IMAGES from the soccer matches played across European leagues over the weekend.
Real Madrid beat Leganes 2-1 in La Liga on Saturday after coach Zinedine Zidane heavily rotated his side in preparation for Tuesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, including leaving out top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.
Paris St Germain had a chance to extend their Ligue 1 lead to five points after RC Lens drew 1-1 at Troyes and Olympique de Marseille and Monaco shared the spoils on Saturday.
Spanish winger Asensio cost Real a mere 3.5 million euros from Mallorca in 2014 and entered the game only in the 79th minute but played a decisive role in Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo each scoring late on to give the European champions the edge in the tie.
Revolution is in the air at Real Madrid after their Champions League empire was razed to the ground with an astounding 4-1 loss at home to Ajax Amsterdam, with a huge clear out of players expected as well as a change of manager.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Here, Reuters Sport highlights five reasons why last season's double winners have collapsed.
Mementos from the soccer world that brought Syrian refugee Osama Abdul Mohsen to Spain are strewn around the flat he shares with two of his sons, including a ball signed by Real Madrid's star players and a banner for the local team, Getafe.
Images from La Liga matches played on Sunday
Champions Barcelona moved five points clear at the top of La Liga with a 2-1 win at Getafe, while Real Madrid fell to a 2-0 defeat by Real Sociedad.
Atletico Madrid maintained a two-point lead in La Liga with a 3-0 victory at Las Palmas and Barcelona and Real Madrid stayed hard on their heels with thumping wins over Athletic Bilbao and Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
Constantine interviewed by Chennaiyin FC
IMAGES from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
Gijon spoiled Asier Illarramendi's return to Real Sociedad's midfield after rejoining from Real Madrid this week when they held the Basque club, coached by Scot David Moyes, to a 0-0 draw in San Sebastian.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is counting on his wealth of experience to help fix the holders' midfield woes as they prepare to host FC Basel in Tuesday's Champions League Group B opener at the Bernabeu.
Cristiano Ronaldo fired Real Madrid to a 4-1 win over Celta Vigo on Wednesday to take Zinedine Zidane's side three points clear at the top of La Liga.
Juventus shattered Real Madrid's dream of a record-extending 11th European crown when Alvaro Morata scored against his former club to secure a 1-1 Champions League draw with the holders on Wednesday and send Juve into the final 3-2 on aggregate.
Bayern left fuming over Champions League 'robbery'.
Barcelona thrashed Sporting Gijon 6-1 to go top of La Liga on a dramatic night in Spain on Wednesday as Luis Enrique announced he was stepping down as the Catalan club's coach at the end of the season.
'He said sorry, he's not happy with the red card, but it's over now. These things happen and we can't chance it, but with 10 men we still managed to equalise'
'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.'
Iran were banned from an Olympic football qualifying match against Jordan later that year after refusing to remove their hijabs before kick-off.
Rediff.com gives you a flashback of these events in pictures snapped right here...
Heavyweight trio Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea kept up their 100 per cent starts to the Premier League season this weekend.
Midfielder Dani Ceballos added: "It looks like us changing our coach worked. We have recovered some sensations we had lost and we have got the three points. Now our objective is to win all the games left and finish the season as well as possible."
Real Madrid maintained their pursuit for the title by defeating Malaga 3-1 late on Saturday.
Here are five talking points from the weekend in La Liga.
Holders Real Madrid survived a huge scare when they lost 4-3 to Schalke 04 in the Champions League on Tuesday but squeezed into the quarter-finals 5-4 on aggregate thanks to record European marksman Cristiano Ronaldo.
Barcelona beat local rivals Espanyol 2-0 in the Catalan derby on Saturday to maintain their 10 point lead at the top of La Liga, while Real Madrid scraped a 3-2 win against bottom side Huesca on Sunday.
Messi's damning assessment of the team came home to roost when the season re-started after the coronavirus stoppage and Barca surrendered the league title to Real Madrid, prompting the captain to launch a new tirade against the team.
Ronaldo had failed to score in his last four league games for Real and his rotten run in front of goal looked set to continue when his spot-kick was turned away by visiting goalkeeper Roberto.
Zidane was accompanied on stage by his wife and four sons, who all look good to follow in the footsteps of their father.
Real Madrid clinched a record-extending 34th La Liga title with one game to spare by beating Villarreal 2-1 at home on Thursday thanks to two goals from their leading scorer Karim Benzema. Real have 86 points after 37 games, seven more than deposed champions Barcelona who were beaten 2-1 at home to Osasuna.
Real Madrid and Barcelona pulled two points clear in La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo set a club scoring record in Real's 3-0 stroll against Levante and Neymar hit four as Barca beat Rayo Vallecano 5-2 on Saturday.
Real Madrid and Portugal record goal-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo is certain in his mind that he is the best footballer in the world.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. score twice as his side punished a sloppy Liverpool to win 3-1, while Manchester City beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Griezmann special earns Atletico 1-1 draw at Sevilla
Union Berlin's Paul Jaeckel scored a 76th-minute winner to give his team a 1-0 victory at VfB Stuttgart on Sunday and send them two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga was cut to two points on Saturday as they squandered a two-goal advantage to draw 2-2 at Sevilla while Real Madrid powered their way to a 3-0 home win over Eibar.
Brazil midfielder Casemiro stretched Real's advantage right before halftime with a gut-busting run to meet a cross from compatriot Vinicius, but Levante hit back shortly after the interval through former Madrid forward Borja Mayoral.
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