A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Lionel Messi was at the top of his game as Barcelona earned a 3-2 win at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday to move up to third in La Liga.
The league, which was announced on Sunday with 12 founding members, has been championed by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, the new competition's chairman. It is now left with three Italian clubs -- AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan -- plus Perez's Real Madrid along with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid from Spain.
Turning points from the UEFA Champions League matches played between Arsenal-Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid-AC Milan.
Clarence Seedorf will need to tap into all the experience he gained as the only player to win the Champions League with three different clubs if his AC Milan side are to get past Atletico Madrid into the quarter-finals.
AS Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman's two-match ban for simulation during his team's 2-0 win over local rivals Lazio on Sunday has been overturned, the Italian FA said on Friday.
Barcelona winger Raphinha secured a 1-0 win in LaLiga for the second straight week this time at Athletic Bilbao as his side tightened their grip on top spot.
West Bromwich Albion and France's Nicolas Anelka has been consistently in the news for all the wrong reasons. On Tuesday he was charged by the FA for celebrating a goal with a 'quenelle' salute, widely known as an anti-Semitic gesture. Following the episode, Rediff.com follows the Frenchman's brushes with trouble.
James Rodriguez curled home a superb free kick to cap Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Inter Milan in a friendly in Guangzhou on Monday.
Inter Milan will have their hardcore 'ultra' supporters present for Sunday's Milan derby after the Italian Football Federation's (FIGC) Court of Justice suspended a partial stadium closure while it carries out further investigations.
Celtic winger James Forrest scored a dramatic stoppage time winner to secure his club a Champions League group stage place on Wednesday alongside AC Milan, Real Sociedad, Zenit St Petersburg and Czech champions Viktoria Plzen.
Debutants Malaga have toppled European giants AC Milan and Porto on their way to the Champions League quarter-finals and have another former winner in their sights when they host Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
After years of trying, South American coaches are finally gaining a foothold in European football and their growing influence will be heavily felt as the Champions League round of 16 gets under.
With a squad that was derided for being short on quality by frustrated fans in pre-season, Arsenal, who host Norwich City on Saturday, have surprised many by surging to the top of the Premier League table.
Arsenal enjoyed a 3-0 win in Azerbaijan against Qarabag in the Europa League on Thursday and AC Milan beat Greece's Olympiakos Piraeus 3-1 but Sevilla suffered a shock defeat by Russians Krasnodar.
AC Milan have signed Morocco midfielder Adel Taarabt on loan from English championship (second division) club Queens Park Rangers until the end of the season, British media reported.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid maintained their perfect records in La Liga while Premier League club Arsenal dropped points but returned to the top of the table.
Di Maria to retire from international soccer after World Cup
Images from football matches played across Europe on Monday.
Nine-times winners Real Madrid will play Manchester United in the last 16 of the Champions League after the draw was made at UEFA's headquarters in Switzerland on Thursday.
Inter Milan moved into the Italian Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory over second-tier Verona on Tuesday.
The Champions League is set for some much-needed drama this week with the conclusion of a group stage which has been all too predictable and produced an embarrassing procession of one-sided matches.
Paris St Germain sports director Leonardo asked his Sky Italia presenter partner Anna Billo to marry him live on air after Friday's Champions League quarter-final draw.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
The Hollywood beauty was clicked in the FC Barcelona locker room at the Rose Bowl stadium in California, where the Spanish giants beat Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the International Champions Cup on Saturday.
Real Madrid, Manchester City, Arsenal and AC Milan suffered painful Champions League defeats on Wednesday which complicated their chances of progressing from an increasingly intriguing group stage.
Lionel Messi has set the bar so high for himself that when he does not score for a few games it prompts an outburst of speculation and head-scratching about what might be ailing the Argentine World Player of the Year.
Inter Milan have been fined 50,000 euros after fans racially abused their former player Mario Balotelli in Sunday's city derby with AC Milan, Serie A said in a statement on Tuesday.
Maverick striker Mario Balotelli has been fined 10,000 euros for making a provocative gesture to rival Cagliari supporters after scoring against them in AC Milan's 2-1 win on Sunday.
Brazilian Kaka looked a player reborn while producing a superb display in AC Milan's 1-1 Champions League draw with Barcelona on Tuesday.
Images from Champion League matches played across Europe on Tuesday.
Spain's big two face a pair of Italian giants in the Champions League this week, boasting 22 European Cups between them, as AC Milan aim to end a recent bad record against Barcelona and Juventus seek to peg back Real Madrid.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid dropped their first points of the season on Saturday, missing the chance to equal the record for the best-ever La Liga start.
Didier Drogba would be a great addition to AC Milan's squad, coach Massimiliano Allegri said on Wednesday as Italian media speculated that a deal was in the offing.
Be it at Inter Milan, Manchester City or AC Milan, striker Balotelli has grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons. This season, the striker walks the same, shameful road. The Italian's tryst with trouble continued when he was handed a three-match ban for his sending-off at the end of Sunday's 2-1 home defeat by Napoli. As Balotelli keeps jumping from one controversy to another, Rediff.com brings you a quick recap of episodes involving the 'indisciplined Italian'.
World Cup winners Ronaldinho and Kaka were both left out of the Brazil's Confederations Cup squad on Tuesday as coach Luiz Felipe Scolari opted for youth ahead of experience.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has criticised as inadequate a 50,000 euro fine handed to AS Roma for racist behaviour from their fans and said lessons had not been learned in Italian soccer.
AS Roma have been fined 50,000 euros for racist behaviour by fans in Sunday's Serie A match at AC Milan, a game interrupted by the referee early in the second half.
