News of all that transpired on and off the football field
Werder Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese saved two first-half penalties as the Bundesliga side began their UEFA Cup campaign with a 3-0 win over Braga.
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his first five-goal haul in Real Madrid's 9-1 hammering of Granada while title-chasing Bayern Munich and Chelsea won again in Germany and England.
Hamburg SV will play Manchester City in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals and could meet Bundesliga rivals Werder Bremen in the last four. Shakhtar Donetsk will play Olympique Marseille and Dynamo Kiev face Paris St Germain with the winners lined up to meet in the semis after the draw was made by UEFA on Friday.
Michael Essien is poised to make a first international appearance in more than two years after being named as a surprise inclusion in Ghana's squad for a key World Cup qualifier against Zambia next month.
Chelsea have bolstered their attacking options by signing France forward Loic Remy from Premier League rivals Queens Park Rangers on a four-year deal, the 2012 European champions announced on Sunday.
Novak Djokovic defeated fourth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 7-5 6-3 on Saturday to win the Dubai Championships.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overpowered world number three Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6 to book his place in the Marseille Open final on Saturday. World number 12 Tsonga, who has now won his last four matches against Djokovic since losing to the Serb in the Australian Open final in 2008, will face Michael Llodra in an all-French final after the Parisian beat compatriot Gilles Simon 7-6, 6-2 in the other semi-final.
Local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overpowered world number three Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6 to book his place in the Marseille Open final on Saturday. World number 12 Tsonga, who has now won his last four matches against Djokovic since losing to the Serb in the Australian Open final in 2008, will face either Gilles Simon or Michael Llodra in an all-French final on Sunday.
India on Tuesday said that the European Union must liberalise its visa regime to allow free flow of businessmen and skilled professionals from the country to the continent and was looking forward to the proposed 'Blue Card' initiative to facilitate hassle-free employment of skilled migrants.
Expressing satisfaction that the 123 agreement had been passed in the Congress and that "one more hurdle had been crossed," Dr Singh said he would wait for the final outcome and the end of the Congressional process.
The fixtures for the group stages in the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League, which kicks-off on Wednesday.
Workers of SNCF will be on strike for two days out of five every week for three months.
The Richard Gasquet Foundation will operate in two ways: use sport to bring underprivileged youths back to health and enable them rediscover the joys of life, and use sport as a way to build a future.
At least 29 people were injured, including five seriously, when safety barriers collapsed at a French Ligue 1 game between Amiens and Lille on Saturday, local authorities and match officials said leading to the match being abandoned.
Karim Benzema fired Real Madrid to a 1-0 win in the city derby against Atletico Madrid on Saturday which underlined Real's La Liga title credentials. Bayern Munich scored three goals in the opening 26 minutes to defeat Mainz 05 3-1 away on Saturday and go two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with their sixth straight win.
France midfielder Franck Ribery was voted Bundesliga player of the year in a poll of 268 league players published in Kicker newspaper on Monday.
Paris for a third straight weekend witnessed violent protests leading to the arrests of more than 400 people and injuring 133. In the past few days, masked rioters have torched cars, buildings and even a police headquarter, looted shops and clashed with police. On the other hand, security forces have fired stun grenades, tear gas shells and water cannon at protesters. The protest, now called as the 'Yellow Vest Protest', comes 18 months into French President Emmanuel Macron's presidency. It has been named so because the participants are wearing fluorescent safety jackets that are kept in all cars in France. The protesters, "gilets jaunes" (yellow vests), reportedly have no real structure or leadership.
Substitute Lionel Messi scored two late goals, including one in stoppage time, to lead 2006 winners Barcelona to a 2-1 victory at Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday. Last season's runners-up Chelsea were held to a 0-0 draw at surprise packages CFR Cluj, who were playing in Romania's third division just six years ago.
Liverpool and Steven Gerrard can both improve, coach Rafael Benitez said after his captain scored twice to help his side to a 2-1 win at Olympique Marseille.
Some key facts about Zinedine Zidane, who stepped down as Real Madrid coach after leading the Spanish club to a third successive Champions League title.
New signing Samir Nasri scored after four minutes to give Arsenal a 1-0 win over promoted West Bromwich Albion when they kicked off the new English Premier League season at the Emirates Stadium in London on Saturday. The 21-year-old French midfielder scored with a first-time right footed-shot after good approach work by Arsenal and a final cut-back pass from Denilson.
The Australian Open champion was beaten by Gilles Simon of France at the Marseille Open.
Ronaleo netted his 14th league goal for Juve this season while PSG's winning streak was snapped by Monaco in a 3-3 draw. Here are images from the matches played on Sunday
Liverpool's Matip did not want to play for Cameroon for the moment because of a 'bad experience' with the previous coaching staff
With their own bitter memories of past semi-final defeats in the soccer tournament, England and Croatia will be competing for a spot in Sunday's final against France.
Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini will join AC Milan on a four-year deal, the Serie A club said on Monday. The 24-year-old Frenchman, who signed for Arsenal from Olympique Marseille in 2004, will move on a free transfer with his contract at the Premier League club soon expiring.
The home of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was burgled while he was steering his team to a vital Champions League win at Olympique Marseille.
Nine-times champions Real Madrid topped Group C with a 3-1 win over Lazio while Liverpool, the winners of five titles, advanced from Group A with a 4-0 rout of Olympique Marseille.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Rediff.com presents a flashback of those moments at Euro 2016 that personify pure ecstasy...
Five-times European champions Liverpool slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Besiktas on Wednesday and now face an uphill task to progress from Champions League Group A.
Talismanic Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo struggled against Croatia producing just one shot on goal, but coach Fernando Santos defended his "amazing" captain.
In other first round matches, at the World Indoor Tournament, second seed Nikolay Davydenko beat qualifier Jan Hernych while David Ferrer advanced with a victory over Italy's Simone Bolelli.
British number one Andy Murray will take on Paul Henri-Mathieu in the second semi-final of the Marseille Open.
The Australian Open runner-up was beaten by Croatian wild card entrant Mario Ancic at the Marseille Open.
UEFA said it would replace the pitch at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille after Wednesday's final group E match between Italy and Ireland.
The France-Austria-Britain sequence of races poses a fresh logistical challenge for teams hitherto committed only to back-to-back weekends, with the 21-round season hurrying to the halfway point.
A round-up of Saturday's matches in Ligue 1, Serie A and Bundesliga.
France coach Didier Deschamps was more than just relieved after his team scored two late goals to beat a stubborn Albania team 2-0 on Wednesday and reach the second round of Euro 2016.
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