A Cristiano Ronaldo header set Real Madrid on their way to a 4-0 win at home to 10-man Racing Santander on Saturday that stretched their advantage over second-placed Barcelona at the top of La Liga to 13 points.
France forward Antoine Griezmann was named player of the tournament on Monday after leading the Euro 2016 hosts to Sunday's final where they lost to Portugal in extra time.
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.
Lionel Messi scored a 50th freekick goal for Barcelona as he led his side to a quick-fire comeback to win 3-2 at Valencia on Sunday and keep the pressure on La Liga title rivals Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
An own goal by John Boye and a late strike by Cristiano Ronaldo gave Portugal a 2-1 victory over incident-hit Ghana on Thursday, but it was not enough to make the second round as both sides exited the World Cup.
World soccer's governing body FIFA said on Monday it would look into a complaint from Manchester United concerning Real Madrid's alleged attempts to unsettle winger Cristiano Ronaldo. United threatened to take Madrid to FIFA last month after club officials were quoted expressing their admiration for the Portuguese player, who is representing his country at Euro 2008.
The Danish DBU football association tweeted that the Eriksen was 'awake and at Rigshospitalet for further examinations'
Portugal's early ouster from the World Cup has not just disappointed their fans back home but Brazillians have also shed a few tears for them as long-held cultural, historical and linguistic ties had made Cristiano Ronaldo's team the second favourite for them.
Uruguay have one of the best recent records of all 32 World Cup sides, having won all six of their games this year, conceding precisely zero goals.
Images from Saturday's Premier League action.
The repeated use of the technology appeared to contribute to a bad-tempered second half between Iran and Portugal which saw players feigning injury and repeatedly mobbing the referee.
Diego Costa's equaliser for Spain against Portugal on Friday was the first time a World Cup goal was awarded after a review from the video assistant referee (VAR).
Lionel Messi was back in scoring business for Barcelona on Sunday, leading them to a resounding 4-0 win at home against Villarreal in a near-perfect La Liga opener for the Catalans under new coach Ronald Koeman.
Real Madrid's record signing Gareth Bale was hailed as the 'Prince of Goals' after his hat-trick and assist in Saturday's 4-0 La Liga win at home to Real Valladolid.
Jose Mourinho has ratcheted up Chelsea's rivalry with Manchester United by warning that Cristiano Ronaldo would be a liar if he failed to agree with the Blues' coach in a controversy over penalties.
Cristiano Ronaldo renewed his personal battle with Lionel Messi by scoring his 71st Champions League goal, putting him three behind the Argentine's newly-set record, in Real Madrid's 1-0 win at FC Basel on Wednesday.
Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks five of the best team performances from this round as the tournament heads into its business end.
Jose Mourinho has been on the ropes at times this season as Real Madrid's La Liga title defence stumbled but the Portuguese coach delivered knockout blows to heavyweight opponents this week that kept the Spanish club's hopes of silverware very much alive.
Jose Mourinho hopes he is still managing in his seventies like Manchester United's Alex Ferguson, the Real Madrid boss said as he prepared to face him in a Champions League clash "the world will stop to watch".
The clinical Argentine Messi now has 11 goals in his last five games in all competitions and with record signing Ousmane Dembele injured and Luis Suarez rested, he put on a sensational show at Camp Nou to extend Barcelona's La Liga lead.
Portugal erupted into jubilation on Sunday as the country defeated France to win the Euro 2016, its first major international soccer championship.
Cristiano Ronaldo played down talk of crisis at Real Madrid after the European and Spanish champions were trounced 3-1 on their Wembley debut against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich and Real Madrid will steer clear of the histrionics which have marred previous fixtures between the pair in the past, Jupp Heynckes, coach of the Bavarian side, said on Monday.
Madrid hailed as 'Masters of the Universe' after crushing Juve
Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is in line to become the first man to win the World Player of the Year award for the fourth time in a row after the shortlist for FIFA's Ballon d'Or was published on Monday.
Barcelona star striker Neymar has said that although winning the Ballon d'Or award is one of his goals, he will not 'die' even if he never lifts the coveted individual prize in his career.
Germany squandered a four-goal lead to draw 4-4 with Sweden while world champions Spain conceded in stoppage time to draw 1-1 with France as both teams lost 100 percent records in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday.
Sunil Chhetri became the joint second highest international goal scorer among active players along with Argentine superstar Lionel Messi
Images from the El Clasico match between Barcelona and Real Madrid played at Camp Nou on Saturday.
Having headed into the match tied on 47 league goals with West Ham's former stalwart Paolo Di Canio, Antonio was delighted to have surpassed the Italian as he celebrated by lifting a cardboard cut-out of himself at the side of the pitch.
'Cristiano scored 50 goals and you can't find someone today who scores that many. Some of us have to take a step forward and, while not scoring 50, what we need is two or three players who score 15, 20, or 10 goals and we don't have that.'
Ten-man Real Madrid slumped to a surprise 1-0 defeat at Levante on Sunday as the tiny Valencia-based club ended the nine-times European champions' perfect start to the season.
Immobile strikes in Lazio's win, in contention for golden boot. IMAGES from the Serie A matches played on Wednesday.
Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, still only 24, won the World Player of the Year award for the third time in a row on Monday.
Images from the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg matches played on Wednesday
Karim Benzema made history at Real Madrid, the battle for the top four continues to heat up
Liverpool's Champions League winning trio of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane joined regulars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Men's player award
Top-ranked Belgium slammed eight goals against Belarus and the Netherlands crashed seven past Gibraltar
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