A lethal finish from Luis Suarez gave Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in a typically frantic 'Clasico' on Sunday as they stretched their lead over their rivals at the top of La Liga to four points.
Juergen Klopp got a taste of the problems at Liverpool as his first home game as manager ended in a frustrating 1-1 draw against Rubin Kazan who played more than 50 minutes with 10 men in the Europa League on Thursday.
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.
Barcelona eased into the King's Cup last 16 when goals from Pedro, Cristian Tello and Neymar secured a 3-0 second-leg victory at home to third-tier Cartagena on Tuesday for a 7-1 aggregate success.
Napoli began their Europa League group stage campaign in scintillating fashion.
Liverpool handed their fiercest rivals a painful lesson on Thursday with a dominant 2-0 win over Manchester United in the first leg of a Europa League last-16 clash.
Manchester United's hopes of salvaging their season in the Europa League suffered a stinging setback when they lost 2-1 at Danish side Midtjylland in the first leg of their last-32 clash on Thursday.
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Real Madrid took full advantage of Barcelona's shock defeat at Real Valladolid with a 3-0 home win over 10-man Levante on Sunday that put Carlo Ancelotti's in-form side three points clear at the top of La Liga.
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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.
Real Madrid made it two wins in two La Liga outings this season when Karim Benzema's scuffed 10th-minute strike secured an uninspiring 1-0 win at Granada on Monday.
Real Madrid closed to within three points of La Liga leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the halfway stage of the season when a Pepe header secured a laboured 1-0 win at mid-table Espanyol on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Diego Costa scored twice as Atletico Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 to maintain their winning home run this season and keep pace with Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table.
The value of an in-form striker was underlined as Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Athletic Bilbao needed goals from pivotal front men to grab vital wins that booked places in the Europa League last 32 on Thursday.
Mexico have confirmed Miguel 'Piojo' Herrera will coach the national squad at the World Cup finals in Brazil next year.
An inspired Matteo Darmian scored his first goal for Manchester United and set up another as Louis van Gaal's side kept alive their hopes of a top-four finish with a 2-0 home win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Neymar scored the opener to continue his rich vein of form as 10-man Barcelona won a one-sided La Liga derby against Espanyol.
Stephan El Shaarawy took a small step towards refuelling his career at Monaco when the AC Milan loanee came off the bench to rescue a late 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League's second round of group matches on Thursday.
Atletico Madrid were handed a chance to avenge last season's Champions League final defeat by city rivals and record 10-times winners Real after the two sides were drawn together in the last eight on Friday. Paris St Germain and Barcelona were paired together having met in the group stage, with the French side winning in Paris and the Catalans coming out on top in Spain.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Jonatan Soriano's love affair with the Europa League continued as last season's top scorer grabbed a hat-trick on Thursday to help Salzburg become one of four teams to reach the knockout stages.
Manchester City went top of the Premier League after securing a controversial 2-0 win at Newcastle United on Sunday with an early Edin Dzeko goal and a stoppage time effort from Alvaro Negredo.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Lionel Messi marked his 300th La Liga appearance with a record-equalling hat-trick and an assist for Neymar as Barcelona stayed hard on the heels of leaders Real Madrid with a 5-0 romp at home to Levante on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
New Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp made it three wins from his last three matches with a 1-0 success at Rubin Kazan in Russia that left them second in Group B, two points behind Swiss club Sion on Thursday.
Barcelona left it late to snatch a 1-0 win at Valencia on Sunday after Atletico Madrid's 2-0 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna was overshadowed by the death of a visiting fan hours before kickoff.
World Cup winners Germany are no mood to experiment against minnows Gibraltar in their Euro 2016 qualifier on Friday, promising a goal bonanza to make amends for recent poor results.
Barcelona lost for the second straight La Liga game in a 1-0 home reverse against Celta Vigo but there was no such trouble for Manchester City, who beat 10-man Manchester United 1-0 thanks to Sergio Aguero.
Images from Tuesday night's UEFA Champions League group stage matches.
Diego Costa continued his rich vein of form as he helped leaders Chelsea to a 3-0 win over Aston Villa while Louis van Gaal enjoyed only his second Premier League win as Manchester United manager following a 2-1 victory against West Ham.
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.
Following Angel Di Maria's nightmare stint, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com says the 'Theatre of Dreams' has never been a happy a hunting ground for players from the continent
La Liga champions Real Madrid beat Getafe 3-1 on Saturday with a goal from Gareth Bale and two strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo to go 12 points behind leaders Barcelona and warm up for next week's Champions League game at Paris St Germain.
Barcelona must to wait to confirm a place in the Champions League last 16 after dropping points for the first time in Group D in an absorbing 0-0 draw at Olympiakos Piraeus on Tuesday.
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Images from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
