Borussia Dortmund completed their spectacular implosion this season, losing 2-1 at struggling Werder Bremen.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday
Bayern Munich will be out to prove they have erased the bitter taste of last season's Champions League final defeat by Chelsea when they host Spain's Valencia in their opening Group F match on Wednesday.
Goals by substitutes Leroy Fer and Memphis Depay gave the Netherlands a 2-0 victory over Chile on Monday that put them top of World Cup Group B and likely to avoid a second-round meeting with Brazil.
Top German football club Bayern Munich, on Wednesday, announced a 24-member squad for the Bhaichung Bhutia farewell exhibition match against India XI, in New Delhi, on January 10 with all the first team players being named.
The Bavarians are on 73 points with RB Leipzig in second place on 63 after they were held to a goalless draw by Ingolstadt earlier in the day.
Denmark survived a sustained assault by Netherlands to emerge with a 1-0 victory in their opening Euro 2012 Group B game on Saturday thanks to a first-half goal by Michael Krohn-Dehli and some poor Dutch finishing.
Leaders Bayern Munich twice surrendered the lead in a 2-2 Bundesliga draw at 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday and Borussia Moenchengladbach missed two penalties in a goalless draw against Hamburg SV.
Rediff.com takes a look at a few legends of the modern game who won titles galore but failed to win the competition that matters the most in club football.
Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng returned to haunt his former club with a last-gasp goal that secured a 1-0 win over English title holders Manchester City in their opening Champions League Group E clash on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich were left to rue a number of missed chances in their Champions League last 16 first leg against Juventus on Tuesday after the Germans squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 despite dominating for much of the game.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
One of the last surviving freedom fighters from that era, Isu Laloo Chiba, shared this in a message to support the Indian missions' plan to celebrate the second United Nations-sanctioned International Day of Yoga on 21 June in South Africa.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to send Real Madrid through to the Champions League semi-finals with a 4-2 extra-time win and 6-3 aggregate success against 10-man Bayern Munich in controversial circumstances on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi and Arjen Robben are battling with a Japanese teenager and a Swedish second division player for FIFA's goal of the year award.
Mario Gomez, widely considered a failure in his first season with Bayern Munich, continued his resurgence with a last-gasp goal to clinch a 1-0 Champions League win at titleholders Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi has been declared as the best forward, while Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo was ranked 29th.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Bayern Munich needed a stoppage-time winner from Bastian Schweinsteiger to beat VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 and successfully kick off their Bundesliga title defence on Friday.
Title holders Bayern Munich eased into the second round of the German Cup with a comfortable 4-0 win over amateurs Germania Windeck on Monday, with striker Miroslav Klose scoring once and setting up another goal.
Unstoppable Bayern Munich scored three goals in the opening 34 minutes with Thomas Mueller grabbing two as they eased past holders VfL Wolfsburg 3-1 away on Tuesday and reached the German Cup third round.
Bayern Munich playmaker Franck Ribery will be out of action for about three weeks after tearing a right ankle ligament although the damage is not as bad as initially feared, the Bundesliga champions said on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich edged past Werder Bremen 2-1 on Saturday for a Bundesliga record 13th consecutive win over them to stay three points clear at the top of the table.
Netherlands reached their first World Cup final since 1978 when the current crop finally stepped out of the shadows of Total Football to beat battling Uruguay 3-2 in a superb semi-final on Tuesday.
The winners of next year's World Cup final in South Africa will collect $30 million (18 million pounds) in prize money, FIFA said on Thursday after their Executive Committee meeting in the historic setting of Robben Island.
Substitute Mario Goetze led Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich on a second-half four-goal rampage after midtable Mainz 05 had the temerity to take a halftime lead at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Playmaker Wesley Sneijder inspired Netherlands to a 3-2 win over Uruguay on Tuesday that sent them back to the World Cup final after a 32-year wait.
Brazil midfielder Felipe Melo failed to heed his father's warnings on Friday when he was sent off for recklessly stamping on Arjen Robben in their 2-1 World Cup quarter-final defeat by Netherlands.
The Netherlands advanced to a second-round meeting with Slovakia in ominous style on Thursday when they beat Cameroon 2-1 to make it three wins out of three and secure top spot in Group E. After wins over Denmark and Japan, the Dutch were already assured of progress and the victory secured with goals by Robin van Persie and Klaas Jan Huntelaar guaranteed top spot.
German champions Bayern Munich clinched the German Cup with a crushing 4-0 win over holders Werder Bremen on Saturday to stay on track for a treble. Bayern, who face Inter Milan in the Champions League final on May 22, took the lead through Arjen Robben's first half penalty before Ivica Olic doubled their lead in the 51st minute. Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger added two more to cap a memorable domestic season for Bayern.
Bayern Munich beat relegated Hertha Berlin 3-1 on Saturday to win the German championship for a record 22nd time and keep their treble hopes on track.
Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to two points despite drawing 1-1 at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, keeping their dreams of winning a treble on track.
Arjen Robben's superb strike sent Bayern Munich through to the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals on Tuesday despite a 3-2 defeat by Fiorentina in a thrilling last 16 second leg.
Substitute Miroslav Klose headed an 89th minute goal to give Bayern Munich a 2-1 win over Fiorentina in their Champions League last 16 first leg tie on Wednesday, their 13th straight victory in all competitions.
Kathrada, who frequently referred to Mandela as his 'elder brother', was among three political prisoners who were sentenced to life imprisonment together with the South African anti-apartheid icon after the infamous Rivonia Trial of 1964.
Why South Africa is such a popular vacation spot among Indian celebs?
Barcelona lost for the second straight La Liga game in a 1-0 home reverse against Celta Vigo but there was no such trouble for Manchester City, who beat 10-man Manchester United 1-0 thanks to Sergio Aguero.
Bayern Munich defender Daniel van Buyten scored two minutes from time to give his team a 2-1 win over visitors Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday and lift them to fifth place in the standings.
Real Madrid's Welsh winger Gareth Bale has joined Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for FIFA's Ballon d'Or award.
Confident Arsenal travel to Bayern Munich on Wednesday hoping to tame the German champions for a second time in two weeks, and are promising to attack despite a string of injuries.