Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, find themselves in the bizarre situation of having made poor starts to the campaign
Valencia's drive to rejoin the title race gathered momentum when they swept aside Real Mallorca 3-1 in the Primera Liga on Tuesday.
Factbox on Jose Mourinho, who was named manager of Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday
The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff will host the 2017 Champions League final, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said on Tuesday. The Friends Arena in Stockholm will be the venue for the 2017 Europa League final.
Real Madrid opened a two-point lead over Villarreal at the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo set a club scoring record in a 3-0 stroll at home to Levante on Saturday.
A last-gasp 4-3 victory over Espanyol put them top of the Primera Liga for the first time since September.
The 46-year-old has been hired to fill the sizeable void left by the departure of Frenchman Arsene Wenger who had been at the Arsenal helm since 1996.
Ukraine champions Shakhtar Donetsk dented Sevilla's bandwagon as the UEFA Cup holders wobbled before securing a 2-2 draw.
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.
Zidane plays down Ronaldo injury; Liverpool's Gomez sidelined after surgey
Lazio won 2-0 at Legia Warsaw on Thursday to qualify for the Europa League knockout stages after a tie marred by violence when Italian fans fought with Polish police on the way to the stadium.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has opened the door to out-of-favour midfielder James Rodriguez leaving the club by admitting the player's lack of appearances could become a problem.
Barcelona were held to a 1-1 home draw, a result which leaves the champions three points behind league leaders Sevilla.
Getafe thrashed Barcelona 4-0 to snatch a place in their first King's Cup final despite losing the first leg 5-2.
Cristiano Ronaldo has accepted that he needs to rest more and that sitting out the odd game is in the interests of him and Real Madrid, coach Zinedine Zidane said on Friday. Real's all-time top scorer has missed four of his team's 15 league games this season, two more than in the whole of the last campaign, and he was a surprise omission from the squad for Wednesday's King's Cup game against Sevilla. Zidane remarked last year that he would prefer Ronaldo to rest more after injuries forced him to miss vital games at the end of the season, although the Frenchman appears to have reached agreement with his talisman this campaign.
"It was a rather simple operation, so there is nothing to get seriously worried about," Yonhap News agency quoted Lee as telling a local sports Web site.
'I speak with Cristiano all the time and I know him very well. He knows that until now he played 60-70 games a season and the accumulation of all those years meant he needs to rest a little'
A Robbie Keane penalty gave Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 victory over Reading on Sunday to move the London club up to sixth in the Premier League.
Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze, who has been out all season with a knee injury, was included in Argentina's World Cup squad.
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.
Real Madrid's Gareth Bale came off the bench and coolly converted a controversial penalty to secure a 2-1 win at Levante in La Liga on Sunday as the European champions rode their luck to stay within nine points of leaders Barcelona.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi rescued a 1-1 draw at Villarreal with a sensational late free-kick on Sunday but could not prevent the champions finishing the weekend third in La Liga, five points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Real Madrid football director Benito Floro said earlier this week that he wanted to sign the England midfielder.
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.
Barcelona's last Champions League triumph came in 2015, and since then they have failed to get beyond the quarter-finals while Real Madrid have monopolised the trophy.
Valencia beat leaders Barcelona 2-1 at the Mestalla to put themselves firmly in the Primera Liga title race.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo may be on course for his worst domestic goal haul since 2010 but with two strikes against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday he became the first player to score 100 goals in UEFA competitions.
Uruguayan midfielder Fabian Canobbio scored a contentious goal to give promoted Celta Vigo a 3-2 win.
A Thierry Henry special and two trademark free kicks from Ronaldinho earned Barcelona a 3-0 win at home to Real Betis that put them within a point of leaders Real Madrid at the top of the Primera Liga on Sunday.
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Atletico Madrid's La Liga title challenge took a nosedive when they slumped to a shock 3-0 defeat at Osasuna on Sunday, leaving Real Madrid three points clear at the top.
Juventus progressed to the Champions League last 16 after a Cristiano Ronaldo goal and a late header from substitute Alvaro Morata gave them a comeback 2-1 home win over Hungarians Ferencvaros on Tuesday.
Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Francisco Mancebo were named in a doping investigation in Spain
India's No. 1 ranked player Saketh Myneni and Norway's tennis sensation Casper Ruud have been offered the last two wild cards for the 22nd edition of the Aircel Chennai Open.
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his rich vein of form by scoring twice in Real Madrid's 2-1 home win over struggling Sporting Gijon on Saturday, although the La Liga leaders got a lucky break when the visitors squandered a second-half penalty.
Rediff.com brings you a glance of all the action from the week gone by.
The Barcelona coach said he was not surprised Arsenal were such a hard nut to crack.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona earned a thrilling 3-2 win at Celta Vigo in their opening Primera Liga match.
