Barcelona will travel to Borussia Moenchengladbach for their Champions League match on Wednesday without Lionel Messi but the Spaniards have enough options and firepower to plug the gap left by the Argentine, coach Luis Enrique said.
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Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes is likely to be out of action until the end of the year after suffering a calf strain during Spain's surprise defeat by South Africa on Tuesday, the club said in a statement on their website.
The Bundesliga was in danger of turning into another one-horse race on Sunday after second-placed VfL Wolfsburg were held 1-1 at home by promoted Paderborn, leaving titleholders Bayern Munich nine points clear at the top.
Bayern Munich's Douglas Costa scored a first-half winner as the holders did the bare minimum to beat VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 on Tuesday and move into the German Cup quarter-finals.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Manchester City, who crushed Gladbach 4-0 at home in September, are in second place in the group on seven points, three ahead of the Germans, and can wrap up qualification with victory in Germany.
Sarri was without Cristiano Ronaldo for the trip to the Gewiss Stadium as the Portuguese forward recovers from a knee problem ahead of Tuesday's Champions League meeting with Atletico Madrid in Turin.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Sunderland are banking on the guile of Dick Advocaat to save them from relegation after the English Premier League strugglers appointed the Dutchman as head coach until the end of the season.
The Bundesliga enjoyed a bumper afternoon of stunning goals and penalty drama on Saturday with Hakan Calhanoglu's viciously swerving 40-metre free kick for Hamburg SV the pick of the bunch.
Sergio Aguero, in fine scoring form for Manchester City this season, looks set to lead Argentina's attack in next month's World Cup qualifiers after being recalled to their squad on Friday.
Barcelona dealt a stinging blow to Real Madrid's title hopes when Luis Suarez and Neymar continued their scintillating form to fire the champions to a stunning 4-0 victory in the La Liga 'Clasico' on Saturday.
"We are pleased with the win, the many chances and the 70,000-plus spectators."
Bayern Munich eased past Nuremberg 2-0 on Saturday with Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben on target to maintain a perfect start to the season and join a cluster of teams with nine points at the top of the table.
Bayern Munich secured a record fourth consecutive Bundesliga title with a game to spare after a 2-1 victory at Ingolstadt on Saturday helped them put the disappointment of their midweek Champions League semi-final exit behind them.
Bayern Munich are desperate to avoid losing a third consecutive Champions League semi-final to Spanish opponents when they host Atletico Madrid on Tuesday but coach Pep Guardiola has his work cut out to end his time in Germany on a high.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
Barcelona will put Manchester City to the sword if they commit the same kind of errors as they did in their Champions League encounter last month, coach Luis Enrique said.
Thomas Mueller and Thiago Alcantara struck twice as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich thumped Werder Bremen 5-0 on Saturday to open an eight-point gap at the top with their first win in three games. The Bavarians, who claimed one point from their previous two matches, terrorised visiting Werder with Kingsley Coman setting up three goals in an eye-catching dress rehearsal for the Champions League last-16 second leg against Juventus next week. "It may look easy ... but it was not," said Bayern coach Pep Guardiola. "It was important to win after losing to Mainz 05 (last week). "As for Kingsley, he is a young player but today he showed his quality. We will need such a player on Wednesday." Guardiola can also count on Mario Goetze again after the attacking midfielder made his comeback from a four-month injury layoff.
Leaders Bayern Munich twice surrendered the lead in a 2-2 Bundesliga draw at 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday and Borussia Moenchengladbach missed two penalties in a goalless draw against Hamburg SV.
RB Leipzig's Timo Werner scored a hat-trick as they demolished hosts Mainz 5-0 on Sunday to reclaim third place in the Bundesliga with an emphatic victory after three straight draws. Schalke 04 slumped to a shock 3-0 home defeat by relegation-threatened Augsburg on Sunday, their fourth defeat in five games dropping them to eighth place in the Bundesliga.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Europa League favourites Manchester United secured a 1-1 draw on a threadbare pitch at Rostov, while Olympique Lyonnais beat AS Roma 4-2 helped by a fine individual goal from Nabil Fekir in their last 16, first leg ties on Thursday.
Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League hopes were crushed by mid-table Belgian side Gent, who booked their spot in the last 16 with a 2-2 draw at Wembley on Thursday as the hosts paid the penalty for Dele Alli's first-half red card.
A summary of Sunday's action in Serie A and Bundesliga.
Champions Bayern Munich demolished VfB Stuttgart 4-0 on Saturday with all the goals coming in the first half as they increased their lead to eight points and stayed on course for a record fourth consecutive title on a day of red cards in the Bundesliga.
Robert Lewandowski struck twice as champions Bayern Munich eased past Freiburg 3-1 on Saturday to secure a record 15th win in a row and the Pole became the first foreign player to score 33 goals in a Bundesliga season. Erling Haaland scored twice as Borussia Dortmund beat closest challengers RB Leipzig 2-0 away on Saturday to wrap up second place in the Bundesliga.
An 85th-minute equaliser by Naldo gave VfL Wolfsburg a 2-2 draw at Borussia Dortmund, maintaining their hold on second place and leaving the hosts in the Bundesliga relegation zone.
In other matches, VfL Wolfsburg edged past Hertha Berlin 2-0; promoted Ingolstadt snatched a last-gasp 1-0 win at Werder Bremen
Manchester City embark on a fifth Champions League campaign buoyant after a perfect start to their domestic season but still searching for the secret formula against Europe's top brass.
Borussia Dortmund's miserable domestic season continued when they lost 1-0 at home to fellow strugglers Hanover 96 on Saturday, their fourth Bundesliga defeat in a row.
Here is a round-up of results from the European League matches played on Wednesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery scored a sensational volley to lead the German champions to a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday that sent them eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with six matches left. Frenchman Ribery, who has missed most of the season due to injury, took off at the edge of the box and sent his mid-air volley past Lukas Hradecky in the 20th minute after the keeper had initially saved a shot from Mario Goetze. It was the 32-year-old's second goal of the campaign after being sidelined for eight months with an ankle problem and then suffering another injury that kept him out until last month. Bayern found no resistance from Eintracht and Xabi Alonso rattled the crossbar with a free kick early in the second half with the hosts enjoying close to 70 percent possession.
IMAGES from all the Bundesliga action on Saturday.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has a goalkeeping dilemma to resolve before ManchesterCity turn up for their Group C Champions League match in Glasgow on Wednesday.
Bayer Leverkusen beat a second-string Bayern Munich 2-0 on Saturday to move up to third in the Bundesliga and get back on course for an automatic Champions League spot with three matches left in the season.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
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