Robert Lewandowski struck twice to steer champions Bayern Munich to a 2-1 win at Hamburg SV on Friday that stretched their lead at the top to 11 points as the Bundesliga resumed following a one-month winter break.
A summary of Thursday night's UEFA Champions League matches.
Inter Milan face Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and PSV Eindhoven in Group B which features three former European champions.
Poland's Robert Lewandowski has chalked up so many big-game landmarks during his club career that the 27-year-old seems overdue a major tournament performance with his country.
Bayern Munich players were out in force celebrating their domestic double after Pep Guardiola's team clinched the German Cup.
Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery scored a sensational volley to lead the German champions to a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday that sent them eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with six matches left. Frenchman Ribery, who has missed most of the season due to injury, took off at the edge of the box and sent his mid-air volley past Lukas Hradecky in the 20th minute after the keeper had initially saved a shot from Mario Goetze. It was the 32-year-old's second goal of the campaign after being sidelined for eight months with an ankle problem and then suffering another injury that kept him out until last month. Bayern found no resistance from Eintracht and Xabi Alonso rattled the crossbar with a free kick early in the second half with the hosts enjoying close to 70 percent possession.
The league said last week that the deal, called 'Boost La Liga', would strengthen its clubs and give them funds to spend on new infrastructure and modernisation projects as well as increasing how much they could spend on players' salaries.
Bundesliga teams will be allowed up to five substitutions per match when it restarts on Saturday after the coronavirus stoppage, while teams will be relegated provided the season is completed, the German Football League (DFL) said on Thursday. Short-term venue changes will also be permitted if health reasons dictate such a need and the season will continue beyond its re-scheduled finish date of June 30 and into July if necessary, the DFL said following a general assembly.
Liverpool's new manager Juergen Klopp promised to bring 'full throttle' football with a 'big heart' to Anfield in his first comments since the German was unveiled as the Merseyside's club new manager on Thursday night.
For the first time since 1998, the Champions League final will feature two teams who entered the competition as domestic champions, a throwback to the day's of the old European Cup when only a country's title winners were allowed to enter.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Champions Bayern Munich eased past hosts Fortuna Duesseldorf 4-1 on Sunday with winger Kingsley Coman scoring twice, to go a point clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
Premier League title race looks poised to be one of the most thrilling in years.
Barcelona flirted with a shock Champions League exit before moving into the semi-finals with an away-goals victory over Paris St Germain while Bayern Munich completed a comfortable aggregate win over Juventus on Wednesday.
Apart from when German clubs are in town, Arsenal's Emirates Stadium has been a fortress in the Champions League and manager Arsene Wenger says that must continue if his side are to continue their run of reaching the last 16.
Here we bring you all the sporting action from last week in this stunning photo feature.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp is not about to change his team's trademark style against Champions League quarter-final opponent
Images from soccer matches played across different leagues in Europe on Sunday
Champions Bayern Munich scored a goal late in each half to beat promoted Union Berlin 2-0 on their return to the Bundesliga on Sunday after more than two months out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and protect their four-point lead at the top. League top scorer Robert Lewandowski converted a 40th minute spot kick and Benjamin Pavard headed in a corner in the 80th in an empty stadium, to keep the Bavarians in the driving seat for a record-extending eighth successive league title.
Juergen Klopp was a relieved man on Saturday after Liverpool's 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final ended the German coach's miserable run of six defeats in cup finals.
Barcelona first struggled to come to terms with their shock 4-0 defeat to Paris St Germain in the Champions League last 16 first leg but have sparkled in their last two games and are daring to believe they can defy history by reaching the quarter-finals.
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Liverpool have signed Borussia Dortmund's Switzerland defender Philipp Degen.
Images from Wednesday's action in the Champions League.
Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has eased Real Madrid's injury concerns and could be fit to play in their Champions League match at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, coach Zinedine Zidane said.
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
In the other pairings, English champions Manchester United will take on Greek club Olympiakos, while AC Milan take on Atletico Madrid.
VfL Wolfsburg ended Arminia Bielefeld's sensational German Cup run, crushing the third division club 4-0 on Wednesday to book a spot in their first Cup final in 20 years where they will face Borussia Dortmund.
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema rescued his side again by scoring two late goals to snatch a 2-1 win at home to Elche in La Liga on Saturday and revive his side's hopes of catching leaders Atletico Madrid.
England created numerous chances but Calvert-Lewin's penalty was the only addition to the score as the hosts impressed ahead of Nations League clashes against Belgium and Iceland.
Rediff.com brings these and other big news from the sporting world, encapsulated in this photo feature...
Bayer Leverkusen beat a second-string Bayern Munich 2-0 on Saturday to move up to third in the Bundesliga and get back on course for an automatic Champions League spot with three matches left in the season.
Napoli went down 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig, Arsenal and AC Milan enjoyed comfortable away wins, and Borussia Dortmund's Michy Batshuayi scored twice to secure a 3-2 victory in Europa League last 32, first leg action
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Liverpool's players oozed confidence in the post-Luis Suarez era as they began their final countdown to the start of the Premier League season.
Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, failing to make it past the group stage of the competition for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Manchester City now need, at most, 11 points from their remaining seven matches to secure their third Premier League title in four seasons.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Two defeats and one last-gasp victory in the group stage meant an embarrassed Germany made their earliest World Cup exit in 80 years on Wednesday.
IMAGES from football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
