Balotelli made his debut for his hometown club after completing a four-match suspension that he was handed at Olympique de Marseille last season, while the visitors were without Cristiano Ronaldo as he recovers from injury.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday
World Champion Viswanathan Anand bounced back as he jumped to joint second spot at the end of the fourth round after outplaying Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain in the fourth Bilbao Final Masters in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
World champion Viswanathan Anand could do little with his white pieces as he settled for a draw with world number one Magnus Carlsen in the first round of the fourth Bilbao Final Masters, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
A late header from Edinson Cavani gave Uruguay a 1-0 win over Copa America holders Chile which saw them snatch top spot in Group C at their opponents' expense and set up a quarter-final meeting with Peru.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale have been shortlisted for this year's coveted Ballon d'Or award.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
World champions France had eight players, one less than former holders Spain, in international players' association FIFPro's 55-name shortlist for its World XI of 2018 award.
Football fans in England are reportedly being pulled into a 15 million euro World Cup ticket scam.
Goalkeeper Gylmar, an ever present in the legendary Brazil teams that won the World Cup in 1958 and 1962, has died in Sao Paulo, aged 83.
Juventus supporters coach Massimiliano Allegri has often been in his element when he is apparently on the back foot.
A decision to include Japan and Qatar as the invited sides to this year's Copa has also done little to generate faith in the new leadership, with the tournament usually featuring the 10 South American nations plus two invited teams, although they are generally from elsewhere in the Americas.
Substitute Fred struck in a last-minute equaliser to give holders Brazil a 2-2 draw with Paraguay before unfancied Venezuela upset Ecuador 1-0 to go top of Group B at the Copa America on Saturday.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand played his fourth draw on the trot, sharing the point with tournament leader Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine to slip to the fourth spot after the eighth round of the fourth Final Masters chess tournament in Bilbao.
World champion Viswanthan Anand played out his second draw with World No 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway to stay second in the overall standings after the sixth round of fourth Final Chess Masters in Bilbao, Spain.
Santos were crowned champions of South America for the third time after goals from teenagers Neymar and Danilo gave them a 2-1 win over Penarol in the second leg of the Libertadores Cup final on Wednesday.
Chapecoense goalkeeper Danilo, who was killed in the Colombian air crash last month, was posthumously named Brazil's Player of the Year after a vote by fans.
Hellas Verona produced a huge upset by coming from behind to beat Serie A leaders Juventus 2-1 on Saturday, inflicting a third defeat of the season on the Italian champions. Cristiano Ronaldo set a new Juventus record by scoring in a 10th consecutive league game to put the visitors in front at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi after 65 minutes.
Here's a look at the new line by innerwear label Hope Lingerie, designed by supermodel Gisele Bundchen!
Lionel Messi dragged a nervous Barcelona to a 1-0 win at home to Levante in La Liga, while Cristiano Ronaldo converted two late penalties on his 100th appearance for Juventus in all competitions as the Serie A titleholders ground out a 3-1 win away to a dogged Genoa side.
Just four days before the draw for the 2014 World Cup, FIFA faced yet another embarrassment when a Sao Paulo prosecutor opened an investigation into possible racism by soccer's world governing body.
Juventus staged a superb revival to battle back from two goals down and rescue their Champions League hopes with a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich in their last 16 first leg on Tuesday.
Coming soon: 'Eco-friendly' cars made from pineapples or bananas, say scientists. A team at Sao Paulo State University in Brazil claims to have developed a more effective way to use fibre from these and other plants in a new generation of automotive plastics stronger, lighter, and more eco-friendly than plastics in use.
Brazil coach Mano Menezes has named injured pair Paulo Henrique Ganso and Alexandre Pato in his 22-man squad for the Copa America.
United youth product Gomes, 18, struck after Spurs' Lucas Moura cancelled out Anthony Martial's first-half opener and gave the 20-time Premier League champions another victory after they beat Perth Glory, Leeds United and Inter Milan.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Inter Milan's Serie A title hopes suffered a setback as they conceded a stoppage-time equaliser and were held 1-1 at home by relegation-threatened Carpi and leaders Napoli swept to a 4-2 win at Sampdoria.
Sarri was without Cristiano Ronaldo for the trip to the Gewiss Stadium as the Portuguese forward recovers from a knee problem ahead of Tuesday's Champions League meeting with Atletico Madrid in Turin.
A summary of Tuesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Ronaldo will play a farewell match with Brazil in June to mark the end of a career in which he won two World Cup winners medals, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said on Wednesday.
New Brazil coach Mano Menezes made wholesale changes with only four survivors from the World Cup when he named his squad on Monday for next month's friendly against the United States.
Here's capturing the car's 80-year-old legacy, and popularity, in photographs.
HCL Technologies on Friday said it has opened a global IT development centre in Sao Leopoldo, Brazil, to cater to clients across Latin America, North America and Europe.
Juventus won 2-0 at Lazio on Friday to extend their winning run in Serie A to five matches thanks to an early own goal from Santiago Gentiletti and a glorious Paulo Dybala effort.
Brazil have shown all the signs they can rule the world yet again in Russia but they must make their excellent preparations count in their World Cup Group E opener against a resilient Switzerland side on Sunday in Rostov.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The highest paid supermodel looked sizzling, barely six months after giving birth to her first baby.
Meet the I Am She-Miss India Universe finalists and vote to let us know who deserves to represent India at the international pageant!
India's Silicon Valley, Bangalore, has managed to retain its leadership for the fourth time.
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