Despite the Premier League taking a break, the European soccer weekend was far from boring, with talking points galore from the FA Cup third round, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and Spanish LaLiga. There was good for Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund, bad for Newcastle and plain ugly for AS Roma.
Here are Mark Ogden, Alex Kirkland and James Tyler with what you need to know from around Europe.
Go to: Talking points | Top goals | Troubled teams | Weekend MVP
Four talking points
Alves shows he's still got it
When Barcelona re-signed Dani Alves, everyone knew he had dual roles to fill: a cheerleading, mood-lifting training ground role model on the one hand, and a short-term, cost-effective full-back solution on the other.