Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane denied his side were facing a crisis after they drew 1-1 at home to La Liga minnows Eibar and racked up a fourth consecutive draw for the first time in more than 10 years.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo gave a ringing endorsement of new coach Zinedine Zidane and handed a rebuke to his sacked predecessor Rafa Benitez after Sunday's 5-1 La Liga victory at home to Sporting Gijon. Real have comfortably won both their matches since Zidane took over this month, a 5-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna and Sunday's demolition of lowly Gijon, and Ronaldo said the players had a better relationship with the former Real and France great, who is known as 'Zizou', than with the unpopular Benitez. The former Valencia, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Napoli manager was discarded after less than half a season in the job after an indifferent run of results left Real trailing city rivals Atletico Madrid and champions Barcelona in La Liga. "To be honest, with some coaches you have more empathy than with others," Ronaldo told reporters after netting a double at the Bernabeu. "The truth is, don't ask me why, that the players have more empathy with Zizou," the Portugal forward added.
Real Madrid left back Marcelo admitted he was fortunate not to concede a penalty during their 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu, a let-off that helped the holders reach the Champions League final 4-3 on aggregate on Tuesday.
Real Madrid opened a three-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo scored his eighth goal of the campaign in a 3-1 victory at home to promoted Las Palmas on Saturday.
A toothless and haggard Real Madrid slumped to a humiliating 10th Liga defeat of the season on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at struggling neighbours Rayo Vallecano.
Everton yet to receive clarification after City game postponed: Ancelotti
Colombia scored two first half goals to tame hosts the United States and open the Copa America tournament with a convincing 2-0 victory in front of a big crowd on Friday.
Chelsea's Spanish striker Diego Costa was named along with usual suspects Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 23- man FIFA Ballon D'Or short-list released on Tuesday.
Barcelona won the La Liga title with a comfortable 3-0 victory at Granada thanks to a Luis Suarez hat-trick in the season finale on Saturday.
Chelsea have signed Germany's highly-rated attacking midfielder Kai Havertz from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year contract, the Premier League club announced on Friday.
Real Madrid moved to within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona after Karim Benzema, Isco, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Cristiano Ronaldo all scored in a 5-1 thrashing at struggling Getafe on Saturday.
Ajax, four-times European Cup winners who are in the knockout stages for the first time in 13 years, have enhanced their reputation as a talent factory due to the rise of homegrown Dutch players Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt.
Here, Reuters Sport highlights five reasons why last season's double winners have collapsed.
Argentina captain Lionel Messi pulled his side level in the 57th minute after a handball by Paraguay's Ivan Peris which no-one on the pitch appealed for but was spotted by a VAR review.
Prolific Cristiano Ronaldo hit a 35th hat-trick for Real Madrid who swept aside Espanyol 6-0 in a ruthless attacking display in La Liga on Sunday.
Images and a round-up of all the World Cup qualifiers played across continents on Tuesday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was again the chief tormentor as French champions Paris St Germain won 3-0 at Bastia to stay eight points clear at top of the Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Misfiring Real Madrid need quick response ahead of Barcelona visit.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez has been relying on second-string players to get the club through a mini injury crisis but should have several of his heavyweights back when Paris St Germain visit in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Holders Real Madrid came from a goal down to snatch a precious 2-1 victory at wasteful Bayern Munich on Wednesday and carry a considerable advantage into their Champions League semi-final second leg in Spain.
Roger Martinez scored an outstanding goal as Colombia beat Argentina 2-0 in an exciting finale to a Copa America Group B opener on Saturday that burst into life after a sluggish start.
Chile beat Colombia 2-0 in the Copa America semi-final on Wednesday and will face Argentina in Sunday's final after surviving a tumultuous match in Chicago.
Gareth Bale was once again subjected to whistling from a section of the Bernabeu crowd.
Karim Benzema scored twice in the second half as Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 4-1 to go four points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday.
It all ended in tears as Argentina and Colombia went out in the round of 16, the latter on penalties, while Uruguay and Brazil both lost their quarter-finals on Friday, to France and Belgium respectively.
James Rodriguez netted twice and Dominic Calvert-Lewin became the first Everton player to score in the opening four matches of a Premier League season as they beat Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 on Saturday to stay top of the table with a maximum 12 points.
Four years ago in Brazil, Colombia romped to the quarter-finals for the first time on the back of four straight wins, salsa-dancing to celebrate their dozen goals and launching midfielder James Rodriguez on the road to global stardom.
Yerry Mina's header secured Colombia a 1-0 win over Senegal in Samara on Thursday to clinch their safe passage to the last 16 as they finished top of Group H, while Senegal missed out to Japan on a fair play tiebreaker.
Analysis of the eight groups for the 2018 FIFA World Cup to be held in Russia.
Juventus rehire Allegri.
Germany will retain their World Cup title in Moscow to equal Brazil's record of five wins in the tournament, according to a Reuters poll of financial specialists more used to predicting market moves.
Sports events produce a multitude of highly amusing and crazy celebrations. Individual and team players have various way of celebrating victory, a goal or point. Some do it with a high-five, blow a kiss, cartwheel or dance. And on the soccer field, it's a soccer ball baby!
Real Madrid captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas has called for a big improvement after the European champions suffered a surprise early-season setback at Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday.
David Zurutuza struck twice to help Real Sociedad seal a remarkable comeback and beat Real Madrid 4-2 in La Liga.
Borussia Dortmund stayed top of the Bundesliga by beating Augsburg 4-3, while titleholders Bayern Munich were thumped 3-0 at home by Borussia Moenchengladbach.
A Lionel Messi masterclass, netting a brilliant free kick before laying on two more goals, put Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a resounding 3-0 win over Colombia in San Juan on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit a late double as La Liga leaders Real Madrid thumped Almeria 4-1 to extend their Spanish record for consecutive victories in all competitions to 20.
Uruguay made light of the absence of striker Luis Suarez to recover from a goal down and beat 2015 Copa America hosts Chile 2-1 in a friendly in Santiago.
Thiago Silva and Roberto Firmino scored either side of halftime to fire Brazil to a 2-1 win over Venezuela at the Copa America.
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