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In an exciting weekend for football lovers, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continued their extraordinary double act, both scoring hat-tricks as Real Madrid and Barcelona maintained their battle for supremacy at the top of La Liga. Chelsea's unbeaten start to the Premier League season ended with a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday but no-one can get the better of Bayern Munich, who marched on in the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen. We present a summary of events in photos.
A summary of the results of the major European football league matches on the weekend.
AC Milan were booed off the pitch after suffering a shock 1-0 home defeat by Atalanta in Serie A on Saturday following a second-half Luca Cigarini strike that stunned the San Siro.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid led a Spanish Armada into the Champions League last 16 with home wins on Wednesday and in-form Aaron Ramsey steadied Arsenal's boat with a battling win against rocky Borussia Dortmund.
Substitute Giampaolo Pazzini scored twice and won a penalty on a dream debut as Serie A champions Inter Milan roared back from 2-0 down to beat visiting Palermo 3-2 in an enthralling encounter on Sunday.
Mirko Vucinic helped to send AS Roma into the Italian Cup semi-finals with a superb goal to set up a 2-0 win at Juventus on Thursday.
Inter Milan suffered their first defeat in six games under new coach Leonardo when the Serie A champions deservedly lost 3-1 at in-form Udinese on Sunday.
AS Roma soothed internal strife by clambering up to second in Serie A with an easy 3-0 home win over Cagliari on Saturday.
Antonio Cassano made his first start for AC Milan as the Serie A leaders beat bottom side Bari 3-0 at home on Thursday to complete the lineup for the Italian Cup quarter-finals.
Samuel Eto'o scored twice as Inter Milan swatted aside Bologna 4-1 on Saturday to record their fourth successive win under new coach Leonardo and continue their ominous climb up the Serie A table.
Tottenham Hotspur's Erik Lamela scored a stunning 'rabona' goal to light up Thursday's Europa League ties, wrapping his left boot round the back of his right leg 20 metres out and blasting the ball into the top corner.
Serie A leaders AC Milan lost 1-0 to AS Roma after striker Marco Borriello burst his former club's bubble and put his new side back in the title picture at a freezing San Siro on Saturday.
Sevilla sneaked into the last 32 of the Europa League on Wednesday with a 2-2 draw at home to Borussia Dortmund as the German side failed to translate their devastating domestic form into European success.
Juventus booked their spot in the Italian Cup quarter-finals with an easy 3-0 home win over Catania on Wednesday.
Liverpool, Paris St Germain, Besiktas, Dynamo Kiev, Sparta Prague and Villarreal reached the knockout stages of the Europa League on Thursday in contrasting fashions.
Defender Andrea Ranocchia and forward Mattia Destro were left out of Italy's 23-man Euro 2012 squad on Tuesday but centre back Leonardo Bonucci was included despite the match-fixing crisis engulfing the country.
Alexandre Pato continued his rich vein of form with two goals in AC Milan's 3-1 win over Chievo which powered the hosts to the top of Serie A on Saturday.
For Manchester United, the answer to a slump in form or a crisis of confidence comes in 50 pound notes. Millions of them.
Leaders Juventus stayed three points clear in Serie A on Sunday after they thumped lowly Novara 4-0 and second-placed AC Milan won 4-1 at Siena with Antonio Cassano scoring for the first time since heart surgery in October.
A weekend of surprise results across Europe's big leagues saw Bayern Munich's unbeaten run come to an end, Napoli knocked off top spot in Serie A and Manchester City toppled in the Premier League where Leicester City are the new leaders.
Diego Milito put a forgettable month behind him by grabbing his first goals of the season to send champions Inter Milan clear at the top of Serie A with a 4-0 romp over Bari on Wednesday.
Serie A leaders AC Milan dropped two precious points by drawing 1-1 at Catania on Saturday in another match featuring controversy over a goalline clearance.
Ivory Coast midfielder Cheik Tiote is close to signing a contract with English Premier League side Newcastle United, his Dutch club Twente Enschede said on their official website (www.fctwente.nl) on Saturday.
Argentina's Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso, overlooked by coach Diego Maradona for the World Cup, and playmaker Andres d'Alessandro were recalled to the national team squad on Friday.
Chelsea's renaissance under Roberto Di Matteo faces the ultimate test on Wednesday, a trip to fortress Eastlands to face a Manchester City side who must win to stay on the coat tails of leaders Manchester United.
Chelsea started life after Andre Villas-Boas with an improved performance as goals from Juan Mata and Raul Meireles secured a 2-0 win over second tier Birmingham City in an FA Cup fifth-round replay.
Brazil's experimental team came through a torrid friendly against Bosnia on Tuesday, winning 2-1 thanks to a stoppage-time own goal by Sasa Papac after several near misses from the East Europeans.
Under-fire Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas only needs the support of owner Roman Abramovich to carry out his duties and does not require the full backing of his squad, the Portuguese said on Thursday.
Diego Maradona clambered over reporters at a packed news conference on Saturday to embrace friend and former Napoli team-mate Salvatore Bagni before saying his Argentina team should beat Mexico at the World Cup.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic curled home a stunning freekick and then turned provider as AC Milan moved to within one point of Juventus at the top of Serie A with a 3-0 home win over Cagliari on Sunday.
Robert Lewandowski scored a brilliant free kick to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in their last Champions League Group D outing on Tuesday, ending the 100 percent record of their opponents. The Poland international curled the ball over the wall and into the corner of the net in the 28th minute but the goal had no impact on the final standings with Atletico guaranteed top spot and Bayern in second place.
Coaches finally put World Cup hopefuls out of their misery on Tuesday when they named their final squads for the tournament, shattering some dreams while also handing out the opportunity of a lifetime.
Chelsea have almost unwittingly stumbled on a winning formation centred on Brazilian midfielder Ramires that could galvanise their fortunes in the second half of the season.
Napoli striker Ezequiel Lavezzi and defender Fabricio Coloccini missed out when Diego Maradona named his 23-man Argentina World Cup squad on Wednesday.
Inter Milan survived a minor scare to lift their fifth straight Serie A title and stay on course for an unprecedented Italian treble after a tense 1-0 win at relegated Siena on Sunday
Juventus closed on their 29th Italian title with a 1-0 win over AC Milan thanks to Arturo Vidal's second-half penalty on Sunday.
Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona has sent a signed shirt to Italian tennis player Potito Starace as an apology for heckling him during a match in Argentina last month.
Modest Udinese, whose coach Francesco Guidolin's target this season is to avoid relegation, went top of Serie A on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Chievo while AC Milan were held 2-2 at Bologna.
Serie A top spot is AS Roma's for the taking this weekend after leaders Inter Milan were held to an exciting 2-2 draw at Fiorentina on Saturday.
Francesco Totti has no shortage of obstacles standing in his way if he wants to come out of international retirement and play for Italy at the World Cup finals. The AS Roma striker quit the national team after their 2006 World Cup triumph but coach Marcello Lippi has consistently said he would consider the 33-year-old for the June 11-July 11 tournament in South Africa if Totti reverses his decision.
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