Here are five talking points from the weekend's action:
The veteran admits Barca have defence problems, slams Dembele
La Liga leaders Barcelona hit two goals in the final three minutes to earn a 3-2 win at Rayo Vallecano
Bayern Munich's party was wrecked by Borussia Moenchengladbach who hit back for a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, forcing the Bavarians to wait at least a week to clinch a fourth straight Bundesliga title.
A summary of Sunday's action in Serie A and Bundesliga.
Juventus staged a superb revival to battle back from two goals down and rescue their Champions League hopes with a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich in their last 16 first leg on Tuesday.
Not much has thwarted the predatory instincts of Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller and Robert Lewandowski this season but even that dynamic duo will have their work cut out to pierce the rock-solid Juventus defence on Tuesday.
When Massimiliano Allegri arrived in Turin last July, Juventus ownership had set two goals for him - win a fourth straight "Scudetto" and reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
Confident Arsenal travel to Bayern Munich on Wednesday hoping to tame the German champions for a second time in two weeks, and are promising to attack despite a string of injuries.
Argentina and Brazil both lost their opening World Cup qualifiers on Thursday as the South American campaign for Russia 2018 started in unexpected fashion.
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 will be hoping to make it 11 victories out of 11 against French teams in knockout ties when they face AS Monaco in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Arsenal conceded five goals for the first time at their Emirates Stadium as they suffered their worst home defeat for 19 years.
Paris St Germain revived their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win over Liverpool in Group C on Wednesday, leaving the English club's hopes of reaching the last 16 hanging in the balance.
Real Madrid dropped points for the third time in seven games since Zinedine Zidane's return as they were held to a 0-0 draw away to Getafe in La Liga on Thursday, which harmed their neighbours' hopes of a top-four finish.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Sevilla will attempt to draw Bayern Munich out of their comfort zone and take the game to the Germans,
Images from the soccer matches played across Europe on Saturday.
Juventus striker Carlos Tevez struck to give the Serie A champions a 1-0 win over AC Milan on Saturday, handing coach Massimiliano Allegri a winning return to San Siro where he was shown the door eight months ago.
IMAGES from the La Liga matches played on Tuesday
Germany eased into the Confederations Cup semi-finals with a 3-1 win over Cameroon on Sunday as the VAR system was again thrust into the spotlight when the on-field official needed two reviews of an incident to reach the right verdict.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday.
The Champions League group stages took on a less predictable look after Thursday's draw, helped by UEFA's decision to tweak the seeding system.
Juventus made light work of bitter rivals Inter Milan on Sunday, winning 3-1 to increase their Serie A lead to nine points after AS Roma were washed out and Napoli blundered to a 3-0 defeat at Atalanta.
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.
Goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon sent Napoli top of Serie A after they beat Atalanta 2-0 on Saturday while an injury-time Mario Balotelli penalty helped AC Milan come from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw at Torino.
There was the usual frenzy of last-minute deals as the English Premier League brought the curtain down on another bumper European transfer window in which Manchester City again flexed their financial muscle as the continent's top spenders.
Luka Modric pulled one back for Zinedine Zidane's shellshocked side with a brilliant strike from distance early in the second half before substitute Vinicius Jr reduced the deficit to one goal.
Champions Barcelona reclaimed top spot in La Liga on Sunday by overcoming a dogged Villarreal side to win 2-0 at home with goals from stalwart defender Gerard Pique and youngster Carles Alena taking them above Sevilla.
Manchester City suffered from deja vu as Luis Suarez's double gave Barcelona a 2-1 first leg lead in a Champions League last 16 tie at the Etihad although Lionel Messi's late penalty miss left the door ajar on Tuesday.
Real Madrid's stuttering season continued as they were reduced to 10 men and then slumped to an 11th La Liga defeat of the campaign by going down 3-1 at Real Sociedad.
European heavyweights Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain all maintained their leads and Benfica toppled Sporting Lisbon.
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.
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.
European champions Bayern Munich led the charge into the last 16 of the Champions League when they beat Viktoria Plzen 1-0 to chalk up a record-equalling ninth straight victory in the competition on Tuesday.
Argentina remain winless in South American qualifying for the 2018 World Cup after struggling to a 0-0 in Paraguay on Tuesday, while Uruguay and Ecuador both made it two wins from two games to top the group.
Juventus scored twice in a minute as they came from behind to clinch a dramatic 3-2 win over Olympiakos after Andrea Pirlo had celebrated his 100th Champions League appearance by scoring from a characteristically effortless free kick on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi fittingly sealed Barcelona's 26th La Liga title on Saturday by coming off the bench to score the goal in a 1-0 win over Levante in front of a jubilant Nou Camp crowd, who celebrated a remarkable eighth league crown in 11 years.
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