When Barcelona host local rivals Espanyol on Saturday hoping to edge closer to the La Liga title, many may be haunted by Raul Tamudo's 89th minute equaliser which wrecked their title bid in 2006/07.
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The 25-year-old Mata struggled for game time this season under Jose Mourinho, with Chelsea's manager preferring an attacking midfield trio comprising Brazilian internationals Oscar and Willian and Belgium winger Eden Hazard.
Bayern Munich are desperate to avoid losing a third consecutive Champions League semi-final to Spanish opponents when they host Atletico Madrid on Tuesday but coach Pep Guardiola has his work cut out to end his time in Germany on a high.
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.
A Lionel Messi masterclass, netting a brilliant free kick before laying on two more goals, put Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a resounding 3-0 win over Colombia in San Juan on Tuesday.
Napoli's Manolo Gabbiadini netted a precious second-half equaliser to earn a 1-1 away draw at Lazio in the first leg of their Italian Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
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Argentina's new coach Edgardo Bauza has set his mind to wooing Lionel Messi back from international retirement as he ponders his squad for next month's South American 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Bauza was named on Monday to replace Gerardo Martino, who resigned a month ago after steering Messi's side to two successive Copa America finals which ended in penalty shootout defeats to Chile.
AS Roma were dumped out of the Italian Cup on penalties by second-tier Spezia after a 0-0 draw at home extended their winless streak to seven matches and heaped pressure on coach Rudi Garcia.
Images from the Champions League round of 16 second leg matches played on Tuesday
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Benfica coach Rui Vitoria faces another test of his powers of improvisation as he tries to patch up a team without topscorer Jonas against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Real Madrid beat Leganes 4-2 on Wednesday despite resting key players including Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale as goals from Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez helped them stay top of La Liga after Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win over Sevilla.
Hundreds of thousands of ecstatic French fans celebrated the return of their World Cup winning football team on Monday, jumping and chanting "We Are The Champions" as their bus paraded down the Champs Elysees before a special presidential reception.
Real Madrid ended their long wait for a La Liga victory by beating Real Valladolid 2-0 on Saturday with two late goals in interim coach Santiago Solari's first home game in charge of the struggling European champions.
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Edin Dzeko scored twice to set up a 3-1 win for AS Roma away to Napoli in the battle for second place in Serie A on Saturday and Paulo Dybala also notched up a brace for leaders Juventus in their 2-1 win over Udinese.
Chile won the Copa America for the first time on Saturday.
Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa haunted Arsenal again by firing his side to a 1-0 win in Thursday's Europa League semi-final second leg to send the Spaniards into the final and deny Arsene Wenger a dream end to his long reign as Arsenal coach.
Lionel Messi scored twice as La Liga champions Barcelona saw off a persistent Valencia side, who had Eliaquim Mangala sent off in the first half, to win 4-2 on Sunday and stay on the heels of leaders Real Madrid.
Take a look at images from events that caught our attention in the week gone by.
Stanislas Wawrinka should stop being so modest and put himself on a par with the so-called Big Four.
Chelsea's players must look at themselves and start performing, former Blues stalwart Frank Lampard said as speculation continues to swirl over the future of manager Jose Mourinho.
Juventus striker Carlos Tevez would be a perfect fit for Atletico Madrid and the La Liga club are in talks with the Argentine's agents, coach Diego Simeone has said.
Atletico Madrid extended their dominance over neighbours Real with a 1-0 derby win on Saturday that leaves the Bernabeu team virtually out of the Liga title race.
Griezmann special earns Atletico 1-1 draw at Sevilla
From comments about the healthy relationship shared between Barca trio -- Messi, Suarez and Neymar, to questions about his goal drought in away matches, an angry Ronaldo had the response to it all
Second seed Novak Djokovic distracted the Roland Garros crowd but kept his focus as he made light work of Portuguese Joao Sousa to reach the second round of the French Open with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win in Paris.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane reckons Cristiano Ronaldo is on top form as the Portuguese looks to increase his Champions League goals tally when they visit AS Roma in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday.
Gareth Bale marked his return to action after a long injury layoff by sealing a 2-0 victory for Real Madrid over Espanyol on Saturday to provisionally stretch Zinedine Zidane's side's lead at the top of La Liga to three points.
Barcelona have had to overcome many changes to win their 23rd La Liga title, coach Luis Enrique said.
While Federer and Nadal will look to reignite the flair and fight they showed to reach last year's final, 2018 could have a different script at play.
Defending champion Usain Bolt eased through Heat 9 of the 200 metres in 20.28 seconds at the Rio Olympics on Tuesday. Nigeria's Ejowvokoghene Oduduru took second place.
Javier Hernandez has been a bit-part player at Real Madrid since joining on loan from Manchester United but injuries handed the Mexico striker a rare chance on Wednesday which he took with aplomb.
Sergio Romero saved a penalty and Eder scored with a run from the halfway line as Sampdoria beat Fiorentina 3-1 to go third in Serie A on Sunday.
The 20-year-old Ostapenko was the first unseeded woman to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup since Britain's Margaret Scriven in 1933.
As soon as the final whistle confirmed Real Madrid's berth in the Champions League final against local rivals Atletico with a 1-0 aggregate victory over Manchester City on Wednesday, memories of 2014's all-Spanish final came flooding back.
IMAGES from matches on Day 8 at the French Open
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola was brought to the club to extend their European dominance, but will leave at the end of the season having lost three successive Champions League semi-finals.
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