Madrid stretch lead, Bayern on fire

There were highs and lows for the 16 UEFA Champions League contenders this weekend, with Real Madrid CF very much enjoying a positive run-out as they stretched their Liga lead to four points. FC Bayern München also turned heads as they made it an incredible 14 goals from their last two Bundesliga outings, while Juventus extended their Serie A advantage and Manchester City FC closed within five points of Chelsea FC in England.

• Manchester City capitalised on Chelsea dropping points to pressure the Premier League leaders with a 5-0 defeat of Newcastle United FC, Sergio Agüero hitting an early penalty and David Silva scoring twice.
• FC Barcelona fell further off the pace at the Spanish summit as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Málaga CF, the Blaugrana suffering first loss in seven Liga matches.
Manchester City v Barcelona: 24 February & 18 March

• Goals from Fernando Llorente and Andrea Pirlo earned Juventus a 2-1 success against Atalanta BC on Friday evening, with the Serie A pacesetters now nine points clear.
• Also in action on Friday were opponents Borussia Dortmund, who continued their recent revival with a 3-2 win at VfB Stuttgart thanks to Marco Reus's late effort.
Juventus v Dortmund: 24 February & 18 March

• Bayer 04 Leverkusen were denied victory in dramatic circumstances, goalkeeper Marwin Hitz scoring in the 94th minute to rescue a 2-2 draw for FC Augsburg.
• Club Atlético de Madrid recorded a 3-0 triumph against UD Almería courtesy of two goals from Antoine Griezmann and one from Mario Mandžukić.
Leverkusen v Atlético: 25 February & 17 March

• Arsène Wenger warmed up for a meeting with his former employers by watching his Arsenal FC side go third in England courtesy of a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace FC.
• Bernardo Silva struck the only goal with five minutes remaining as AS Monaco FC eked out a slender victory at OGC Nice on Friday.
Arsenal v Monaco: 25 February & 17 March

• Real Madrid made the most of Barcelona's slip as they opened up a four-point gap by prevailing 2-0 at Elche CF, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo putting the ball in the net.
• Sebastian Prödl's added-time goal ensured that FC Schalke 04 could only come away with a 1-1 draw at home to SV Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Real Madrid v Schalke: 10 March (First leg: Schalke 0-2 Madrid)

• FC Porto will have the chance to close the gap on leaders SL Benfica back down to four points when they travel to Boavista FC on Monday evening.
• FC Basel 1893's lead in Switzerland has been cut to five points after they slumped to a 4-2 reverse away against nearest rivals BSC Young Boys.
Porto v Basel: 10 March (First leg: Basel 1-1 Porto)

Paris defeated Toulouse 3-1©AFP/Getty Images

• Chelsea looked set for a routine home win against Burnley FC but lost Nemanja Matić to a red card and were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw after Ben Mee's late header.
• Two goals from Adrien Rabiot helped Paris Saint-Germain to a 3-1 home win against Toulouse FC that sent them top of Ligue 1 until Olympique Lyonnais won on Sunday.
Chelsea v Paris: 11 March (First leg: Paris 1-1 Chelsea)

• Having buried eight goals last weekend, Bundesliga leaders Bayern ran out 6-0 victors against SC Paderborn 07, Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben both hitting doubles.
• FC Shakhtar Donetsk are on a winter training camp in Turkey. The Pitmen, five points off Ukrainian Premier League leaders FC Dynamo Kyiv, resume their domestic campaign on 28 February.
Bayern v Shakhtar: 11 March (First leg: Shakhtar 0-0 Bayern)