Carlo Ancelotti's side held a two-goal lead at halftime thanks to strikes from Dries Mertens and Kostas Manolas, but Balotelli pulled one back as Brescia rallied after the break.
Rediff.com brings you a roundup of soccer matches played across Europe over the weekend.
For all his titles and incomparable statistics, Ronaldo sometimes appears to have an overbearing presence on a team
New coach Luciano Spalletti failed to inspire AS Roma as they were held 1-1 at home by bottom club Verona on his debut on Sunday and Juventus notched their 10th Serie A win in a row by hammering Udinese 4-0 away.
Inter Milan moved into the Italian Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory over second-tier Verona on Tuesday.
IMAGES from Serie A matches played in Italy on Wednesday.
Barcelona have emerged as favourites to be crowned champions after one defeat in their last 22 Liga games.
Lazio squandered a two-goal lead against Inter Milan as they drew 2-2 at the San Siro on Sunday and wasted a golden chance to take sole possession of third spot in Serie A.
Maverick striker Mario Balotelli flew straight into another storm as he made his AC Milan debut on Sunday, even if it was not directly of his making.
Images from football matches played in Europe on Sunday.
Five-times European champions Liverpool survived a late scare to move into the last 32 of the Europa League with a 1-0 win over Italian side Udinese on Thursday.
Rodrigo Palacio snatched an 88th minute win for Inter Milan over Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League on Thursday while Lazio were on the wrong end of some late drama in a 1-1 draw at Panathinaikos.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Francesco Totti made an instant impact on his return from a buttock injury when he scored one goal and helped set up another in AS Roma's 3-2 Serie A win over Udinese on Monday.
Alessandro Del Piero, almost certainly playing his last home game for Juventus at the age of 37, celebrated with a goal as the Serie A champions beat Atalanta 3-1 on Sunday to finish their campaign unbeaten.
Giampiero Ventura, a 68-year-old who has never won a major title, was named on Tuesday as the next Italy coach to replace Antonio Conte after Euro 2016.
Inter Milan, helped by the visitors' blundering defence, beat Fiorentina 2-0 in Serie A on Saturday to bounce back after suffering two home defeats in the previous week.
AC Milan's Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato was ruled out for a month with a thigh injury on Thursday, adding to a worrying injury list for the Italian champions.
Samir Nasri's move from Arsenal to Manchester City moved a step closer on Tuesday when Arsenal confirmed they had agreed terms with their Premier League rivals for the French midfielder.
AS Roma moved four points behind third-placed Lazio in Serie A's Champions League qualifying spot after Pablo Osvaldo's early goal secured a 1-0 win over Genoa on Monday.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is confused about UEFA's rules covering touchline bans after he was ordered to stop communicating with his team during a Champions League playoff win over Udinese.
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.
'This was why Juventus brought me here. To help do things that they have never done before'
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was handed a two-match European ban for failing to abide by the conditions of a previous suspension and will miss Wednesday's Champions League qualifier at Udinese, UEFA said on Monday. UEFA's disciplinary board also fined the English Premier League club 10,000 euros (12,608 pounds) "for improper conduct by its officials" during last week's play-off round first leg, which Arsenal won 1-0.
Atalanta's Josip Ilicic and Robin Gosens scored quickfire second-half goals to give them a comfortable 2-0 win over a toothless Liverpool
Anderlecht kept up their 100 percent record in the Europa League with a 2-0 win at Sturm Graz while Udinese struck late to sink Atletico Madrid by the same score in Thursday's top match.
Striker Edinson Cavani scored a superb hat-trick to give Napoli a 3-1 home win over defending Serie A champions AC Milan on Sunday.
Arsenal's early-season soap opera took more twists and turns on Tuesday with midfielder Samir Nasri poised to join Manchester City and manager Arsene Wenger given clearance by UEFA to delay his European ban.
Edin Dzeko scored twice to set up a 3-1 win for AS Roma away to Napoli in the battle for second place in Serie A on Saturday and Paulo Dybala also notched up a brace for leaders Juventus in their 2-1 win over Udinese.
Arsenal's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League for the 14th time in a row were in the balance after a 1-0 win at home to Udinese in the first leg of the playoffs on Tuesday.
All the action that transpired on and off the football field
Immobile strikes in Lazio's win, in contention for golden boot. IMAGES from the Serie A matches played on Wednesday.
A late Simone Pepe goal earned Juventus a 1-0 win at Lazio on Monday to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for Europe.
Italian champions Inter Milan ended a damaging week on a high by beating Chievo Verona 2-0 at the San Siro to move two points behind Serie A leaders AC Milan on Saturday.
Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho's appeal against a three-match Serie A touchline ban for a controversial handcuffs gesture has been rejected, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said on Friday. Outspoken Mourinho made the gesture during last weekend's home clash against Sampdoria, which the league leaders drew 0-0 despite having defenders Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba sent off in the first half.
Substitute Giampaolo Pazzini scored twice and won a penalty on a dream debut as Serie A champions Inter Milan roared back from 2-0 down to beat visiting Palermo 3-2 in an enthralling encounter on Sunday.
Former Newcastle United striker Faustino Asprilla is entering the world of business by designing and selling fruit-flavoured condoms in his native Colombia.
There are few individual gongs that elude Lionel Messi and he is fast closing in on one that is missing from his trophy cabinet: the European Golden Shoe (www.eurotopfoot.com).
Juventus missed a chance to extend their advantage over second-placed AS Roma when they played out a dismal 0-0 draw away to Udinese on Sunday, while Napoli closed in on Serie A's top two with a 2-1 win at Chievo.
AC Milan were handed a comfortable UEFA Cup assignment on Tuesday after being drawn with Heerenveen, Braga, Portsmouth and Wolfsburg in the group stage.
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