Liverpool's Champions League winning trio of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane joined regulars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Men's player award
Manuel Pellegrini's record against Pep Guardiola is a sorry one but he gets another chance to finally put one over his tormentor when Manchester City host holders Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola will return to the Nou Camp in the Champions League group stage after his new club Manchester City were drawn against his former Barcelona team on Thursday. The two sides were drawn in Group C alongside Borussia Moenchengladbach and former European champions Celtic in one of the toughest of the eight sections. Spanish coach Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Barca, faced the Catalans when he was in charge of Bayern Munich two seasons ago and suffered a 5-3 defeat in the semi-finals.
Manchester City will attempt to overturn their two-year UEFA ban from European football when a three-day hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland begins on Monday. European soccer's governing body UEFA ruled in February that City had committed serious breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations and failed to cooperate with its investigation, handing them a ban and a 30 million euro (24.9 million pounds) fine.
Images from Sunday's action in the Premier League.
Successive home defeats by leaders Leicester City and second placed Tottenham Hotspur have left City six points off the pace with serious doubts about whether their expensively-assembled squad is still playing for the manager.
Eight wins and a draw in their last nine games had seen Leicester emerge as the closest pursuers of runaway leaders Liverpool but they went down 3-1 at the Etihad despite taking an early lead through Jamie Vardy. Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
UEFA had banned City from European competition for two years after ruling they had breached Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations but City won an appeal last month to have that verdict and sanction overturned.
Manchester City beat bottom club Sheffield United 1-0 to move three points clear of Manchester United who were held to a goalless draw at Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.
Given the improvements at Chelsea and Arsenal, it will still be a significant achievement for United to secure a top four finish and in the Champions League, a decent run in the knockout stages would also be a sign of progress.
Klopp said he was not surprised by the levels which his team continue to produce during a Premier League season in which they have yet to lose.
Bayern, who won the Champions League in 2013, have yet to hit top form this season, with many players tired after the World Cup and others, including Thiago Alcantara, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Rafinha, out injured.
Juergen Klopp has said his Liverpool team must be prepared to play ugly football to secure Champions League qualification following the injury to productive forward Sadio Mane ahead of Wednesday's Premier League clash against Bournemouth.
Their work in the transfer market has also added to the positivity around the club after German manager Juergen Klopp made some major moves that have clearly strengthened his squad.
McTominay injury takes gloss of vibrant United display
Sergio Aguero struck twice as Manchester City moved into second place in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Liverpool, with a 3-1 win at Bournemouth on Sunday. Just three weeks into the new season and last year's top two clubs are already perched at the top of the table.
Manchester City endured some anxious moments but escaped from fourth-tier Newport County with their FA Cup hopes intact as Phil Foden scored twice in an ultimately comfortable 4-1 fifth-round victory on Saturday.
Seconds after Bournemouth had a chance to snatch victory the ball went back down the other end and Sterling's deflected shot looped past helpless Bournemouth keeper Asmir Begovic.
Several Manchester United players are in the 'red zone' according to manager Louis van Gaal as he weighs up his options for Saturday's FA Cup third round tie at home to Sheffield United. A hectic holiday programme, including four games in 15 days, has taken its toll on United's squad and Van Gaal fears that many of his over-stretched players risk injury or burnout. Defender Phil Jones is ruled out through injury while winger Ashley Young might not be risked with United set to face a Premier League clash at Newcastle United three days after playing third tier Sheffield United.
IMAGES from the English Premier League match played between Everton and Manchester City on Wednesday
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Four players tested positive for coronavirus in the latest batch of tests conducted by the English Premier League and announced on Wednesday. Russian Premier League club Lokomotiv Moscow said on Thursday that four of its players had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Manchester United's troubled season hit a new low on Saturday as Jose Mourinho saw his gamble on introducing a new tactical system backfire with an insipid 3-1 defeat to West Ham United in the Premier League.
"First we have to play football and see what happens. Maybe we can then score a goal and create an atmosphere in the stadium."
The league said last week that the deal, called 'Boost La Liga', would strengthen its clubs and give them funds to spend on new infrastructure and modernisation projects as well as increasing how much they could spend on players' salaries.
Winter returned to Anfield on Friday but while the temperature dropped, the standards of Juergen Klopp's side certainly did not as Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah both struck twice in a 5-0 thrashing of relegated Huddersfield Town.
Images from EPL matches played on Saturday.
Liverpool surrendered a two-goal lead as they were held to a 2-2 draw by third-tier Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday after second-half substitute Jason Cummins struck twice to inject some much-needed late magic into the competition. Earlier, Harry Maguire's thunderbolt for Manchester United started a goal rush at Tranmere where the Reds scored five times before halftime. Diogo Dalot, Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood also scored.
Rafael Nadal has issued a rallying cry and called on Spanish athletes to help raise 11 million euros ($12.07 million) to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. Spain is one of the most badly affected countries in the world with over 56,000 cases and the parliament voted to extend the coronavirus lockdown to at least April 12 after the death toll rose to over 4,000 by Thursday.
Five talking points from the Premier League weekend:
La Liga on Sunday released a statement saying Lionel Messi's Barcelona contract is still valid, days after his shock announcement that he wants to leave the club and hours after he failed to attend a pre-season medical.
Messi announced he wanted to leave Barcelona, on Tuesday, after spending his entire career at the Catalan club.
The enduring image of Luis Enrique for many soccer fans is the Spain player with blood gushing from his nose after a vicious elbow from Italy defender Mauro Tassotti during the 1994 World Cup quarter-final in Boston.
Manchester City tore Arsenal apart for the second time in five days on Thursday, beating them 3-0 on a freezing night at The Emirates to restore their 16-point lead as they close in on the Premier League title.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City are not yet ready to compete with Europe's elite but his side will be confident of opening their Champions League campaign with victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Tuesday.
Sunderland manager David Moyes says he is under pressure to turn around their poor Premier League form, but it is no different for coaches at the other end of the table.
Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling struck twice as the Premier League champions beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park on Sunday to go top of the table and heap pressure on title rivals Liverpool.
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