Heavyweight trio Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea kept up their 100 per cent starts to the Premier League season this weekend.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
Roberto Firmino scored twice and Marquinhos and Philippe Coutinho also got goals as Brazil hammered Bolivia 5-0 in their opening World Cup qualifier in Sao Paulo on Friday.
Newly-acquired Spain forward Pedro highlighted his potential worth to Premier League champions Chelsea with a goal, assist and eye-catching performance in their 3-2 win at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.
Manchester United's 100 per cent start to the Premier League season ended when they were held to a goalless draw against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Since winning 2-1 at home to Wolfsburg in September, United have scored only twice in three Champions League games. In the Premier League the record is five goals in the last six games.
Oman made a late comeback to defeat India 2-1 in the opening Group E match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Joint-Qualifiers at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, on Thursday.
A round-up of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Here are five talking points from the final weekend of the Premier League season:
Real Madrid dug deep in a 3-0 home win against lowly Alaves in the La Liga, but Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain their second Ligue 1 loss of the season.
Two late goals by Everton substitutes brought the Merseysiders a third successive win when they beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at Goodison Park in Sunday's only Premier League game.
Injury-ravaged Bayern Munich beat Hoffenheim 2-0 on Saturday, shrugging off a string of absences and their midweek Champions League defeat at Porto to close in on the Bundesliga title.
It was not so much the maths, though Liverpool's nine-point advantage over defending champions City, with one point less over Leicester City and Chelsea, is a significant gap, especially as Juergen Klopp's side have lost one league game in 18 months.
Liverpool kept alive their hopes of Champions League football next season with a comfortable 2-0 Premier League victory on Monday against a Newcastle United side who finished with 10 men.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
IMAGES from football matches played across leagues in Europe on Sunday.
In April last year Leicester City were seven points adrift at the foot of the Premier League and seemingly going down.
Mexico were booed off the field by a boisterous crowd after being held to a 0-0 draw at home to Costa Rica in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2014 World Cup on Tuesday, their third successive goalless draw at the Azteca Stadium.
The Western Sydney Wanderers hailed themselves Asia's biggest club after displaying trademark Australian grit to win the AFC Champions League on Saturday, three years after their formation.
Confident Arsenal travel to Bayern Munich on Wednesday hoping to tame the German champions for a second time in two weeks, and are promising to attack despite a string of injuries.
Chelsea paid a heavy price for a 3-2 defeat at West Ham United as first Liverpool, then Manchester City, leapfrogged them in the English Premier League title race on Saturday, with City ending the day on top for the first time this season.
Chelsea's Jose Mourinho and his old friend Louis van Gaal of Manchester United had different reasons to be satisfied with a point after their teams drew 1-1 in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Five talking-points from the Premier League weekend after Manchester United extended their winning run against Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool were made to work hard for their win at Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal losing at West Ham United.
Real Madrid were the big winners in Spain as their success at Almeria was followed by a Barcelona draw and a surprise Atletico Madrid defeat.
Manchester City stumbled to the most unexpected defeat of the Premier League season on Saturday before neighbours Manchester United began their brave new world under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a glorious reminder of long-forgotten attacking swagger.
Saturday's draw left Spain third in Group E with two points and needing a win against Slovakia on Wednesday to guarantee their place in the next round of Euro 2020.
Gurjit Kaur's last-minute effort saw India beat Great Britain 2-1 in a thrilling opening encounter of the five-match women's hockey series, in Marlow, the United Kingdom.
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
Juventus striker Carlos Tevez struck to give the Serie A champions a 1-0 win over AC Milan on Saturday, handing coach Massimiliano Allegri a winning return to San Siro where he was shown the door eight months ago.
When UEFA decided eight years ago to expand the European Championship from 16 to 24 teams, its then president Michel Platini promised the standard of the tournament would not drop.
A round of Saturday's matches in Series A, La Liga and Bundesliga.
Manchester City tightened their stranglehold at the top of the Premier League on Wednesday by trouncing bottom club West Bromwich Albion 3-0 as nearest rivals Manchester United suffered a chastening 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
An impudent individual goal from Philippe Coutinho steered Liverpool comfortably into the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday after a 1-1 draw at bitter rivals Manchester United completed a 3-1 aggregate win.
'I am puzzled why English coaches are not successful here. But I am determined to reverse that trend'
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Soccer highlights from across the globe.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Champions Juventus returned to the top of Serie A with a 4-0 home rout of Cagliari on Wednesday, while former leaders Napoli dropped to second after being held to a goalless draw at Genoa.
Saturday's clash between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford is already shaping up as an early-season eliminator to challenge runaway leaders Manchester City for the Premier League title.
