Arsenal named a strong side captained by Mesut Ozil while Real had Bale on the bench and Eden Hazard, wearing the number 50 shirt, starting alongside fellow new signing Luka Jovic in attack.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Manchester United took over at the top of the Premier League while Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi could be out for up to two months with a knee injury and rampant Bayern Munich extended their perfect start to seven league wins.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
images from the UEFA Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
Manchester City claimed the win required to finally end Liverpool's relentless attempt to dethrone them as Premier League champions as they hit back from a goal down to crush Brighton and Hove Albion on the south coast on Sunday.
Substitute Alexandre Lacazette ended his goal drought as Arsenal secured their first English Premier League win since New Year's Day with a 4-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Lacazette had gone nine games in all competitions without a goal before he found the target with a mis-hit shot in the final moments of the game. The win moves Arsenal up to tenth position and will give them hope they can make a late push towards European qualification for next season.
Leaders Manchester City kept up their unbeaten run with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Saturday. Manchester United salvaged a 2-2 draw at Southampton, who sacked manager Mark Hughes on Monday.
IMAGES from soccer matches played on Monday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
Marseille cement second place with Montpellier win
Ronaldo back for Man Utd but injured Shaw faces weeks out
Images from UEFA Europa League semi-finals played on Thursday.
Monaco's firepower was far too hot to handle for Olympique de Marseille as the Principality side moved top of the French Ligue 1 standings with a 4-0 home win on Saturday.
IMAGES from Premier League matches played on Sunday.
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.
Arsenal's defence of the trophy ended with something of a whimper as Mikel Arteta's side struggled with repeatedly sloppy defending.
Match-by-match facts and statistics ahead of the Premier League
A summary of Thursday's second leg quarter-final matches in the Europa League.
Chelsea brought a whole new dimension to the Premier League title race when they handed Manchester City their first defeat of the season on Saturday to leave Mohamed Salah-inspired Liverpool as the new leaders.
Arsenal and Chelsea were among seven teams to reach the Europa League knockout stage on Thursday, while last year's runners-up Olympique de Marseille were eliminated at the group phase.
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.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Wednesday.
Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City beat champions Chelsea 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday to extend their lead to 18 points and leave the London side further adrift from the Champions League qualification spots.
Liverpool added another fairytale comeback to the history books as they fought back from 3-1 down against Borussia Dortmund to reach the Europa League semi-finals after Dejan Lovren's towering stoppage-time header secured a 4-3 win on Thursday.
IMAGES from the soccer matches played across European leagues over the weekend.
Barcelona's rampant trio of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi all found the net at the weekend and unsung Leicester City found themselves in the record books when their England striker Jamie Vardy scored for the 11th straight game.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Robert Lewandowski struck twice as champions Bayern Munich eased past Freiburg 3-1 on Saturday to secure a record 15th win in a row and the Pole became the first foreign player to score 33 goals in a Bundesliga season. Erling Haaland scored twice as Borussia Dortmund beat closest challengers RB Leipzig 2-0 away on Saturday to wrap up second place in the Bundesliga.
Celta Vigo thrashed Barcelona 4-1 on Wednesday with Iago Aspas hitting a double.
Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani scored twice each as Manchester United took a giant step towards the Europa League final with a 6-2 drubbing of AS Roma in their semi-final first leg at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Manchester City had to battle back from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Premier League newcomers Wolverhampton Wanderers who gave the champions a real test at Molineux on Saturday.
'It's like now with Lamela or Vertonghen, how you sit in the chair and cry because you miss someone... But the competition does not allow you to cry. You have to move on quick. It's a bit cruel, but you have to move on and try to win the next game'
Images from Sunday's action in the Premier League.
A round-up of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Kazakhstan's Astana fought back to beat a youthful Manchester United side 2-1 at home, Arsenal's woes continued as Frankfurt's Daichi Kamada scored twice to secure a 2-1 win.
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.
United down Newcastle after Saints stun Chelsea on a dramatic night in the English Premier League.
European heavyweights Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain all maintained their leads and Benfica toppled Sporting Lisbon.
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