Croatia, helped by a mistake by veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, held Italy to a 1-1 away draw on Sunday, but their evening was ruined by their fans who twice interrupted play by throwing flares onto the pitch.
Lionel Messi's penalty earned Argentina a 2-1 win over Croatia after a fortunate equaliser that stood despite an unintentional handball by Sergio Aguero in a friendly at West Ham United's Upton Park ground on Wednesday.
Real Madrid lifted the FIFA Club World Cup for a record fourth time on Saturday after thrashing local side Al Ain 4-1 in the final in Abu Dhabi with the help of impressive distance strikes in either half from midfielders Luka Modric and Marcos Llorente.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
IMAGES from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo struck his fifth international hat-trick, including a spectacular volleyed opener, to lead the European champions to a 5-1 win over the Faroe Islands in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday.
Football news from Ligue 1, Bundesliga and La liga.
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Malta make Italy sweat, while Bale takes Wales closer to competition
The policy of buying players cheap and selling them for a higher price a few years on is a business model that worked well for clubs like Atletico Madrid and FC Porto. With the transfer window open for the next few weeks, Rediff.com takes a look at clubs that made smart deals over the years.
Barcelona lost ground on La Liga leaders Real Madrid when their 11-match winning streak was snapped by Malaga, while Premier League pacesetters Chelsea dropped points at home to Burnley. Bayern Munich enjoyed a second-successive goalrush in the Bundesliga after routing Paderborn 6-0 while AS Roma lost ground to Serie A leaders Juventus after yet another draw. This and more from the happenings in the world of football over the weekend.
Atletico Madrid sealed top spot in Champions League Group D after second half goals from Frenchmen Kevin Gameiro and Antoine Griezmann but Napoli were held to a 0-0 Champions League draw at home by Dynamo Kiev.
Coach Pep Guardiola was left thrilled after ManchesterCity revived their Champions League bid by beating his old club Barcelona 3-1 in a gloriously open Group C encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
A round-up of all the international friendlies played on Tuesday
As Manchester United prepare to embark on a new era following Louis van Gaal;s departure, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com offers a diagnosis of what went wrong with the most successful Premier League club after Sir Alex Ferguson called it a day.
Carlos Tevez is getting paid 615,000 a week at Shanghai Shenhua, making him the world's best-paid player. His salary is now more than Cristiano Ronaldo's and Lionel Messi's!
Barcelona battled back from a goal down and scored twice in the second half to overcome hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 in their Champions League Group C match on Wednesday despite the absence of the injured Lionel Messi.
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday.