Premier League sides Manchester United and Aston Villa reached the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday after seeing off lower league opponents Southampton and Gillingham.
Liverpool stayed top of the Premier League on Sunday after an emphatic 5-1 win at Newcastle United gave them maximum points from their two Christmas fixtures.
Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United celebrated the festive season with victories on Friday while Arsenal, the other member of the 'big four', squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Aston Villa. Liverpool beat Bolton Wanderers 3-0 at Anfield with Robbie Keane scoring twice to give the leaders 42 points, one ahead of Chelsea as the Premier League season reached the halfway point.
There is still plenty to be decided in the final round of group matches in the UEFA Champions League this week even though 13 of the 16 teams through to the knockout phase are already known. European Cup holders Manchester United and the likes of nine-times champions Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Arsenal and Liverpool have secured their places in the first knockout round.
Chelsea and Liverpool maintained their unbeaten starts to the season and kept the pressure on early pace-setters Arsenal when they both chalked up 2-0 away wins in the Premier League on Saturday.
Gianfranco Zola, one of the greatest overseas players to grace the English game during his seven years at Chelsea, was named as the new manager of their Premier League rivals West Ham United on Thursday.
Central defender Rio Ferdinand will miss the start of England's World Cup qualifying campaign against Andorra on Saturday, manager Fabio Capello said on Friday.
Holders Manchester United will face familiar foes Celtic in this season's Champions League group stage.
Manchester United are favourites to land the Premier League title for the third successive season and equal Liverpool's record of 18 championships.
Three second-half goals helped Spain reach the European Championship final for the first time in 24 years, setting up a meeting with Germany in Sunday's decider.
World champions Italy beat 10-man France 2-0 in Group C on Tuesday to qualify for the quarter-finals of Euro 2008. It was a nightmare of a match for France who lost Franck Ribery to a suspected broken leg and had Eric Abidal sent off before half-time as they were eliminated from the competition.
Switzerland saw their Euro 2008 hopes dashed by a last-gasp winner from Turkey's Arda Turan that secured a 2-1 victory to end the co-hosts' prospects of reaching the last eight in an entertaining Group A match on Wednesday. The result also means that Portugal, who earlier beat Czech Republic 3-1, became the first team to reach the quarter-finals and are top of the group with six points ahead of the Czechs and Turkey on three with the Swiss bottom with no points.
Italy need to improve in defence, midfield and attack if they are going to make up the ground they lost on a delightful night for the Dutch in the Swiss capital.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who has just won a Champions League and Premier League double with Manchester United, could complete a remarkable treble of winners' medals by leading Portugal to victory in Euro 2008 this month. The 23-year-old winger, who scored 42 goals in all competitions for United last season, will be the key as Portugal look to ease their way past co-hosts Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Turkey in Group A in Basel and Geneva.
Porto defender Jose Bosingwa has agreed a three-year deal with Chelsea and will join the Premier League runners-up after Euro 2008, the club said on Monday. "Jose Bosingwa has agreed terms with Chelsea Football Club. He has agreed a three-year contract," said a statement on the club's Web site (www.chelseafc.com).
Franck Ribery scored from a penalty as France beat England 1-0 in David Beckham's 100th appearance for his country at the Stade de France on Wednesday. The 32-year-old Beckham started the match to become only the fifth English player in 136 years of international soccer to achieve a century of appearances for his country.
David Beckham, already the world's most famous footballer, is expected to reach another career highlight on Wednesday by becoming only the fifth player to win 100 caps for England. Beckham, who turns 33 in May, is back in Fabio Capello's England squad after missing the Italian's first match in charge against Switzerland last month.
Chelsea are challenging for four trophies this season with the League Cup the least of their priorities after the Champions League, Premier League and the FA Cup. Spurs meanwhile are focused on the UEFA Cup, having reached the last 16 and the League Cup in which victory would bring their first honour since they won the competition in 1999.
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has dismissed the Premier League's plans to play a 39th match of the season overseas as "not very good", offering to organise a 'big four' mini-tournament instead.
The organising committee of the first World Cup to be held in Africa also decided that, to make the finals as affordable as possible for home fans, the cheapest tickets for first round matches, apart from the opening game, would cost $20.
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