Paris St Germain made light of the absent Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a sub-standard start to the season to claim a 3-2 Champions League victory over Barcelona on Tuesday.
A second-string Spain celebrated coach Vicente del Bosque's two-year contract extension with a 2-1 away win over Equatorial Guinea in a friendly on Saturday that was marred by an injury to Xabi Alonso.
Neymar scored the opener to continue his rich vein of form as 10-man Barcelona won a one-sided La Liga derby against Espanyol.
Real Madrid ensured top spot in La Liga at the midway point of the season when Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice in a 3-0 win at Getafe on Sunday before Lionel Messi's hat-trick helped Barcelona to a 4-0 victory at Deportivo La Coruna.
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.
'Generations of football fans will eternally be grateful to Johan Cruyff and what he did for the beautiful game,' says Aabhas Sharma.
The football fans in Kochi will get a chance to witness a fascinating contest between Brazilian attacking flare and Spanish 'tiki-taka' possession football in what could be a final before the final of this tournament.
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.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Former world champions Spain will have to wait to regain their past glory but they need not discard their attractive brand of football that earned them fans and laurels, World Cup-winning defender Joan Capdevila told Reuters in an interview.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Can 2018 top its predecessor in Sporting Glory?
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
'It was a crazy game where we had the bit of luck that we didn't have in Slovenia'
World champions Germany drew 1-1 with Spain in a high tempo friendly on Friday as they launched their preparations for a title defence in Russia while their opponents had striker Diego Costa making his long-awaited comeback as a substitute.
It would be unfair to expect India to bedazzle crowds with eye-catching football. This team is built around stability, writes Dhruv Munjal
Football news from Ligue 1, Bundesliga and La liga.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of all the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A round-up of the World Cup qualifying matches played on Friday.
Barcelona dismissed any notion they are a declining force when they won 2-0 at Manchester City on Tuesday to virtually guarantee their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the seventh successive season.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
As Kerala Blasters kick-off their ISL campaign against NorthEast United FC in their opener in Kochi on Tuesday, October 6, Spaniard Josue Currais-Preito is looking forward to wow Indian crowds with his technical acumen.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
Real Madrid's early-season woes deepened when they lost 2-1 at home to La Liga champions Atletico Madrid, while substitute Neymar struck twice in Barcelona's 2-0 win against visiting Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
First-timers Bosnia joined holders Spain, England and Russia in grabbing Europe's remaining automatic spots for the 2014 World Cup finals on Tuesday as the last round of group matches ended in joy, despair and shattered nerves.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar combined to devastating effect as Barcelona swatted Celtic aside 7-0 at the Nou Camp to lay down a marker in Champions League Group C on Tuesday.
A Neymar double and a clinical finish from Luis Suarez handed Barcelona a comfortable 3-0 victory over BATE Borisov that put them on the verge of qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League for the 12th consecutive season.
Barcelona battled back from a goal down and scored twice in the second half to overcome hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 in their Champions League Group C match on Wednesday despite the absence of the injured Lionel Messi.
As Manchester United prepare to embark on a new era following Louis van Gaal;s departure, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com offers a diagnosis of what went wrong with the most successful Premier League club after Sir Alex Ferguson called it a day.
Lionel Messi marked his first start after injury with a goal in Barcelona's 1-1 draw at AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday while Fernando Torres got two as Chelsea thumped Schalke and Atletico Madrid's charge continued.
Two late goals in two minutes from Sergi Roberto and Luis Suarez gave European champions Barcelona a dramatic 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The 20-time English Premier League champions are far from their best, but, in the final analysis, it is the results that matter, and at the moment they are on a winning spree, says Bikash Mohapatra
Making their first appearance in the WTA Finals in Singapore, Sania Mirza and Cara Black outplayed Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in their opening match to book their semi-finals berth on Thursday.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
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