Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will not allow his players time off for Christmas as he wants to ensure they are fully prepared for Monday's English Premier League trip to basement team Hull City.
Cristiano Ronaldo lit up the Bernabeu with a brilliant four-goal performance in Real Madrid's 6-1 drubbing of struggling Racing Santander on Saturday.
Debutant Alexis Sanchez had little trouble adjusting to his new place in Manchester United's line-up as he assisted the opening two goals in the Premier League club's 4-0 FA Cup fourth round win at Yeovil Town on Friday.
Cristiano Ronaldo broke his four-game scoring drought with a hat-trick as Real Madrid trounced lowly Malaga 7-0 in La Liga on Thursday to trim the gap with leaders Barcelona back to seven points.
Jose Mourinho's nine-year unbeaten home record in league matches was never under threat as his side eased past Levante 2-0 on Saturday to close within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Spanish midfielder Xavi, who orchestrated Spain's World Cup triumph, was named as World Soccer's Player of the Year on Thursday. The world champions completed a Spanish double by being named Team of the Year.
Bayern Munich battle Inter Milan in the Champions League final later on Saturday with both clubs bidding to complete astonishing trebles as well as take away club soccer's top prize. Italian league and cup winners Inter will become the first Serie A side to win a season treble if they prevail at Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium, where all eyes are on their charismatic coach Jose Mourinho.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and created a goal for Gonzalo Higuain to inspire Real Madrid to a lethargic but ultimately comfortable 3-0 La Liga win over Espanyol on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Chelsea plucked a performance straight from the Jose Mourinho textbook -- with John Terry writing a chapter all of his own -- as they grafted to a 0-0 draw at Arsenal on Sunday that leaves them almost certain to claim the title.
Manchester United suffered their third defeat in eight days as Watford handed Jose Mourinho his worst run as a manager in a decade. Goals from Etienne Capoue, Juan Zuniga and a late penalty from Troy Deeney overwhelmed the visitors, who had levelled with a solitary strike from Marcus Rashford.
Inter Milan claimed their first European Cup in 45 years when Diego Milito struck in each half to give the Italians a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich.
As the domestic soccer season across Europe comes to a close, Associate Editor Bikash Mohapatra takes a look at an elite list of coaches who tasted league success in their first season in charge.
The World Cup will dominate the attention of soccer fans around the world next month but not in the case of a particularly special one. Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho has more pressing priorities.
'If you look at the points we've lost at home -- all the matches where we draw -- you're thinking about 10 or 12 and, with these points we wouldn't just be speaking about the top four, we'd be speaking about the top two or the top one'
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Mancini, who comes up against the Premier League leaders in the Round of 16 first-leg at the Turk Telekom Arena in Istanbul on Wednesday, does not fancy his side's prospects.
'Before the start of the season I felt Manchester United will be a lot better this year and they were my tip for the title'
England midfielder Frank Lampard has signed a new five-year contract with Chelsea, the Premier League club said on Wednesday.
The departing Didier Drogba threw down the gauntlet to the young Chelsea squad on Sunday as he led Premier League celebrations at Stamford Bridge, telling them they had to win more titles to stand comparison with the class of 2005.
The former Paris St Germain manager will be presented on Wednesday and will replace Jose Mourinho who left at the end of last season to join Chelsea.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's Premier League action:
With dreams of European glory in tatters, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur turn their attention to the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend clinging to their last chance of silverware this season.
Luis Figo's decision to enter FIFA's presidential election has received a positive reaction in his native Portugal even though he faces a seemingly impossible task to unseat incumbent Sepp Blatter in May.
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.
"I want to leave Chelsea. Something is broken with the club," Didier Drogba told the France Football magazine.
David Moyes made light of his first dismissal when he leapt over a fence into the stands to watch the rest of the match and accepted crisps from a girl.
Chelsea host Premier League champions Manchester United on Wednesday in a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final.
Chelsea's Brazilian midfielder Oscar has taken to Twitter to deny reports of a training ground row with team mate and Spain international Diego Costa.
Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas said the uncompromising attitude to hard work of incoming manager Antonio Conte is exactly what is needed to galvanize the outgoing Premier League champions.
"Diego Costa's out which means we have to solve that problem in 24 hours," new interim coach Guus Hiddink told reporters.
Juan Mata swept home to steer Manchester United into the League Cup quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over holders and bitter local rivals Manchester City on Wednesday as Jose Mourinho got one over old adversary Pep Guardiola.
Chelsea have re-signed midfielder Nemanja Matic from Benfica, three years after selling him to the Portuguese side, the Premier League club said on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United's Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a goal in each half as their team comfortably outclassed Ajax Amsterdam to win an emotional Europa League final 2-0 and qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit back at critical former boss Jose Mourinho in the best way possible on Wednesday with two goals to help Real Madrid beat Chelsea 3-1 and win the International Champions Cup pre-season tournament.
Referee Graham Poll has defended his decision to allow Arsenal striker Thierry Henry to score with a quick free kick in the champions' 2-2 draw with leaders Chelsea at Highbury on Sunday.
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