretched week ended on a high note as Manchester United's big guns Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba finally began firing, both finding the target in a 3-1 win at dismal Swansea City on Sunday. Mourinho watched from the stands at the Liberty Stadium following his touchline ban imposed by the Football Association on Wednesday and was buoyed to see Ibrahimovic score twice -- his first league goals in eight weeks -- and Pogba net a superb volley. United, vastly improved after their midweek Europa League defeat at Fenerbahce, went ahead with a 15th minute strike from Pogba worthy of his 89 million pounds price tag before Ibrahimovic ended his goal drought with a sharp first-half double in the space of 12 minutes.
Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who made a mockery of his two-month exile from the starting lineup with a superb individual effort, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic secured an easy win that banished memories of their earlier group stage struggles.
And what an exciting week it has been, with players returning to packed stadiums, some memorable individual and team performances and a medical incident which had the world on edge.
Not much has thwarted the predatory instincts of Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller and Robert Lewandowski this season but even that dynamic duo will have their work cut out to pierce the rock-solid Juventus defence on Tuesday.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez secured victory over nine-man Atletico Madrid in La Liga's top of the table clash, while Juventus won a 12th straight Serie A game to stay hot on the heels of leaders Napoli.
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.
New Chelsea signing Loic Remy grabbed the only goal as France squeezed past 2010 world champions Spain 1-0 in a friendly at the Stade de France.
Jose Mourinho's first Premier League game as manager of Manchester United ended in a comfortable 3-1 victory away to Bournemouth on Sunday.
Manchester United have signed Leicester City's England centre back Harry Maguire on a six-year contract, the Manchester club announced on Monday.
Real's Cristiano Ronaldo will be going in search of his third consecutive World Player of the Year award
He does not fit the bill for a prototype Mourinho midfielder. He lacks defensive attributes because he has no pace, is weak in the air, cannot tackle and is heavily reliant on his left foot.
Glimpses from Sunday's Nations League matches.
Check out the top footballers of the weekend...
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United's struggle to achieve a top-four finish continued on Tuesday as Zlatan Ibrahimovic came to their rescue with an added time penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw against Everton in their Premier League clash at Old Trafford.
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 diving header from Mario Mandzukic took a deflection off the Nigerian midfielder and crept into the goal for a deserved lead as Croatia dominated the count of chances created in the first 45 minutes.
Schalke 04 hit back from two goals down to draw 2-2 and overcome fellow Germans Borussia Moenchenglach on away goals in their Europa League last 16 tie while Manchester United edged Rostov 1-0 to progress on Thursday.
Each Round of 16 game was entertaining. Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks the games to remember.
European champions Portugal spurned a two-goal lead against Tunisia, stumbling to a 2-2 draw, as France, one of the World Cup favourites, flexed their muscles with a comfortable 2-0 win over Ireland in warm-up friendlies on Monday.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
A last-minute own goal gave Liverpool a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur to keep them top of the Premier League but Manchester City stayed two points behind having won at Fulham. Huddersfield Town were relegated after their defeat by Crystal Palace.
Solskjaer took full advantage of the chance that fell his way.
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.
Chelsea coach Antonio Conte declared himself 'a serial winner' after leading his side to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the FA Cup final on Saturday and said it was up to the club to decide whether to fire him.
Not many people talk badly of Pep Guardiola, a sainted figure in football, but Manchester City's manager will find two of his most vocal critics facing him down at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Mats Hummels scored with a header in the 14th minute to give Germany a 1-0 victory over France in the first quarter-final of the World Cup at the Maracana, in Brazil, on Friday.
Manchester City stumbled to the most unexpected defeat of the Premier League season on Saturday before neighbours Manchester United began their brave new world under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a glorious reminder of long-forgotten attacking swagger.
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.
United are bigger than any one man and the decision to send Mourinho packing drives home that philosophy to players, fans and opponents.
Tottenham Hotspur climbed to third with a 3-1 win over Southampton while Chelsea hung on to fourth spot, above Arsenal on goal difference, despite a 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
When France meet Portugal in Sunday's Euro 2016 final, the outcome is likely to depend on the performances of Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann -- the second time the two players have clashed with a European trophy at stake in six weeks. Portugal's Ronaldo steered Real Madrid to their Champions League triumph at the end of May after his French rival Griezmann missed a penalty for city rivals Atletico.
Didier Deschamps has let his hair go grey naturally since the last time he picked up a European title 16 years ago. The diminutive Deschamps was never a spectacular player -- a la Zinedine Zidane -- and certainly does not belong to the Jose Mourinho school of coaching with sensational sound bites. But the unglamorous Frenchman with the twangy voice has been instrumental in taking the host nation through to Sunday's Euro 2016 final against Portugal.
As the black-tinted sports cars carrying Manchester United's millionaire footballers rolled into the club's Carrington complex for the start of pre-season training on Wednesday, no one wound down any windows to discuss the start of life under Jose Mourinho. But there was surely only one topic of conversation when the players began the hard task of proving to the new manager on the pitch that they can forge the sort of future he outlined so eloquently at his news conference the previous day.
Saturday's clash between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford is already shaping up as an early-season eliminator to challenge runaway leaders Manchester City for the Premier League title.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Juventus refused to let up despite having already won Serie A and notched their 25th win in their last 26 league games by beating Carpi 2-0 on Sunday.
