Karim Benzema's hat-trick earned Real Madrid a 3-1 win at reigning European champions Chelsea in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday. In another quarter-final match, Villarreal stunned six times European Cup winners Bayern Munich 1-0.
Rediff.com brings you some of the highlights from the sporting events held last week...
Benfica won the Portuguese league for the second year running on Sunday.
Kevin De Bruyne had to be replaced by Gabriel Jesus in the 60th minute on Saturday following a collision with Antonio Rudiger.
United suffered a shock exit in the last 16 with a 2-1 defeat by Sevilla after substitute Wissam Ben Yedder struck twice at Old Trafford. The Spaniards sealed a 2-1 aggregate victory having drawn the first leg 0-0 in Spain.
Gerard Moreno -- who scored against Manchester United before the Europa League final in Gdansk went to penalties -- rescued Unai Emery's side in the 73rd with a side-foot finish after a back-heel from Boulaye Dia.
Bayern Munich are on a mission with coach Pep Guardiola firing up his injury-hit team as they seek to reverse a 3-1 deficit against Porto in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday.
Big-spending Paris St Germain, struggling to deliver domestically on a huge investment by Qatari owners, showed they mean business in the Champions League by winning Group A at Porto's expense on Tuesday.
Here are six who could make the biggest impact in this season's English Premier League.
The two-legged ties will be played from February 16.
Tottenham Hotspur have dropped their interest in signing Porto's Joao Moutinho because the Portugal midfielder is too expensive, the Premier League club's new manager Andre Villas-Boas said.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Olympic judo medallist Flavio Canto is among those giving his time and money to battle the COVID-19 outbreak in Brazil. Dunga is also working with business contacts and former players - including ex-Brazil internationals Jorginho and Edmilson and Paulo Cesar Tinga - to help disadvantaged communities in his home state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova stormed into the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open 2017 tennis tournament with a straight-set win over their opponents in the women's doubles at Indian Wells.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho refused to be drawn on Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas, a player he had a strained relationship with during their time together at Real Madrid.
Chelsea confirmed the appointment of Portugal's Andre Villas-Boas as their new manager on Wednesday as the 33-year-old, who resigned from Porto on Tuesday, agreed to a three-year contract. A fact file on the manager.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Chelsea are growing in confidence after a poor start to the season and optimistic for Champions League qualification ahead of Tuesday's tie against last-placed Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, manager Jose Mourinho said.
Images from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday
Fans had gathered outside the gates of Benfica's stadium in Lisbon to support the team because restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak prevented them entering the ground.
A covert United States military operation in January targeting Al-Qaeda leaders in the Afghan-Pakistan border region accidentally killed an American and an Italian, both aid workers who were hostages of the terror group, President Barack Obama said.
A magnificent long-range strike from Youri Tielemans gave Leicester City their first FA Cup triumph with a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday, in front of the biggest crowd in England since March 2020.
Departing Real Madrid captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas was forced out by club president Florentino Perez and is too good to play for a 'third-tier' side like Porto, his parents were quoted as saying on Sunday.
But Mourinho grabbed the attention of photographers on the sideline as his frustration at his team's showing forced a range facial expressions that would give 'Mr Bean' serious competition. Scroll down to see the 'varied faces' of Mourinho from Tuesday night's match...
Liverpool laboured to a 2-0 win over Denmark's Midtjylland on Tuesday as a goal from Diogo Jota and a Mohamed Salah penalty secured a hard-fought Champions League Group D victory at Anfield.
Manchester United, winners of the competition in 2017, will have a lot of travelling to do to Eastern Europe after being drawn alongside Kazakhstan side Astana, Serbia's Partizan Belgrade and Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
United are 16th in the standings with a game in hand heading into the international break.
Shares in English soccer giant Manchester United wavered in volatile trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Monday, following media reports that the club was set to replace its manager with former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were the major winners following the resumption of European soccer's big leagues in the wake of the novel coronavirus shutdown but some clubs may wish the season had been declared null and void. Bundesliga champion Bayern were the only club across the continent to post a 100% record since the restart, winning all nine of their games, scoring 27 goals in the process.
Barcelona's Luis Suarez hit a brace and set up a double for a spritely Lionel Messi to score in his first start after injury in a rampant 6-1 Champions League victory over AS Roma on Tuesday.
Captain Casemiro said Brazil fully deserved the three points.
"Yes, they have contacted my agent and there is a possibility of being coach of Porto," Italy's Chievo Verona coach Luigi Del Neri said.
Unai Emery's side were heading for a demoralising defeat, three days after losing meekly to Sheffield United in the Premier League, but substitute Pepe's late intervention kept the Gunners top of Group F with a maximum nine points.
Liverpool failed to muster a single shot on target in a Champions League game for the first time since a 1-0 defeat to Benfica in February 2006.
Arsenal's young guns continued to shine as they dismantled Standard Liege 4-0 on a hectic night of Europa League action that produced a full house of Spanish victories on Thursday. A summary of the matches.
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in his 150th European appearance to give Real Madrid a 3-1 victory at Borussia Dortmund, their first against them in Germany, and make it two wins out of two matches in their Champions League Group H.
The 56-year-old Portuguese returns to management for the first time since being sacked by Manchester United in December, and replaces Mauricio Pochettino, who was sacked on Tuesday.
Netherlands capitalised on two England defensive mix-ups in extra time as they came from behind to win their Nations League semi-final 3-1.
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