The Italian has always been a fans' favourite and was voted the greatest player in Chelsea's history in a poll last season.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
Inter Milan are on the verge of signing Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic, with president Erick Thohir saying on Thursday that the deal was almost finalised.
Real Madrid defender Nacho was the unlikely hero as they snatched a 1-0 win at Real Valladolid on Sunday to capitalise on Barcelona's defeat at Valencia this weekend and move three points clear of their rivals at the top of La Liga. Serie A leaders Juventus suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Napoli on Sunday, with coach Maurizio Sarri returning to his former club for the first time, though Cristiano Ronaldo still managed to score for an eighth league game in a row for the visitors.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Juventus and Inter, who have 42 points each from 17 games, both play on Monday while Lazio, with 39 from 17, have an outstanding fixture at home to Verona to come in early February.
Mauricio Pinilla converted a late penalty to give Atalanta a 2-1 win over Inter Milan and condemn their troubled opponents to a third successive Serie A defeat on Sunday.
Ibrahimovic was forced off with a muscle problem with 11 minutes remaining, and the Swede was pictured sitting on the bench with an ice pack strapped to the back of his left leg.
Maverick striker Mario Balotelli will have a good behaviour clause inserted into his contract with AC Milan, banning extravagant haircuts and clothing and committing him to a healthy lifestyle.
Paulo Dybala came off the bench to give unbeaten Serie A leaders Juventus a 1-0 win away to a brave Bologna side who had the better of the match and hit the post in stoppage time on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Merseyside Police is reportedly investigating racist abuse received by Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli on Twitter after he tweeted 'Man Utd...LOL' after the crushing 5-3 defeat met by Manchester United at the hands of Leicester on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo was involved in all three of his team's goals as Juventus came from behind to beat Napoli 3-1 in a Serie A top-of-the-table clash on Saturday to maintain their perfect start to the season.
Images from football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
AC Milan beat visitors Lazio 2-0 to claim consecutive Serie A wins for the first time since February thanks to Carlos Bacca's fifth goal of the season and an M'Baye Niang penalty on Tuesday.
Irrepressible AS Roma captain Francesco Totti scored twice to haul the Serie A title challengers back from two goals behind against arch-rivals Lazio and earn them a 2-2 draw in a pulsating derby on Sunday.
Napoli suffered their first defeat of the season on Sunday when they lost 1-0 at lowly Atalanta while Serie A leaders Juventus surged on with a 3-0 win at Empoli, helped by a Gonzalo Higuain brace.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia will be the first in more 35 years to be held without spectators after organisers introduced tighter measures to protect against the coronavirus. Here is a list of international sports events hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
Genoa blew away Serie A leaders Juventus on Sunday, scoring three times in an astonishing first half hour on the way to a pulsating 3-1 win.
Milan replaced Gennaro Gattuso with former Sampdoria coach Giampaolo during the close season in a bid to improve on last season's fifth place and to take them back to the Champions League.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
AS Roma were dumped out of the Italian Cup on penalties by second-tier Spezia after a 0-0 draw at home extended their winless streak to seven matches and heaped pressure on coach Rudi Garcia.
Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain again showed his killer instinct with two expertly-taken goals in a late 3-1 win at Torino after their less illustrious neighbours had scored first and dominated the Serie A game on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Juventus continued their charge towards a fourth successive Serie A title as they predictably swept aside AC Milan 3-1 on Saturday to complete a league double over their old rivals.
Andrea Pirlo and Miralem Pjanic provided the moments of magic to inspire leading Serie A duo Juventus and AS Roma to battling victories on Sunday with the gap between the sides remaining at three points.
A spectacular piledriver from Juan Cuadrado gave Serie A leaders Juventus a 1-0 win over Inter Milan, ending a run of seven successive Serie A wins for their opponents in a pulsating end-to-end match on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Gonzalo Higuain pulled one back three minutes later with a typically opportunist goal, the Argentine's 13th in the league this season, to set up a tense final half hour.
The victory moved second-placed Bayern, who take on Celtic in the Champions League next week, up to 17 points, two behind Dortmund who suffered their first home loss in 41 league matches.
Inter will be his sixth club in a career which began when he made his debut for Anderlecht as a 16-year-old and has taken him to Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion and Everton.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Eric Choupo-Moting scored his third Ligue 1 goal of the season on Sunday but the Paris St Germain forward's incredible miss later in the game was the moment that will be remembered from his performance in Sunday's 2-2 draw against Racing Strasbourg.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday