Antoine Griezmann and Saul Niguez were the big names to move late on deadline day, with Atletico Madrid having a busy night.
Griezmann's move to his former club completed a day of outgoings for Barcelona, who sold Emerson Royal and Ilaix Moriba, as well as loaning out Ray Minaj.
Ronald Koeman's Barca did get one player in, however, who will seemingly replace Griezmann in attack.
Barca's LaLiga rivals Real Madrid did not manage to get a mega deal for Kylian Mbappe over the line, despite a reported bid of €200m having been lodged on Tuesday, though Los Blancos did sign Rennes sensation Eduardo Camavinga.
Cristiano Ronaldo's move back to Manchester United was confirmed early on, but there was plenty of late action in England, too.
Another returning king as Chelsea call on Saul
Romelu Lukaku back to Chelsea. Ronaldo back to United. Now, Griezmann has made a return to one of his former clubs, with the 30-year-old re-joining LaLiga champions Atleti on a season-long loan.
There is an option to make the deal permanent for €40million – just the €80million less than Barca paid for the France forward in 2019.
Replacing Griezmann at Barca is Luuk de Jong, with Koeman turning to his compatriot from Sevilla. Messi to De Jong... not quite the end to the window Barca fans would have had in mind.
Saul, meanwhile, is leaving LaLiga. He has joined Chelsea on a loan deal from Atleti, with an option to buy for a reported £30m.
No Madrid move for Mbappe... yet
A third Madrid bid for Mbappe was reportedly lodged, and ignored, on Tuesday, as Florentino Perez's obsessive hunt of the Paris Saint-Germain star proved fruitless.
However, Mbappe is out of contract next year, so he may well be a Galactico soon enough.
One player who will be playing in the famous all-white strip this season is teenage midfielder Camavinga, who has joined from Rennes.
As well as keeping Mbappe, PSG added to their squad, completing a stellar transfer window by signing Sporting CP left-back Nuno Mendes to fill what has proved a problem position. Pablo Sarabia went the other way.
In Italy, Milan marked a quiet end to the window overall by confirming the signings of Yacine Adli and Messias Junior.
Inter already had their business done, while Juventus confirmed Moise Kean's return on Tuesday morning. The Bianconeri also signed Mohamed Ihattaren, who was then loaned to Sampdoria.
Ronaldo headlines Premier League moves
The early confirmation of Ronaldo's move back to United being complete was the biggest story of the day in England's top flight. It also paved the way for the Red Devils to sell Daniel James, who moved to Leeds United.
Arsenal blocked Everton's attempts to sign Ainsley Maitland-Niles, though Hector Bellerin did leave the Gunners to head to Real Betis on loan. Mikel Arteta's Gunners completed their record-breaking transfer window (in terms of overall spend) with the acquisition of Japan defender Takehiro Tomiyasu from Bologna. Earlier in the day, Arsenal loaned out Reiss Nelson and Alex Runarsson.
Their north London rivals Tottenham completed the signing of Emerson from Barca, with Serge Aurier's time at Spurs subsequently being brought to an end by the mutual termination of his contract.
Everton's hunt for a right-back was to no avail. The Toffees did bring in Salomon Rondon on a free transfer, handing the forward a two-year deal with an option for a third. James Rodriguez was involved in a mooted part-exchange deal with Porto for Luis Diaz, but the Colombian star is staying put.
Manchester City rounded off their dealings by sending out seven players on loan. Among them was Patrick Roberts, who was one of three players to join Ligue 1 club Troyes.
Wolves were unable to complete deals for Kieffer Moore or Boubacar Kamara. A late offer from Spurs for Adama Traore was reportedly rejected.
Czech Republic midfielder Alex Kral joined West Ham on loan from Spartak Moscow. He was the Hammers' second signing of the day, with Croatia playmaker Nikola Vlasic having arrived early on.
There were two outgoings at Celtic. Scotland international Ryan Christie signed for Bournemouth, while Crystal Palace bought striker Odsonne Edouard for a reported £15m. The Hoops replaced him with Greece forward Giorgos Giakoumakis.
Rumour Has It: Man City and Real Madrid to prioritise off-season Gvardiol signing
Josko Gvardiol won plenty of admirers during Croatia's run to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals.
The 21-year-old central defender is contracted until 2027, but has a hefty release clause that will become active in 2024.
As a result, clubs are likely to be competing to secure the Croatian's services in the next transfer window.
TOP STORY – CITY AND REAL PRIORITISE GVARDIOL SIGNING
Manchester City and Real Madrid have both made RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol their priority centre-back target for the next transfer window, according to 90min.
The report claims Leipzig wants £75m (€85m) for the Croatian defender, who almost joined Chelsea last off-season.
City and Real are also both in contention to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham, complicating the Gvardiol move.
The report also claims City are willing to offload Aymeric Laporte to help facilitate any move.
ROUND-UP
– Liverpool are the favourites ahead of Manchester City in the race to sign Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount in the off-season, reports Football Insider.
– Manchester United are keeping an eye on Joao Felix 's situation with the Atletico Madrid forward currently on loan at Chelsea, claims Mundo Deportivo. Chelsea have been linked with a permanent deal for the Portuguese.
– The Sun claims Leicester City are keen on re-signing Harry Maguire on loan from Manchester United amid talk he will exit Old Trafford.
– Arsenal 's desire to land Dusan Vlahovic from Juventus could see the Gunners offer up Granit Xhaka and Nicolas Pepe as part of a deal, reports Calciomercatoweb.
– Fichajes claims Manchester City and Chelsea will battle it out to sign Milan full-back Theo Hernandez.
– Barcelona have prioritised a move for Liverpool winger Luis Diaz in the next transfer window, according to Fichajes.
Allegri storms out of Juventus win before final whistle - 'We didn't play very well'
Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri says his side "didn’t play very well" leading to him storming down the tunnel before full-time in their 1-0 home win over Verona.
The Bianconeri secured their fifth straight win in all competitions with Moise Kean's 55th-minute strike the difference.
But Allegri was unimpressed with his side and stormed down the post-side tunnel before the full-time whistle.
"We didn't play very well and I think in the last five minutes we had to go and score a second goal, keep pushing them and maintain the pressure," Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
"It doesn't seem like much five minutes, but all Verona needed was a long ball into the box and anything could happen. We could've been here licking our wounds if they had equalised.
"It was a complicated match, as they always are after the international break. It was a tough game and we knew it was going to be because Verona make you play badly, they press all over the pitch.
"That's why we were blocked in the opening minutes, then we managed to move the ball around and create chances.
"We could have done better once we had taken the lead and double our advantage, without giving them a chance to get near our area. It's something we need to improve on."
The win keeps Juventus in the hunt for European qualification, although their 15-point deduction, means they are seventh on 44 points. Juve (44) are behind fourth-placed Milan (48), Atalanta (48) and Roma (47) in the race for Europe, with all but Atalanta having a game in hand.
Allegri was quick to point out if not for that deduction they would be on 59 points and subsequently second in Serie A. Juve will have their appeal against that penalty heard on April 19.
"This result means we have earned 59 points on the field, closing the gap on Inter and momentarily on Milan and Lazio," he said.
"We've got Inter on Tuesday in the Coppa Italia and then Lazio on Saturday, so we’ve got to be ready.
"In football if you have a good run of results, that allows you to catch up pretty quickly. We have to take it one step at a time.
"The 'real' table that we see there shows we are still four points off the Champions League spots and that is a lot."
Lukaku's profligacy frustrates Inter coach Inzaghi
Simone Inzaghi did not hide his frustration at Romelu Lukaku's struggles in front of goal after Inter lost 1-0 to Fiorentina on Saturday.
Inter's losing streak in Serie A was extended to their worst in six years as Giacomo Bonaventura's second-half header proved decisive at San Siro.
The Nerazzurri have now lost three straight top flight matches, with Bonaventura's winner coming shortly after a woeful miss from Lukaku.
Having rediscovered his goalscoring touch while on international duty with Belgium, Lukaku was unable to transfer that form across to his club side as he failed to hit the target from close range with the goal gaping.
No Inter player had more shots than his three, with Lukaku not managing to get any of them on target, despite accumulating 1.2 expected goals.
While not pinning the blame entirely on Lukaku – who is reported to have confronted Inzaghi about a lack of opportunities while he has been fit this season – Inter's coach was quick to point out the importance of those misses.
Speaking to DAZN, Inzaghi said: "If he had scored those chances, Lukaku's performance would be judged in a very different way.
"His role is to create the opportunities, make the movements that the team needs.
"He wasn't the only one who had chances today, so I wouldn't focus only on Romelu."
Inzaghi also stressed he is ultimately responsible for turning Inter's fortunes around.
"There is great disappointment, we lost two consecutive home matches," he said. "We need to work more, starting with me.
"At the moment, we need to be more determined, because we had so many chances to score and we should have done.
"I cannot ask for more in terms of effort, as the players did everything I asked of them."
Inzaghi is not wrong. While Fiorentina had more shots (19 to 16) and got the same number of attempts on target (three each), Inter finished with a 2.8 xG compared to the visitors' 1.2, suggesting the quality of opportunities that went their way was far greater.
Lukaku's glaring miss came from by far the best opportunity of the match, with Opta's model estimating the chance would be converted 92 per cent of the time (0.92 xG).
The 29-year-old's future is uncertain. He is on loan at Inter, but due to return to parent club Chelsea at the end of the season.
Before the match, Inter chief Giuseppe Marotta told DAZN: "[Lukaku's] love for the Inter jersey is 10 out of 10, we'll evaluate the prospects with Chelsea."
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