Juventus appear to be suffering from a predictable early-season slump in the wake of a summer spent fumbling around the transfer market in a bid to rebuild a team that had grown to dominate Serie A.
Juventus refused to let up despite having already won Serie A and notched their 25th win in their last 26 league games by beating Carpi 2-0 on Sunday.
Having battled to break down one of Europe's meanest defences in the quarter-finals, Real Madrid will have to do it all over again when they face Juventus in their Champions League semi-final.
Carlos Tevez has been included in the squad for the first time in three years for next month's friendlies in England against Croatia and Portugal.
Manchester United ended their one-year Champions League hiatus in emphatic style when Wayne Rooney struck a hat-trick in a 4-0 destruction of Club Bruges that sent the three-times winners through 7-1 on aggregate on Wednesday.
Carlos Tevez scored a stunning goal as Serie A leaders Juventus beat Torino 1-0 on Sunday to continue an extraordinary dominance of their neighbours.
A toothless and haggard Real Madrid slumped to a humiliating 10th Liga defeat of the season on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at struggling neighbours Rayo Vallecano.
Champions Juventus continued their resurgence by beating Hellas Verona 3-0 at home for an eighth successive Serie A victory as Inter Milan remained top after winning 1-0 at Empoli.
A round-up of Saturday's action in La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A.
Check out the top footballers of the weekend...
Juventus did the bare minimum as they scraped into the Champions League knockout stage on Tuesday with a 0-0 draw at home to Atletico Madrid, a result which also suited the Spaniards who topped the group.
Aritz Aduriz scored his first goal for Spain at the age of 35 to give the European champions a fortuitous 1-1 draw away to Italy in a Euro 2016 warm-up for both teams on Thursday.
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.
Carlos Tevez scored twice to give Serie A leaders Juventus a 3-2 win over Fiorentina on Wednesday but Lazio prevented them from celebrating the title by thumping bottom club Parma 4-0, which condemned their opponents to Serie B.
Juventus defeated second-placed Lazio 2-0 at home on Saturday to take another huge step towards their fourth straight Serie A title and boost their confidence for Wednesday's crunch Champions League clash in Monaco.
Yeo Moriba laughed as she recalled her showdown with the fearsome Alex Ferguson, one of many confrontations with football authority over the future of her son Paul Pogba. Ferguson was notorious for his 'hairdryer' blasts at players in the Manchester United dressing room and the proud mother told AFP how the tough Scots manager had once left her son in tears in his office. And that may be why Pogba escaped the clutches of the Red Devils to join Juventus. The 23-year-old French midfielder will be one of the most watched players at the European Championship finals. After three years struggling for a first team place, Pogba refused to sign a new contract in 2012. Ferguson took matters into his own hands and decided to confront Moriba, who acts as her son's agent, manager and advisor as well as her two other twin sons Guinea internationals Florentin and Mathias. "I said: 'What? Ferguson coming to my house! He came alone'," said the mother, laughing heartily again. Ferguson left alone disappointed. "We had got together with his brothers and we decided: he won't re-sign," added Moriba.
Fees paid by Premier League clubs passed one billion pounds for the first time, according to financial analysts Deloitte. That was inflated by the world record 89 million pounds ($115.98 million) that Manchester United paid Juventus for France midfielder Paul Pogba.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic bagging four goals, while Juventus and Bayern Munich preserved their leads and FA Cup holders Arsenal were dumped out of the competition.
It's not every day that a European star comes to India to play in a football league. That's why when Alessandro Del Piero turns up to be a part of the Indian Super League it's reason to celebrate.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Celta Vigo thrashed Barcelona 4-1 on Wednesday with Iago Aspas hitting a double.
Mateo Kovacic's late strike avoided embarrassment for Real Madrid as the European champions surrendered a two-goal lead before drawing 3-3 with Legia Warsaw in an enthralling Champions League game played amid an empty stadium on Wednesday.
Chelsea moved within touching distance of a first Premier League title in five years with a 1-0 win over Manchester United while Lionel Messi reached a landmark with his 400th career goal for La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Real Madrid were the big winners in Spain as their success at Almeria was followed by a Barcelona draw and a surprise Atletico Madrid defeat.
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved a penalty and Andrea Pirlo curled in a trademark free kick late in the game to give the Serie A leaders a dramatic 1-0 win at Genoa on Sunday.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid were thumped 4-0 away by city rivals Atletico Madrid to open up the Spanish title race, while Chelsea strengthened their hold on top spot in the English Premier League after a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.
Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain again showed his killer instinct with two expertly-taken goals in a late 3-1 win at Torino after their less illustrious neighbours had scored first and dominated the Serie A game on Sunday.
On the pitches of ramshackle football academies across West Africa, teenage boys chase one another in pursuit of the ball, the chance to impress, and the prospect of a lucrative contract with one of Europe's top teams.
All the latest football news from around Europe.
A summary of the results of the major European football league matches on the weekend.
When Italy's cash-strapped soccer clubs meet on Monday to prepare for a new deal on broadcast rights, their deliberations will be coloured by the unhappy knowledge that Italian football is in a dismal state and viewers are switching off.
Andy Murray clinched the Vienna Open title on Sunday with a 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 victory over David Ferrer, one of the Briton's main rivals in the battle to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals.
An inspired performance from Douglas Costa helped Brazil to a 3-0 win over Peru on Tuesday and lifted them into third place in the South American qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
