Six goals for Paris Saint-Germain, five for Barcelona and classically just one for Arsenal as the serious Champions League contenders started with wins Wednesday.

Ferran Torres has scored twice in his Paris Saint-Germain debut to help the French defending champion draw 2-2 at Rennes in its league opener, while Barcelona began defense of the Spanish league title with a 5-0 rout of Elche.

Barcelona has made official the signing of Spain captain Rodri with the midfielder celebrating his arrival to a club that understands “the values” of soccer and saying it was a “tough decision” to leave Manchester City.

Spain’s World Cup-winning captain Rodri has arrive in Barcelona to seal his transfer from Manchester City to the Catalan club.

Lionel Messi has arrived back in Argentina for some rest after the World Cup final against Spain.

Spanish soccer has reached a level of its own.

Spain substitute Ferran Torres scored in the 106th minute to give his team a 1-0 win over defending champion Argentina in the World Cup final.

Mikel Merino scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, and Spain beat Portugal 1-0 to end the World Cup career of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Tiny Cape Verde pulled off a stunning result in its World Cup debut by shutting out heavily favored Spain.

Florian Wirtz scored two and made two as Germany twice came from behind to beat Switzerland 4-3 in a thrilling friendly.

Spain and Lamine Yamal have taken top spot from Argentina and Lionel Messi in the new FIFA men’s rankings.

Spain still looks the best team in Europe.

Memphis Depay has become the Netherlands’ outright all-time top scorer with two goals in a 3-2 win at Lithuania in World Cup qualifying.

Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi says talents like Barcelona's Lamine Yamal come around only once in a half century.

Paris Saint-Germain has staved off a gallant fightback by Aston Villa to reach the Champions League semifinals despite a 3-2 loss to the English club.

Manchester City plunged deeper into trouble in the Champions League by losing 2-0 at Juventus in the latest setback in a scarcely believable run of poor results for the ailing English champions.

Spain changed almost its entire lineup but kept up its victorious start to Euro 2024 with a 1-0 win over Albania, which is eliminated from the tournament.

The latest international break is proving costly for European clubs like Spanish powerhouses Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Barcelona has been playing without leading scorer Robert Lewandowksi and regular starters Frenkie de Jong, Pedri González and Jules Koundé for the past month because of injuries.

Spain’s young squad got off to a high-scoring start at the World Cup by routing Costa Rica 7-0.

Sergio Ramos has been left off Spain’s squad for the European Championship following a season plagued by injuries.

James Rodriguez joined Premier League club Everton on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020 in an attempt to revive a career that faltered at Real Madrid. Now, they are both at Everton, a team without a trophy since 1995 and living in the shadow of neighbour Liverpool, the recently crowned Premier League champion. KAI HAVERTZ (Chelsea)The most expensive signing of the offseason at a fee rising to $92 million, Havertz might also be the most interesting. Havertz is the youngest player to reach 100 Bundesliga appearances and scored 36 goals in four seasons with Bayer Leverkusen in the German league. With Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech making up Chelsea's likely attack, Havertz won't be short of quality around him.