Lazio thumped Empoli 4-0, their eighth successive league win, to go second in Serie A on Sunday and Napoli ended their dismal run with a 3-0 win over Fiorentina despite being denied a clear goal.
Genoa handed Serie A leaders and titleholders Juventus a dramatic first league defeat of the season when Luca Antonini scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time to give them a 1-0 win on Wednesday.
AC Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri has hit back at claims from the mayor of Verona that Mario Balotelli is a troublemaker, saying the problem of racism lies with supporters not the Italy attacker.
Juventus raced into a 2-0 halftime lead after Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret was sent off in the 25th minute. The visitors then had Pjanic dismissed and Napoli's Jose Callejon pulled one back before Insigne let the Turin side off the hook.
Inter Milan went on a rare scoring spree to thrash Serie A newcomers Frosinone 4-0 and go clear at the top on Sunday, the first time Roberto Mancini's team have won a league match by more than one goal this 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.
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.
Lazio squandered a two-goal lead against Inter Milan as they drew 2-2 at the San Siro on Sunday and wasted a golden chance to take sole possession of third spot in Serie A.
Teenager Marcus Rashford followed up two goals on his Manchester United debut in midweek with another double plus an assist as Louis van Gaal's team dented Arsenal's Premier League title hopes with a 3-2 win on Sunday.
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.
Manchester City swept aside second-tier Cardiff City 2-0 with first-half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling on Sunday to reach the FA Cup fifth round in their quest to win an unprecedented four trophies this season.
Carlos Tevez scored a stunning goal as Serie A leaders Juventus beat Torino 1-0 on Sunday to continue an extraordinary dominance of their neighbours.
A round-up of the top-flight football matches played across Italy and Germany on Sunday
Manchester City made it five wins out of five in the Premier League and Cristiano Ronaldo scored five goals for Real Madrid but Chelsea and Juventus continued to struggle at the weekend as the Champions League looms.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi rescued a 1-1 draw at Villarreal with a sensational late free-kick on Sunday but could not prevent the champions finishing the weekend third in La Liga, five points behind leaders Real Madrid.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
The Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez double act struck again on Sunday with both players scoring to give Juventus a 2-0 win at AC Milan which strengthened their grip on Serie A.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
New coach Luciano Spalletti failed to inspire AS Roma as they were held 1-1 at home by bottom club Verona on his debut on Sunday and Juventus notched their 10th Serie A win in a row by hammering Udinese 4-0 away.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
An insatiable Lionel Messi scored for the eighth game in a row in all competitions as La Liga champions Barcelona saw off a gutsy Girona side 2-0 to go five points clear at the top of the standings.
Lionel Messi came off the bench to inspire Barcelona to a 3-1 win over a dogged Leganes side on Sunday, creating one goal and scoring another to keep the Catalans five points clear at the top of La Liga.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Rising Indian midfielder Manpreet Singh was named the 'Junior Player of the Year' by the Asian Hockey Federation in its Congress held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In England, the celebrations went on at Leicester City as they marked their fairytale Premier League success with another win while champions Juventus' long unbeaten streak in Italy came to an end.
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.
Football news from Ligue 1, Bundesliga and La liga.
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.
A summary of the results of the football matches played across Europe on Sunday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Dutch teenager Max Verstappen is a rare talent comparable to the late Ayrton Senna, according to Red Bull's Formula One consultant Helmut Marko.
Andy Murray clinched the Vienna Open title on Sunday with a 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 victory over David Ferrer, one of the Briton's main rivals in the battle to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals.