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.
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.
Barcelona are the club everyone wants to avoid in the draw for the Champions League Round of 16 on Friday and Barca coach Pep Guardiola has said he does not want to face a French side.
Lionel Messi made brilliance look routine with a stunning double to help Barcelona to a 5-0 win over Real Sociedad that restored the champions' two-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
City will look to extend lead against United at Old Trafford
Bayern Munich slumped to their first defeat for three months when the Bundesliga leaders suffered a shock 2-1 reverse at home to Mainz 05 on Wednesday.
Tireless Inter Milan produced a rip-roaring home performance to overpower Barcelona 3-1 and leave the holders in real trouble after a thrilling Champions League semi-final, first leg on Tuesday.
Barcelona will travel by bus to play Inter Milan in Tuesday's UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg, the European Cup holders said on Sunday. The La Liga leaders will travel in two buses the 634 kilometres to Cannes on Sunday and stay overnight before covering the last 351 kilometres to Milan on Monday, the club said on their website.
Barcelona took another step towards retaining their La Liga title when goals from Bojan Krkic, Pedro and Yaya Toure fired them to a 3-0 home win over Deportivo Coruna on Wednesday.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane was named player of the month after scoring six goals in four league games.
Youngsters Theo Walcott and Bojan Krkic could take centre stage when Arsenal visit Barcelona in their Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Nou Camp on Tuesday.
'For the Premier League champions, their appearance in China was nothing more than a commercial obligation, and their lack of enthusiasm and the indifferent treatment of their hosts stands in stark contrast to representatives of other clubs'
Manchester City took a slender lead from the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final after Kevin De Bruyne's 70th minute goal earned them a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. In anothr match, Liverpool took a firm grip of their Champions League tie with Benfica as goals from Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz earned them a 3-1 victory in Lisbon.
Samuel Eto'o scored a scintillating home hat-trick for holders Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday as former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi's magic went missing in a 1-1 draw in Russia.
Pep Guardiola's formidable managerial skills will be put to the test again when his stuttering ManchesterCity side visit his former club Barcelona in a top-of-the-bill Champions League clash on Wednesday.
Panathinaikos could be on the receiving end of a Champions League backlash from a wounded Barcelona on Tuesday after the La Liga giants were stunned 2-0 at fortress Nou Camp by unfancied Hercules at the weekend.
Champions Barcelona suffered a humiliating 2-0 home defeat to Hercules on Saturday when Nelson Valdez struck twice to give the tiny promoted club a shock La Liga victory at a stunned Nou Camp stadium.
Bayern Munich will not be deterred by what the club say are false reports of discontent in coach Pep Guardiola's team as they focus on becoming the first side to win a fourth straight Bundesliga title. "We can make German football history," sports director Matthias Sammer told reporters. "And I am not talking about the Champions League but the 'magical four'. This is what drives us." Bayern, who travel to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, are eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga but they have had to deal with a number of issues on and off the pitch recently. A string of injuries to central defenders including Spaniard Javi Martinez, who will be out for four weeks, and Germany international Jerome Boateng, sidelined for three months, forced the Bavarians to bring in former Germany international Serdar Tasci on loan from Spartak Mosc
Barcelona were handed their first defeat of the season by Atletico Madrid after a 2-1 loss on Sunday.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp is not about to change his team's trademark style against Champions League quarter-final opponent
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola named injury concerns Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta in his starting team to play Manchester United in the Champions League final on Wednesday. United central defender Rio Ferdinand was also included in the starting lineup after shaking off a calf injury.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will not allow his players time off for Christmas as he wants to ensure they are fully prepared for Monday's English Premier League trip to basement team Hull City.
Silvinho may have been a mere decoy or he could be Barcelona's answer to a defensive problem in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Chelsea on Wednesday. The Brazilian attended the pre-match news conference with coach Pep Guardiola but neither revealed how Barcelona would overcome the loss of centre-backs Carles Pujol and Rafael Marquez.
Manchester City's long winning run in the Premier League finally came to an end
Gonzalo Higuain's stunning injury-time strike secured a remarkable 3-2 comeback win for hosts Real Madrid in the Primera Liga on Tuesday.
Sterling has scored six goals in five starts for City this season and has impressed with his overall contribution to Guardiola's prolific attack which has struck 29 goals in eight Premier League games.
Barcelona will decide on Tuesday whether to risk Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi in their Champions League clash with Inter Milan at the Nou Camp, coach Pep Guardiola said on Monday.
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.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Wednesday.
As the domestic soccer season across Europe comes to a close, Associate Editor Bikash Mohapatra takes a look at an elite list of coaches who tasted league success in their first season in charge.
Barcelona suffered their first Champions League defeat in 10 matches on Tuesday when goals from Aleksandr Ryazantsev and Gokdeniz Karadeniz gave Rubin Kazan a shock 2-1 win in their Group F clash.
European champions Barcelona have injury worries up front for their Champions League Group F match at home to Rubin Kazan on Tuesday.
Spain's Nolito clueless about British referendum moniker
City Football Group will be a 65 per cent majority stakeholder of the club, alongside existing shareholders, actor Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh, who will keep the remaining 35 per cent.
Arsenal's defence of the trophy ended with something of a whimper as Mikel Arteta's side struggled with repeatedly sloppy defending.
Images from the Champions League quarter-finals second leg match played on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi netted a brilliant first-half hat-trick and added a late fourth to fire holders Barcelona past Arsenal into the last four of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored with an acrobatic header on his La Liga debut to seal Barcelona's 3-0 win over Sporting Gijon as they opened their title defence in style on Monday.
Villarreal can prevent Barcelona from completing a clean sweep over their closest challengers when the runaway Primera Liga leaders visit the Madrigal on Sunday.
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