Jose Mourinho's reshaped Manchester United destroyed Premier League champions Leicester City 4-1 with a performance that thrilled Old Trafford on Saturday and justified his decision to leave out Wayne Rooney. The shake-up seemed to liberate Paul Pogba who led the way with a polished display, heading his first goal for the club on 42 minutes and starting the clever move that led to Juan Mata firing home United's second after 37 minutes.
Should the Portugal forward triumph, he will equal the record of his great rival and five-time winner Lionel Messi of Barcelona, who is also nominated.
Lionel Messi scored twice to earn Barcelona a 2-0 derby win over Espanyol and send them 13 points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday.
Lionel Messi scored two spectacular free kicks as Barcelona thrashed local rivals Espanyol 4-0 in Saturday's Catalan derby to move three points clear at the top of La Liga.
Liverpool are determined to end the trend of selling their best players during the close season in order to build a squad capable of consistently challenging for major honours, manager Juergen Klopp said.
Liverpool, who are fifth in the table and have won just one league game since the turn of the year, host fourth-placed Arsenal on Saturday looking to bounce back immediately from one of their worst performances of the season.
La Liga champions Barcelona's domestic struggles continued as they dropped points for the third game in a row, drawing 1-1 at home to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday after Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets had begun the match on the substitutes' bench.
Barca's fans held up a mosaic before the game reading "Infinite Iniesta". They later revealed a banner saying "Thanks for so much" in tribute to a player who came through the club's academy and spent 16 years pulling the strings in midfield, winning nine Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and six domestic Cups.
Liverpool scored a stunning 3-2 win over Queens Park Rangers with four of the five goals coming in the last seven minutes capping an astonishing finale to their Premier League match at Loftus Road on Sunday.
Unstoppable duo Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi helped Barcelona thrash Sevilla 5-0 to win the King's Cup final for the fourth consecutive season on Saturday as they close in on a likely domestic double.
An impudent individual goal from Philippe Coutinho steered Liverpool comfortably into the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday after a 1-1 draw at bitter rivals Manchester United completed a 3-1 aggregate win.
Brazil scored three superbly-taken goals, including a stunning Neymar effort, to beat feisty Austria 3-0 in sweltering conditions on Sunday and put the finishing touches to their impressive World Cup preparation.
"It's better for Messi to play as he is the best in the world and he gives you a boost but we should be very proud as a team, as we showed that we are a great team without Messi and we have a great coach (Ernesto Valverde)," Suarez said.
"I don't know how this affects my future," Valverde said.
Brazil, instantly recognizable in their famous yellow shirts and blue shorts, were kitted out in an all-blue number for the match at the Saint Petersburg Stadium. Costa Rica swapped their red shirt and blue shorts for all-whites.
IMAGES from the La Liga matches played on Tuesday
Angelo Ogbonna leapt high to power home a header in the dying seconds of extra time to claim a timely first goal for the club as West Ham United sank Liverpool 2-1 on Tuesday to reach the last 16 of the FA Cup.
Here are five talking points from the weekend in La Liga:
Brazil coach Tite has recalled veteran central defender Thiago Silva to his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Venezuela.
Such is the impact Sadio Mane has made on Liverpool that the 24-year-old is an automatic pick to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday while experienced international teammates scrap it out to play alongside him.
Lionel Messi lifted Barcelona out of their recent slump with two goals in a vintage display as his side survived a tenacious Tottenham Hotspur fightback to claim a 4-2 victory in Champions League Group B on Wednesday.
Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane struck deep in added time to rescue a 2-2 home draw at home to West Ham United, while Liverpool's top-four hopes were fuelled by a 2-0 win at Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday.
European soccer body UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Manchester United and Liverpool on Friday after fans clashed and threw objects during a Europa League tie at Old Trafford.
Jurgen Klopp has agreed a contract extension with Liverpool until 2024
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona forward Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as his side thrashed arch-rivals Real Madrid 5-1 on Sunday in a highly entertaining 'Clasico' which surely will signal the end of hapless coach Julen Lopetegui's spell in charge of Real.
Bayern Munich thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 5-1, while Barcelona came from behind to beat Valencia 3-1 in LaLiga at Camp Nou on Sunday.
Brazilian Malcom, who started in place of Lionel Messi, curled home in the 58th minute to pull Barcelona level after Lucas Vazquez had fired Real Madrid ahead early on.
'Yes, I was sure this was the right decision. We brought Roberto Firmino on for Mo Salah. We could have scored before, we could have scored afterwards, we could have scored all the time. We lived more or less in their box'
PSG have set their sights on Messi, with PSG's players, coaches talking of their excitement about the prospect of bringing the Argentine to the French capital
A stoppage time goal by a heavily-bandaged Martin Skrtel spared Liverpool another deflating defeat as they drew 2-2 at home to Arsenal in the Premier League.
Messi ran amok at Wembley Stadium, slicing Spurs apart with incisive passes from deep, such as the one that allowed Philippe Coutinho to open the scoring, and was as dangerous as ever in front of goal, firing in the Catalan side's final two goals to end their winless run of three games.
Manchester City keeper Willy Caballero's penalty shootout heroics sealed a League Cup final win against Liverpool.
Luuk de Jong's first-half header gave Barcelona a 1-0 win at Mallorca
Sergio Busquets called on Barcelona to sign more players after the club's 3-1 Spanish Super Cup defeat by Real Madrid on Sunday.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp is a fan of Leicester's playing style.
After a six-match unbeaten start to his reign as Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp came down to earth with a bump as his side lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.
Brazil may have been one of the big disappointments so far at the Russia World Cup, but the pressure is on their opponents Serbia in their final Group E match in Moscow on Wednesday.
Brazil's stuttering performance stemmed from anxiety at playing their first World Cup game, coach Tite said after their 1-1 draw with Switzerland.
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