Cristiano Ronaldo has accepted that he needs to rest more and that sitting out the odd game is in the interests of him and Real Madrid, coach Zinedine Zidane said on Friday. Real's all-time top scorer has missed four of his team's 15 league games this season, two more than in the whole of the last campaign, and he was a surprise omission from the squad for Wednesday's King's Cup game against Sevilla. Zidane remarked last year that he would prefer Ronaldo to rest more after injuries forced him to miss vital games at the end of the season, although the Frenchman appears to have reached agreement with his talisman this campaign.
Manchester United humbled Manchester City 4-2 in the continent's big derby of the weekend.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has opened the door to out-of-favour midfielder James Rodriguez leaving the club by admitting the player's lack of appearances could become a problem.
Tottenham were joined in the knockout rounds of the UEFA Cup by Bayer Leverkusen, Spartak Moscow, FC Zurich and Girondins Bordeaux.
Barcelona and Villarreal failed to put the pressure on leaders Real Madrid as they dropped points in the Primera Liga.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo may be on course for his worst domestic goal haul since 2010 but with two strikes against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday he became the first player to score 100 goals in UEFA competitions.
Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City beat champions Chelsea 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday to extend their lead to 18 points and leave the London side further adrift from the Champions League qualification spots.
Real Madrid and Barcelona pulled two points clear in La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo set a club scoring record in Real's 3-0 stroll against Levante and Neymar hit four as Barca beat Rayo Vallecano 5-2 on Saturday.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi rescued a 1-1 draw at Villarreal with a sensational late free-kick on Sunday but could not prevent the champions finishing the weekend third in La Liga, five points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Arsenal and Barcelona scored 3-0 victories over Sevilla and Olympique Lyon respectively in the Champions League.
Real Madrid's eight-match winning run in the Primera Liga came to an end when they lost 2-0 to Almeria.
An impudent individual goal from Philippe Coutinho steered Liverpool comfortably into the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday after a 1-1 draw at bitter rivals Manchester United completed a 3-1 aggregate win.
India's No. 1 ranked player Saketh Myneni and Norway's tennis sensation Casper Ruud have been offered the last two wild cards for the 22nd edition of the Aircel Chennai Open.
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his rich vein of form by scoring twice in Real Madrid's 2-1 home win over struggling Sporting Gijon on Saturday, although the La Liga leaders got a lucky break when the visitors squandered a second-half penalty.
Inter Milan marched into the Champions League knockout stage after fortunate second-half goals from strikers Julio Cruz and Zlatan Ibrahimovic set up a 3-0 home win over Fenerbahce on Tuesday.
Barcelona reached the knockout phase of the Champions League with a 2-2 draw at Olympique Lyon on Tuesday. The 2006 champions, who have 11 points from five matches, also secured top place in Group E after Rangers lost 3-2 way to bottom-placed VfB Stuttgart.
Arsene Wenger remains confident his side can complete the double over Sevilla and finish top of Champions League Group.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'So, the Champions League final will be played between two teams who just don't know when they are beaten,' says Suhit K Sen.
Spaniard Juande Ramos has been named manager of Premier League Tottenham Hotspur in place of the sacked Martin Jol.
Lazio won 2-0 at Legia Warsaw on Thursday to qualify for the Europa League knockout stages after a tie marred by violence when Italian fans fought with Polish police on the way to the stadium.
'I've been here 20 years and many times had the opportunity to leave. I don't have to convince you my preference has always been Arsenal'
Valencia's drive to rejoin the title race gathered momentum when they swept aside Real Mallorca 3-1 in the Primera Liga on Tuesday.
A last-gasp 4-3 victory over Espanyol put them top of the Primera Liga for the first time since September.
The Bavarians have now won the German league title a record 29 times.
Here are five talking points from the weekend's action:
The veteran admits Barca have defence problems, slams Dembele
Valencia sign Kondogbia on loan from Inter
Ukraine champions Shakhtar Donetsk dented Sevilla's bandwagon as the UEFA Cup holders wobbled before securing a 2-2 draw.
A strong Poland side lost 2-1 to the Netherlands in a Euro 2016 warm-up friendly as Vincent Janssen and Georginio Wijnaldum scored to secure victory for a young Dutch team.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barca had the chance to go top after Real drew a fourth consecutive game in all competitions for the first time in over a decade but they were rattled by rampant Celta
Barcelona were held to a 1-1 home draw, a result which leaves the champions three points behind league leaders Sevilla.
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Atletico Madrid's La Liga title challenge took a nosedive when they slumped to a shock 3-0 defeat at Osasuna on Sunday, leaving Real Madrid three points clear at the top.
Rediff.com brings you a glance of all the action from the week gone by.
Getafe thrashed Barcelona 4-0 to snatch a place in their first King's Cup final despite losing the first leg 5-2.
Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek had a Europa League night to remember by scoring the first hat-trick of his career as the midfielder inspired them to a 3-1 home win over Belarus champions BATE Borisov on Thursday.
"It was a rather simple operation, so there is nothing to get seriously worried about," Yonhap News agency quoted Lee as telling a local sports Web site.
Manager Juergen Klopp has backtracked on his call for Liverpool fans without tickets to head to Basel for the Europa League final against Sevilla on May 18, and said he regretted making the statement.
Villarreal set up a King's Cup semis against Barca after Gerard Moreno gave them a 1-0 win
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