Duvan Zapata scored a goal of sheer brute force and determination to set Napoli on the way to a 2-0 win over Sassuolo which moved them another step closer to second-placed AS Roma in Serie A on Monday.
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.
'Cristiano Ronaldo v Lionel Messi' got top billing at a packed Old Trafford but it was a lesser light who scored as Portugal scraped a 1-0 friendly win over Argentina on Tuesday.
Giuseppe Rossi continued his remarkable comeback with a 15-minute hat-trick as Fiorentina recovered from two goals down to defeat previously unbeaten title-holders Juventus 4-2 in Serie A on Sunday.
Only four teams are left in the Copa America and whichever lifts the trophy next weekend, one thing is guaranteed -- the winning coach will be an Argentine.
Manchester United dropped further down the table after losing 5-3 against newcomers Leicester City. Barcelona and Real Madrid scored 13 goals between them during a memorable La Liga weekend, when Cristiano Ronaldo netted a hat-trick.
'They created danger when we lost the ball or because of our errors. I believe that if we stay calm, remain really patient and make them move then the game will go our way'
Brazil playmaker Kaka scored his first goal, a delightful curling shot, since his return to AC Milan at the start of the season but his struggling team were held 1-1 at home by Lazio in Serie A on Wednesday.
AS Roma ended a five-match winless run against arch-rivals Lazio with a 2-0 win on Sunday which maintained their 100 percent record after four games in Serie A.
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.
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.
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.
A late strike by Gervinho sent AS Roma into the Italian Cup semi-finals with a 1-0 win over league title rivals Juventus in a tense atmosphere at a packed Olympic Stadium on Tuesday.
Juventus will end 2013 five points clear at the top of Serie A after a 4-1 victory at Atalanta stretched their winning league run to nine games on Sunday.
Sevilla will attempt to draw Bayern Munich out of their comfort zone and take the game to the Germans,
Despite all the hype, however, the match will do well to live up to some of the Manchester derby tussles down the years. Here are five of the most memorable:
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.
Jonathan Soriano scored an incredible goal from near the halfway line to complete a stunning 3-0 win for Salzburg away to once-mighty Ajax Amsterdam in the Europa League round of 32 on Thursday.
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.
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.
From the planet's costliest player Neymar to 'tiki-taka' kings Xavi and Iniesta to the ultimate sorcerer Ronaldinho, the FIFA Under-17 World Cup has been the cradle for many of world football's household names.
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.
AS Roma coach Rudi Garcia succeeded where his three predecessors failed by taking his team to a 2-0 win over arch-rivals Lazio on Sunday and maintaining their 100 percent record in Serie A alongside Napoli who won 2-1 at AC Milan.
Chelsea moved within touching distance of a first Premier League title in five years with a 1-0 win over Manchester United while Lionel Messi reached a landmark with his 400th career goal for La Liga leaders Barcelona.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Napoli kept their hopes of a first Serie A title since 1990 alive with an epic 4-2 win over 10-man Inter Milan after a Carlos Tevez hat-trick had put leaders Juventus six points clear with a 4-0 rout of Sassuolo on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his first five-goal haul in Real Madrid's 9-1 hammering of Granada while title-chasing Bayern Munich and Chelsea won again in Germany and England.
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.
Following Angel Di Maria's nightmare stint, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com says the 'Theatre of Dreams' has never been a happy a hunting ground for players from the continent
Ahead of the UEFA Champions League proper, which kicks-off next month, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com tells football fans what to expect in this year's competition.
Croatian wunderkind Borna Coric offered emphatic proof of his potential when he crushed Rafael Nadal in the Swiss Indoor tournament on Friday before local hero Roger Federer cruised into the last four.
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.
Cristiano Ronaldo renewed his personal battle with Lionel Messi by scoring his 71st Champions League goal, putting him three behind the Argentine's newly-set record, in Real Madrid's 1-0 win at FC Basel on Wednesday.
Reigning French Open champion Maria Sharapova, former world number one Venus Williams and Australian Samantha Stosur sailed into the second round of the China Open with straight set victories on Sunday.
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