Steve McClaren, the former England head coach, has been sacked as manager of Championship side Derby County for the second time in three years, the second-tier club announced on Sunday.

Luis Suarez celebrates his bumper new five-year Barcelona deal in style with a double as the champions defeated Espanyol 4-1 in the Catalan derby to move to within three points of La Liga leaders Real Madrid.

Lazio beat Sampdoria 2-1 on Saturday with Felipe Anderson setting up both their goals as they rebounded from last week's derby defeat to AS Roma to climb up to fourth in Serie A.

The word derby bears special significance on a sporting field. The Manchester derby, the Milan derby, the Madrid derby and many other sporting clashes have been cherished across the football world for ages.

A clash between supposedly the two most expensive lineups in history overseen by two of the most decorated coaches will end the phoney war and ignite the Premier League season for real when Manchester United host Manchester City on Saturday.

Espanyol goalkeeper Pau Lopez insists he did not deliberately attempt to injure Lionel Messi during his side's defeat to Barcelona.

Cristiano Ronaldo can move ahead of Raul as Real Madrid's top goalscorer of all time as Los Blancos take on Athletic Bilbao.