Eden Hazard inspired Chelsea while Lionel Messi sizzled for Barcelona. Rediff.com takes a look at the other top soccer players of the weekend in Europe.
Holders Atletico Madrid won for the first time in the Europa League this season, beating Rosenborg 3-0, while Emmanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick as Manchester City beat Lech Poznan 3-1.
England pulled off a stunning upset by hammering Olympic champions Germany 4-1 in the Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Melbourne on Sunday, in an encounter that featured two self-goals.
Barca will now visit seventh-placed Osasuna on Saturday before hosting Young Boys in the Champions League next week, when they will look to rebound following a 2-1 loss in their opening match at Monaco.
When the World Cup draw sent both 2006 finalists to Cape Town for their first matches the locals were delighted but having seen Italy and France in action they could be forgiven for wondering what the fuss is about.
Morocco are happy to sit back and look to punish opponents on the counter-attack using the speed and skill of Hakim Ziyech
Steven Gerrard was again Liverpool's saviour on Sunday as the inspirational captain secured a 1-1 draw with Everton in the Merseyside rivals' fourth-round FA Cup tie at Anfield. Gerrard struck nine minutes after halftime to cancel Joleon Lescott's first-half header as the game finished with the same score as their Premier League meeting on the same ground last Monday.
Paris St Germain had a chance to extend their Ligue 1 lead to five points after RC Lens drew 1-1 at Troyes and Olympique de Marseille and Monaco shared the spoils on Saturday.
Sporting Clube de Goa put up a gritty performance to hold Federation Cup champions East Bengal to a goalless draw in their opening encounter of the I-League football tournament at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda.
A turbo-charged start yielding two goals in the opening 15 minutes and a spectacular effort by Tom Cleverley led Manchester United to a 3-0 victory at Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday.
Arsenal's 2-1 Champions League win at Montpellier on Tuesday was another sign the club is building real momentum this season, and it could not have come at a better time with Premier League champions Manchester City up next.
Asked about the lack of goals as India have scored just two in as many matches, Reid said, "There is no specific reason for that. I would have been worried if we were not creating opportunities."
Mario Mandzukic scored one goal and created the other as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich pulled 11 points clear of their nearest title rivals with a 2-0 victory at VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.
Chelsea's Eden Hazard has apologised for kicking a ballboy who was preventing him from retrieving the ball in the League Cup semi-final against Swansea City on Wednesday.
Newcastle United and Arsenal were charged by the FA on Monday for failing to control their players during their bad-tempered goalless draw in the opening Premier League match of the season at St James' Park on Saturday.
Playing their first season in the ONGC I-League, local outfit Chirag United Sporting Club held favourites Churchill Brothers to a goalless draw at Vidyasagar Stadium in Barasat on Sunday night.
Gurpreet named India captain for World Cup qualifying match against Qatar
Earlier this month, India had held Asian champions Qatar to a goalless draw in Doha to gain their first point in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers.
Newcastle United closed in on the top four with a 2-0 victory at Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday and Arsenal slipped to seventh after a goalless draw at Bolton Wanderers stretched their winless run in the Premier League to four matches.
Portugal scored six goals against Bosnia including a Cristiano Ronaldo double to grab a ticket to the Euro 2012 finals while Ireland, Czech Republic and Croatia completed the lineup without the need for a frenzied finale to their playoff wins on Tuesday.
I-League champions Salgaocar, were held to a goalless draw by Mumbai FC but Prayag United rode on Joshimar Dasilva's strike to beat Chirag United Kerala 1-0 in their respective Federation Cup matches in Pune on Sunday.
A stout defending and a couple of good saves by keeper Arnab Das Sarma of Air-India denied Dempo full points as both settled for a goalless draw in the 15th round of ONGC-I-league played at Nehru stadium in Margao on Tuesday.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored a late equaliser to salvage a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Argentina.
A spirited Ivory Coast ran the Portugal defence ragged before settling for a goalless draw against the 2006 semi-finalists in their Group G match of the FIFA World Cup in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.
Liverpool and Ajax Amsterdam, who have won the European Cup nine times between them, failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League after making embarrassing exits from the competition on Thursday.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday.
Tottenham Hotspur and Schalke 04 belied their reputations to knock seven-times winners AC Milan and twice finalists Valencia out of the Champions League on Wednesday with performances that went entirely against type.
Tottenham Hotspur and Schalke 04 belied their reputations to knock seven-times winners AC Milan and twice finalists Valencia out of the Champions League on Wednesday with performances that went entirely against type.
Chelsea only have themselves to blame if they suffer an early Champions League exit on Tuesday, manager Andre Villas-Boas said on the eve of their final Group E match against Valencia.
Barcelona stand between Chelsea and a second successive appearance in an all-English Champions League final. Manchester United, who beat Chelsea on penalties in last year's final in Moscow, take a 1-0 advantage to Arsenal on Tuesday in the other semi-final.
Spain striker Iago Aspas dealt a fresh blow to Barcelona's La Liga title hopes by striking a late free kick to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to the Catalans on Saturday as Quique Setien's side twice threw away the lead in a thrilling match. The draw put Barca back on top of the table on 69 points after 32 games but Real Madrid, on 68, can go two points clear at the summit if they beat Espanyol away from home on Sunday.
With 11 of their players in the squad over the age of 30, and a new World Cup cycle on the horizon, change is inevitable. Coach Roberto Martinez has also yet to sign a new contract, with his current deal expiring soon.
India missed chances galore and had to settle for a goalless draw against Australia in their second match of the 22nd Lal Bahadur Shastri Under-21 Four-Nation Women's hockey tournament, in Delhi, on Wednesday.
Chirag United failed to convert the opportunities galore as the defending champions Dempo escaped with a goalless draw in their ONGC I-League football encounter at the Vidyasagar Krirangan on Saturday.
Injury-hit Serie A leaders AC Milan were unlucky to be held to a 0-0 draw at home with Lazio on Tuesday after missing several chances, giving their title rivals a boost ahead of the rest of the midweek programme.
They played a goalless draw against China's Shenzen Kingway on Sunday.
"We are a small country, the smallest to host the World Cup. We prepared ourselves for the possibility of an early exit, but this does not mean the end of the project."
Paraguay rode their luck to hold Venezuela to a goalless draw before prevailing 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out on Wednesday to reach the final of the Copa America for the first time since 1979.
Angel di Maria's late intervention spared Real Madrid another inquest into the case of the misfiring forwards while Zlatan Ibrahimovic's sense of occasion salvaged a Champions League point for AC Milan.
Unfancied Chirag United held favourites JCT to a goalless draw in a fifth round outing of the ONGC I-League football championship in Kolkata on Thursday night.
