Cristiano Ronaldo ended a three-game goal drought as Real Madrid won 2-0 at Schalke.
Switzerland's favourite sporting son Roger Federer expressed his disappointment over the corruption scandal engulfing soccer's world governing body FIFA on Friday.
Former European champions Red Star Belgrade, Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic all made it comfortably through to the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday after surviving away legs.
Images from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday
Arsenal teenager Bukayo Saka scored his first goal for the club as they beat 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0, while Manchester United's 17-year-old Mason Greenwood secured a 1-0 win over FC Astana as the Europa League group stage began on Thursday.
Sofiane Feghouli's late goal eased the nerves at Valencia's Mestalla as the Spanish club grabbed a 3-1 victory over Monaco in the first leg of their Champions league play-off round tie on Wednesday.
Manchester United were given a troublesome tie against Club Bruges in the draw for the Champions League playoff round on Friday, although it could have been worse as they avoided Lazio, CSKA Moscow or Monaco.
Arsenal suffered a shock Europa League exit to Olympiakos Piraeus on away goals after a 2-1 extra-time home defeat, while Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers cruised into the last 16 with emphatic aggregate wins on Thursday.
Denmark's Superliga to resume on May 28 says Danish League Association
Basle FC lead online mocking of Liverpool.
Switzerland are unlikely to face the same hostility when they face already-eliminated Costa Rica in Group E of the World Cup on Wednesday.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League last 16 first leg matches played across Europe on Tuesday
European champions Real Madrid will face former champions Liverpool, FC Basel and debutants Ludogorets of Bulgaria following the draw for the group stage of the Champions league on Thursday.
On a good night for English clubs in the Europa League, Manchester United hammered AZ Alkmaar 4-0, while Wolverhampton Wanderers also thrashed Besiktas 4-0 in Group K, and Arsenal came from two goals down to draw 2-2 away to Standard Liege and finish first in their pool. The upset of the night came in Group J as Crivelli scored a 90th-minute winner against Borussia Moenchengladbach to send Basaksehir through and knock the Germans out, with AS Roma grabbing the runner-up spot thanks to a 2-2 home draw with Wolfsberger as the Europa League group stage concluded on Thursday.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insists he is the right man for the job amid mounting pressure after a poor start to the season and a visit to in-form arch-rivals Manchester United on Sunday.
Ajax Amsterdam, returning to the stadium where they last won the Champions League 20 years ago, squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 against 10-man Rapid Vienna on Wednesday.
'That was quite an empty period in this club with no evolution in areas that are important'
Under-fire Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard may not be enjoying his best spell of form but he is still "a top class player", manager Brendan Rodgers said ahead of their Champions League clash with Bulgarian club Ludogorets.
Italy striker Balotelli has scored only once in nine appearances since signing from AC Milan for 16 million pounds and has often cut a frustrated figure during a series of low-key displays.
Britain's world number three Andy Murray stressed the importance of gender equality in tennis, saying the work ethic required to succeed is the same for both men and women.
Celtic, who won Europe's premier club competition in 1967, set up a clash with Romanians Cluj in the next stage after a 2-0 win at Nomme Kalju completed a 7-0 aggregate rout of the Estonian champions.
With the distraction of two individual scoring records safely out of the way, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi can turn his full focus on helping the club win the major silverware that eluded them last season.
Barcelona battled back from a goal down and scored twice in the second half to overcome hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 in their Champions League Group C match on Wednesday despite the absence of the injured Lionel Messi.
Holders Real Madrid survived a huge scare when they lost 4-3 to Schalke 04 in the Champions League on Tuesday but squeezed into the quarter-finals 5-4 on aggregate thanks to record European marksman Cristiano Ronaldo.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has gone on to become one of the Bundesliga's most prolific strikers since he was shunned at Real Madrid and will finally have a chance to show his former club what they are missing on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich humiliated former Bundesliga powerhouses Werder Bremen 7-0 on Saturday with Franck Ribery scoring twice and setting up another two as the champions kept up their seemingly unstoppable march towards another title.
Cristiano Ronaldo renewed his personal battle with Lionel Messi by scoring his 71st Champions League goal, putting him three behind the Argentine's newly-set record, in Real Madrid's 1-0 win at FC Basel on Wednesday.
Holders Real Madrid breezed into the last 16 of the Champions League with two games to spare when a Karim Benzema strike secured a 1-0 win in their Group B match at home to a toothless Liverpool on Tuesday.
Ten of the 16 sides also reached the same round two seasons ago and, as usual, the big five leagues dominate with 13 clubs hailing from either the English, Spanish, German, French and Italian leagues.
Karim Benzema came off the bench to score 13 minutes from time and ruin any chance of a dream result for resilient Ludogorets as holders Real Madrid carved out a patchy 2-1 win in Wednesday's Champions League Group B match.
Thomas Meunier volleyed a spectacular last-minute goal to give Paris St Germain a 2-1 win at FC Basel, which took them into the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Leaders Chelsea have seen their lead reduced to just three points after a shock defeat, and a revival from defending champions Manchester City. Manchester United are back in third after a run of five straight wins. If Chelsea slip agains, City continue to pile on the pressure and United keep the winning momentum it will make EPL battle further interesting.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Chelsea reached the Champions League knock-out stage on Tuesday despite a 1-0 defeat by Basel in Group E after a late Mohamed Salah goal shocked the 2012 title winners, with Jose Mourinho saying they deserved to lose. Barcelona, without Lionel Messi but already into the last 16, went two goals down in Amsterdam but looked a different side in the second half after Ajax's Joel Veltman was sent off.
Robert Lewandowski scored a brilliant free kick to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in their last Champions League Group D outing on Tuesday, ending the 100 percent record of their opponents. The Poland international curled the ball over the wall and into the corner of the net in the 28th minute but the goal had no impact on the final standings with Atletico guaranteed top spot and Bayern in second place.
There will be plenty of tension in the air in North London on Wednesday when out-of-sorts Arsenal face Borussia Dortmund seeking to qualify from the Champions League group stage for the 15th successive season.
Champions League holders Real Madrid will face former European champions Liverpool, FC Basel and debutants Ludogorets of Bulgaria following the group stage draw on Thursday.
Real Madrid's early-season woes deepened when they lost 2-1 at home to La Liga champions Atletico Madrid, while substitute Neymar struck twice in Barcelona's 2-0 win against visiting Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday.
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