Winning goals from Luis Suarez and Neymar on the counter-attack to sink Juventus in the Champions League final encapsulated the new direct play from Barcelona that saw them become the first European side to win the treble for the second time.
Lionel Messi was at the top of his game as Barcelona earned a 3-2 win at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday to move up to third in La Liga.
Images from football action around European leagues played on Sunday
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti fended off questions about his future after the Champions League holders were dumped out in the semi-finals by Juventus 3-2 on aggregate on Wednesday.
Following is a match by match look at the English Premier League's season-opening weekend fixtures:
Manchester City are top on goal difference, with Chelsea second and Liverpool dropping to third, two points ahead of Arsenal, who routed Fulham 5-1.
Like an ailing heavyweight, Spain and their hopes of a third straight European title ended in a tame surrender as their 2-0 defeat by Italy represented the definitive end to a golden era in their footballing history. A first-half effort from defender Giorgio Chiellini and a stoppage-time goal by striker Graziano Pelle sent the Azzurri into the quarter-finals at Euro 2016 and left Spain to mull over a second successive failure on the international stage.
The 2016 Euro moves to its knockout rounds with eight teams taking an early flight home. The group stages saw some memorable action in which many records broken. Rediff.com takes a look at the standout stats from the 36 matches in the preliminary round.
Images from the World Cup qualifying matches played on Wednesday night.
Spain huffed and puffed, making hard work of their Euro 2016 opener before a late Gerard Pique goal blew away the CzechRepublic resistance -- yet it could not conceal further evidence that Vicente del Bosque's champions may lack a killer instinct.
Real Madrid beat Leganes 4-2 on Wednesday despite resting key players including Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale as goals from Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez helped them stay top of La Liga after Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win over Sevilla.
Chelsea found no chink in Everton's defensive armour as the Premier League champions were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Gareth Bale marked his return to action after a long injury layoff by sealing a 2-0 victory for Real Madrid over Espanyol on Saturday to provisionally stretch Zinedine Zidane's side's lead at the top of La Liga to three points.
Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal smashed home a second-half penalty to earn a 1-0 win at home to Monaco in an absorbing Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday, leaving the tie on a knife-edge.
Karim Benzema fired Real Madrid to a 1-0 win in the city derby against Atletico Madrid on Saturday which underlined Real's La Liga title credentials. Bayern Munich scored three goals in the opening 26 minutes to defeat Mainz 05 3-1 away on Saturday and go two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with their sixth straight win.
Senegal international Mane faces a three-match suspension from domestic games, although he will be available for Liverpool's Champions League tie at home to Sevilla on Wednesday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
Ronaldo equals Raul Real Madrid record while Morata emulates Del Piero after scoring in five consecutive matches
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said striker Diego Costa will start against Liverpool in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday despite being left out of the Spain squad for this month's international matches because of persistent injuries.
Genoa handed Serie A leaders and titleholders Juventus a dramatic first league defeat of the season when Luca Antonini scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time to give them a 1-0 win on Wednesday.
Images from Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday night.
A late goal by Toni Kroos sealed victory as Real Madrid defeated an impressive Celta Vigo side 2-1 to win their first home La Liga game of the campaign on Saturday.
Images from the FA Cup matches played on Saturday
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Juventus's win over Real Madrid has strengthened their conviction that they are good enough to rejoin European football's elite after years of watching the Champions League final stages from the sidelines.
Holders Spain were knocked out of Euro 2016 in a 2-0 defeat by Italy on Monday after goals by Giorgio Chiellini and Graziano Pelle set up a quarter-final with world champions Germany. Chiellini opened the scoring after 33 minutes while Pelle wrapped up the victory in stoppage time to end Spain's reign as European champions which covered the 2008 and 2012 tournaments.
Spain, chasing an unprecedented third successive European Championship title and looking forward to facing Germany or Slovakia in the next round, have the upper hand in recent history, having not lost a competitive match against Italy since the 1994 World Cup.
Manchester City thrashed Southampton 6-1 to remain top of the Premier League.
IMAGES from football matches played in the Spain, Germany and Portugal on Wednesday.
Liverpool were beaten 1-0 away to Atletico Madrid in their last-16 first leg on Tuesday.
The Belgian forward came off the bench to make his Real debut in Saturday's 3-2 win over Levante, having had his start to life at the club hit by a thigh injury the day before the La Liga season began.
Cristiano Ronaldo shrugged off the boos of his own supporters to fire Real Madrid to a 3-0 win over Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Images from football friendlies played on Wednesday.
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos again came to his side's rescue as they snatched a dramatic 3-2 victory over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday to keep Zinedine Zidane's side six points clear at the top of La Liga and set a club record 35 games unbeaten.
Images from football matches played in the La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga on Saturday.
Lionel Messi dragged a nervous Barcelona to a 1-0 win at home to Levante in La Liga, while Cristiano Ronaldo converted two late penalties on his 100th appearance for Juventus in all competitions as the Serie A titleholders ground out a 3-1 win away to a dogged Genoa side.
United are 16th in the standings with a game in hand heading into the international break.
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