Manchester United manager David Moyes has warned his own player Ashley Young to stop diving but said on Monday he could not guarantee the winger would change his ways.
Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Juventus consolidated their top-flight leads at the weekend while Paris St Germain proved too strong for Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Marseille.
Lionel Messi notched his 250th La Liga goal to move one off the all-time league scoring record as leaders Barcelona won 3-0 against Eibar on Saturday ahead of next weekend's Clasico with Real Madrid.
Juve forward Cristiano Ronaldo had an unusually quiet game after scoring a hat-trick against Atletico in last year's competition, although he came within inches of grabbing a last-gasp winner when he sent a shot just past the far post.
Germany defender Nico Schulz scored a late winner as their new-look side snatched a 3-2 win away to the Netherlands in their opening Euro 2020 Group C qualifier on Sunday, an absorbing clash that swung in fortunes from one side to the other.
Lionel Messi was in inspired form as champions Barcelona hammered Celta Vigo 5-0 on Saturday, recording a fourth straight league victory which keeps them top of La Liga after Real Madrid had put the pressure on the Catalans with a 4-1 win at Eibar.
A round-up of Thursday night's matches from the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Karim Benzema scored his sixth goal in four games as Real Madrid beat Alaves 3-0 on Sunday for a fourth successive La Liga victory which took the European champions to within eight points of leaders Barcelona.
Barcelona's rampant trio of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi all found the net at the weekend and unsung Leicester City found themselves in the record books when their England striker Jamie Vardy scored for the 11th straight game.
Real Madrid returned to winning ways after last weekend's drubbing at Atletico but failed to convince and were whistled by their own fans during a drab 2-0 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
A summary of Saturday's action in Ligue 1, La Liga and Serie A.
Atletico Madrid took advantage of Barcelona's slip-up to go top of La Liga with a 4-0 victory over Real Sociedad as Real Madrid drew 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao and Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off on Sunday.
Angel di Maria's move from Real Madrid to Old Trafford was such a disaster that Manchester United was more than willing to incur losses of more than 15 million pounds on their investment. Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com looks at the Argentina star's nightmare year at the 'Theatre of Dreams'.
Eden Hazard expects to enjoy playing with greater freedom and less pressure on his shoulders this season as Premier League leaders Chelsea demonstrate their strength in depth by challenging for four trophies, including the Champions League.
Karim Benzema came off the bench to score 13 minutes from time and ruin any chance of a dream result for resilient Ludogorets as holders Real Madrid carved out a patchy 2-1 win in Wednesday's Champions League Group B match.
France substitute Kylian Mbappe engineered two late goals to rescue a 2-2 draw against Iceland and spare the blushes of the world champions in their friendly.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday.
Barcelona closed in on the La Liga title after beating 10-man Atletico Madrid 2-0 in Saturday's top-of-the-table showdown at the Nou Camp as late strikes by Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi gave the Catalans an 11-point lead at the top of the table.
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.
Inter Milan staged a late smash-and-grab raid as goals by Mauro Icardi and Matias Vecino secured a 2-1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur in their Champions League Group B opener on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo ensured Atletico Madrid fans will have bitter memories of the last local derby at the Vicente Calderon stadium by scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win for La Liga leaders Real Madrid on Saturday. Ronaldo's deflected free kick put Real in charge in the 23rd minute in the first meeting of the teams since the Champions League final in May. The prolific Portuguese killed off Atletico's resistance by winning and converting a penalty in the 71st minute and capped a harrowing night for the home side by tapping in the third in the 77th.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at mid-table Athletic Bilbao on Saturday after a bullet header from Aritz Aduriz in the first half secured the points.
Mateo Kovacic's late strike avoided embarrassment for Real Madrid as the European champions surrendered a two-goal lead before drawing 3-3 with Legia Warsaw in an enthralling Champions League game played amid an empty stadium on Wednesday.
Hegerberg hat-trick fires Lyon to fourth straight Champions League
Lionel Messi came off the bench to preserve Barcelona's unbeaten run in La Liga with a sensational late equaliser in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Sevilla on Saturday as the runaway leaders came back from two goals down in the space of a minute.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Bringing you all the news from the summer transfer window and other snippets from the soccer world...
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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.
Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick and Lionel Messi bagged a brace as Barcelona thrashed bottom side Cordoba 8-0 on Saturday to move a step closer to their fifth La Liga title in seven years.
A summary of Tuesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Breaking records has become Cristiano Ronaldo's favourite pastime. Very few footballers can do everything and Ronaldo is of that rare breed
A summary of all the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
Check out the top footballers of the weekend.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo come face-to-face next month when Sweden meet Portugal in a World Cup playoff and they sharpened their claws with six goals between them on a thrilling night of Champions League action on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A round-up of Tuesday night's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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