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.
Bayer Leverkusen crushed hosts VfL Bochum 5-0 to stretch their remarkable unbeaten run across all competitions this season to 50 consecutive matches.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has called Atletico Madrid's Brazil-born forward Diego Costa into his squad for the first time for this month's friendlies away to Equatorial Guinea and South Africa.
Holders Barcelona will face fellow Spaniards Atletico Madrid, runners-up two seasons ago, in the Champions League quarter-finals following the draw in Nyon on Friday.
Leverkusen's Schick scores hat-trick in comeback win over Heidenheim.
Tottenham Hotspur have appointed former Celtic coach Ange Postecoglou as their new manager on a four-year contract.
Bayern Munich's surprise 3-1 Champions League loss to Porto was the price the five-time European champions paid for a string of injuries and a tired squad.
Arjen Robben grabbed his 100th goal for the club as undefeated Bayern Munich outclassed Freiburg 2-0.
Arjen Robben scored a 90th minute winner in their 2-1 victory at Mainz 05 on Friday to send Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich into the winter break with a commanding 14-point lead.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid cruised to a 4-0 home win over relegation-threatened Celta Vigo on Sunday to restore their seven-point lead at the top of the table with a dominant display.
Chile overwhelmed an out-of-sorts Spain 2-0 to join the Netherlands in the second round of the World Cup and eliminate the defending champions on a memorable night at the Maracana on Wednesday.
Atletico Madrid secured a hard-fought 2-1 home victory over Real Betis in La Liga on Sunday thanks to an own-goal by Rui Silva and a header by Alvaro Morata as Diego Simeone's side ended a three-game winless run in all competitions.
Stunning goals from Dutch captain Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben ensured an awful start to Spain's World Cup defence as the Netherlands destroyed one of the tournament favourites 5-1 in Group B on Friday.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
IMAGES from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
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.
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.
Sevilla will bid for a record-extending seventh Europa League title when they face AS Roma in the final in Budapest on May 31, after Jose Mourinho's side drew 0-0 at Bayer Leverkusen to secure a 1-0 aggregate victory in their semi-final.
Quadruple Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel went for five on Friday with the German choosing to have that numeral on his car when he is eventually deposed as number one.
Saul Niguez announced himself as one of Europe's most promising midfielders by scoring a stunning individual goal to edge Atletico Madrid a step closer to their second Champions League final in three years.
Mueller scores brace in is 200th Bundeliga match
Cesc Fabregas struck the winner as an experimental Spain side came from behind to beat Costa Rica 2-1.
Bayern Munich slumped out of the German Cup semi-finals 2-0 on penalties to Borussia Dortmund.
Portugal's impressive midfielder Renato Sanches is finally ready for his Bayern Munich debut although the 19-year-old Euro 2016 winner still faces a tough challenge to claim a regular place in the team. Coach Carlo Ancelotti has said that Sanches could make his debut away to Schalke 04 on Friday (1830 GMT) if Arturo Vidal is still worn out after his long trip from South America, where he played two World Cup qualifiers for Chile in five days.
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.
Real Madrid captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas has called for a big improvement after the European champions suffered a surprise early-season setback at Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday.
Real Madrid continued their impressive start to the new year with Karim Benzema giving them a 1-0 victory in the King's Cup quarter-final first-leg tie away to Espanyol on Tuesday.
Images from football matches held across Europe on Saturday
Following this stunning turn-around of fortunes for Barcelona, here is a flashback of some of the best come-from-behind wins recorded in Europe's premier club competition.
Bayern Munich go into their Champions League last-16 second leg at home to Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday knowing the game will make or break their season.
Neymar scored twice as Barcelona reached the Champions League semi-finals.
Barcelona and Bayern fought hard but failed to break the shackles until the 77th minute in the match when Messi struck the first and three minutes later struck his 77th Champions League goal to double Barca's advantage.
Thomas Mueller scored twice as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich came from a goal down to beat Hanover 3-1 on Saturday and stretch their advantage at the top to 11 points after VfL Wolfsburg slumped to a 1-0 loss at Augsburg.
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.
Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery scored a sensational volley to lead the German champions to a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday that sent them eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with six matches left. Frenchman Ribery, who has missed most of the season due to injury, took off at the edge of the box and sent his mid-air volley past Lukas Hradecky in the 20th minute after the keeper had initially saved a shot from Mario Goetze. It was the 32-year-old's second goal of the campaign after being sidelined for eight months with an ankle problem and then suffering another injury that kept him out until last month. Bayern found no resistance from Eintracht and Xabi Alonso rattled the crossbar with a free kick early in the second half with the hosts enjoying close to 70 percent possession.
Luis Aragones, the coach of Spain's 2008 European Championship-winning side, has died at the age of 75, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced on Saturday.
Real Madrid set up a King's Cup semi-final against holders Atletico Madrid or Athletic Bilbao when they beat Espanyol 1-0 in their quarter-final, second leg on Tuesday for a 2-0 aggregate success.
Two late moments of Lionel Messi magic and a goal from Neymar helped Barcelona break the resistance of Bayern Munich in a pulsating 3-0 victory in their Champions League semi-final first leg at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.
The South American trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez reached a scorching 108 goals for the season following the La Liga leaders' 8-0 destruction of Cordoba on Saturday but the team's defence is yet to dispel doubts
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola weathered his first major crisis at the German club, coming out stronger after his team crushed Porto 7-4 on aggregate on Tuesday to move into the Champions League last four.
