Andre Villas-Boas's tortured spell as Chelsea manager came to an end on Sunday when the Premier League club sacked the Portuguese after less than nine months in charge.
Aston Villa's miserable season went from bad to worse when they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at second tier Millwall in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday.
David Villa scored his first goal for Barcelona in a friendly against AC Milan on Wednesday, while behind the scenes the two clubs prepared to continue their negotiations over Barca striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
David Villa equalled Raul's Spain scoring record of 44 but the world and European champions had to withstand a Scotland fightback before Fernando Llorente's late goal secured a 3-2 win in a Euro 2012 qualifier on Tuesday.
Aston Villa moved into the thick of a four-way battle for fourth place in the Premier League with a 2-1 win at struggling Wigan Athletic on Tuesday.
Nathaniel Clyne's late equaliser earned high-flying Southampton a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa on Monday, denying Paul Lambert a much-needed victory in his 100th match in charge of the Premier League strugglers.
Barcelona have signed Spain striker David Villa from Valencia for 40 million euros ($49.66 million), Valencia president Manuel Llorente said on Tuesday.
Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as champions Manchester City made a convincing start to their title defence with a 5-0 win over West Ham United.
Big-spending Manchester City fought back to draw 1-1 at Aston Villa on Monday and move ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool into fourth place in the Premier League table.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday night.
Spain's irresistible striker David Villa grabbed a late winner for Spain as they beat Paraguay 1-0 in their World Cup quarter-final on Saturday.
Queens Park Rangers salvaged a 1-1 home draw against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday with their first home goal of the season coming from Villa defender Richard Dunne who put through his own net in stoppage time.
A dominant Spain got their World Cup campaign firmly back on track when David Villa struck twice to lead the European champions to a 2-0 win over Group H minnows Honduras on Monday.
Barcelona striker David Villa is recovering well from a broken leg but the club will not rush him back into action before he is ready, captain Carles Puyol said.
Aston Villa were relegated from the Premier League for the first time since it began in 1992 when they suffered their 24th loss of the season in a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The battle for Champions League qualification continues with fourth-placed Aston Villa away to Luton Town on Saturday and Tottenham Hotspur, who are five points behind with a game in hand, hosting Crystal Palace.
The other semi-final will see an Italian side, Milan or Roma, come up against Bayer Leverkusen or West Ham.
Chelsea's senior players should not be blamed for Andre Villas-Boas losing his job as the club's manager, skipper John Terry has said.
Manchester United and Aston Villa paid a heavy price for having men sent off on in the Premier League on Sunday with United losing a tight derby to Man City and Villa surrendering a lead in defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.
Argentina have called up Mallorca's Spanish defender Pablo Maffeo for the first time ahead of this month's World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil in the squad announced by its FA on Friday.
The Villa, owned by United Breweries Holding, was mortgaged by KFA to SBI-led 17-bank consortium to obtain loans in 2010
Liverpool lost for the second time in three Premier League matches on Monday, slumping to a 3-1 home defeat by Aston Villa.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Aston Villa will try to become the first side to score against Chelsea this season when they visit the champions on Saturday.
Chelsea's on-loan Brazilian international Alexandre Pato scored on his debut to help push pathetic Aston Villa to the verge of inevitable relegation with a seventh successive Premier League defeat on Saturday. Pato, the former Milan starlet who has been kicking his heels since joining from Corinthians two months ago, came on as a 25th-minute substitute and was immediately involved in the move which led to Ruben Loftus-Cheek netting his first league goal.
Aston Villa blew a chance to go eight points clear of Arsenal in the race for England's fourth Champions League berth Sunday after conceding two late goals against relegation-threatened Stoke City. The 2-2 draw, with Stoke cancelling out their hosts' 2-0 lead in the final three minutes, left fourth-placed Villa six points ahead of Arsenal and three adrift of second-placed Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League.
Danny Welbeck, making his first appearance of the season as a late substitute, headed a stoppage-time winner to give Arsenal a 2-1 home win over league leaders Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
The race for Premier League places in next season's Europa League warmed up on Sunday when Aston Villa and Everton fought out a thrilling 3-3 draw and Fulham came from behind to win 3-1 at Manchester City.
Spanish goal hero David Villa has rallied behind Fernando Torres after his strike partner turned in another disappointing World Cup performance in the European champions' 1-0 win over Portugal on Tuesday, saying he doesn't agree with those who say that the Liverpool ace's performances have been below par.
Zenit St. Petersburg, led by Portuguese coach Andre Villas-Boas, won the Russian Premier League title.
Newcastle United made light work of north-east rivals Sunderland as Alexander Isak's double secured a 3-0 win and a place in the FA Cup fourth round at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Premier League sides Manchester United and Aston Villa reached the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday after seeing off lower league opponents Southampton and Gillingham.
Frank Lampard broke Chelsea's all-time scoring record with two goals as the European champions all but secured a top-four finish in the Premier League with a 2-1 win in an incident-packed game at Aston Villa on Saturday.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi brought back memories of outstanding performances by his Argentine compatriots Diego Maradona and Ricky Villa at Wembley with his match-winning display in the Champions League final on Saturday.
The Copa del Rey semi-final draw will be made on Friday.
Frank Lampard passed the 150-goal milestone for Chelsea on Saturday with four goals in a 7-1 hammering of Aston Villa as Carlo Ancelotti's side roared back to the top of the English Premier League.
David Villa hit a spectacular volley to earn Spain a 1-0 win over world champions Italy in a friendly on Wednesday. The Valencia striker, who replaced Fernando Torres at halftime, fired the ball into the top corner past a helpless Gianluigi Buffon 13 minutes from time after Fabio Cannavaro had headed the ball clear of his area.
A hat-trick by David Villa helped Spain to a 4-1 win over Russia in their Euro 2008 opener on Tuesday.
Blackburn Rovers gave their new Indian owners an immediate return on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa that lifted the club five places in the English Premier League table.
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