News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A round-up of the top-flight football matches played across Italy and Germany on Sunday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain became the second England international to leave Arsenal in two days when he joined Premier League rivals Liverpool for a reported 40 million pounds on Thursday.
Last season's Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski scored his first competitive goal for new club Bayern Munich but the champions had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Schalke 04 on Saturday.
Check out the top footballers of the weekend...
Manchester United humbled Manchester City 4-2 in the continent's big derby of the weekend.
Manchester United took over at the top of the Premier League while Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi could be out for up to two months with a knee injury and rampant Bayern Munich extended their perfect start to seven league wins.
Manchester City made it five wins out of five in the Premier League and Cristiano Ronaldo scored five goals for Real Madrid but Chelsea and Juventus continued to struggle at the weekend as the Champions League looms.
Five-times European champions Barca, with their trident of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar subdued, have not exited in the last 16 since going out to Liverpool in the 2006/07 season and the score equalled their worst Champions league loss.
Bayern Munich had to put their Bundesliga title celebrations on hold on Saturday after beating gutsy Mainz 05 2-0 while Borussia Dortmund also won, 3-0 at Hanover 96.
Runaway leaders Bayern Munich survived a torrid opening against Nuremberg, who hit the bar and had two players carried off injured in the first half hour, before hitting back for a 2-0 win in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Sevilla's love affair with the Europa League was immediately rekindled as last season's champions and three-time winners began this year's group stage with a 2-0 home victory over Feyenoord on Thursday.
Napoli put a foot in the Europa League semi-finals with a perfectly crafted 4-1 win at VfL Wolfsburg on Thursday as Marek Hamsik scored twice in an Italian masterclass to bring cheer to beleaguered coach Rafael Benitez.
Bayern Munich went top of the Bundesliga with a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday as rivals Borussia Dortmund slumped to their first defeat of the season with a 2-0 reverse at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Fiorentina tore apart Italian rivals AS Roma to reach the Europa League quarter-finals with a 3-0 win that left their opponents' season in tatters and under-fire coach Rudi Garcia tottering on the brink of the sack.
News of Van Gaal's impending departure from the club leaked out minutes after Saturday's 2-1 extra-time victory over Palace and, following relentless media speculation and a day of negotiations, it was confirmed by both sides on Monday evening.
Manchester United's calamitous week hit rock bottom as Bournemouth famously consigned them to a 2-1 defeat on Sunday and, to rub salt into the wounds, neighbours Manchester City moved back to the top of the English Premier League.
Barcelona's rampant trio of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi all found the net at the weekend and unsung Leicester City found themselves in the record books when their England striker Jamie Vardy scored for the 11th straight game.
Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Juventus consolidated their top-flight leads at the weekend while Paris St Germain proved too strong for Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Marseille.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Borussia Dortmund steam-rollered hapless Freiburg 5-0 while Bayern Munich plodded past VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 as the two unbeaten arch-rivals remained level on points at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Real Madrid's star striker Cristiano Ronaldo made up for his otherwise quiet night by scoring the winner to beat Barcelona 2-1 win at the CampNou in Barcelona on Saturday.
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for the second year running and the third overall on Monday after a prolific, trophy-filled year with Real Madrid.
Images from Tuesday night's UEFA Champions League group stage matches.
Photos from the UEFA Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona look well set to wrap up the La Liga title.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona lost for the second straight La Liga game in a 1-0 home reverse against Celta Vigo but there was no such trouble for Manchester City, who beat 10-man Manchester United 1-0 thanks to Sergio Aguero.
Chelsea moved within touching distance of a first Premier League title in five years with a 1-0 win over Manchester United while Lionel Messi reached a landmark with his 400th career goal for La Liga leaders Barcelona.
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.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
La Liga champions Real Madrid beat Getafe 3-1 on Saturday with a goal from Gareth Bale and two strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo to go 12 points behind leaders Barcelona and warm up for next week's Champions League game at Paris St Germain.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his first five-goal haul in Real Madrid's 9-1 hammering of Granada while title-chasing Bayern Munich and Chelsea won again in Germany and England.
Cristiano Ronaldo set a record for goals scored in the group stage of the Champions League of 11 when he netted four against Malmo in Group A on Tuesday.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid were thumped 4-0 away by city rivals Atletico Madrid to open up the Spanish title race, while Chelsea strengthened their hold on top spot in the English Premier League after a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.
Football news from Ligue 1, Bundesliga and La liga.