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
Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were the major winners following the resumption of European soccer's big leagues in the wake of the novel coronavirus shutdown but some clubs may wish the season had been declared null and void. Bundesliga champion Bayern were the only club across the continent to post a 100% record since the restart, winning all nine of their games, scoring 27 goals in the process.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Inter Milan have been fined 50,000 euros after fans racially abused their former player Mario Balotelli in Sunday's city derby with AC Milan, Serie A said in a statement on Tuesday.
Marco Materazzi shook Zinedine Zidane's hand last month for the first time since the Frenchman's infamous headbutt on him in the 2006 World Cup final, the Italian said on Thursday.
The FIFA 2022 World Cup will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday, November 20. Here is a list of the 26-man squads playing in the quadrennial global football extravaganza.
Fabio Capello has signed a new four-year contract to extend his stay as Russia coach until after the end the 2018 World Cup, the Russian Football Union said on Friday.
In the other pairings, English champions Manchester United will take on Greek club Olympiakos, while AC Milan take on Atletico Madrid.
Real Madrid and AC Milan led a procession of six teams into the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday while big-spending Manchester City failed again on the European stage to further dent English soccer's standing.
Cagliari announced the dismissal of coach Leonardo Semplici on Tuesday, hours after Hellas Verona sacked Eusebio Di Francesco three games into the Serie A season.
Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti said his team would walk off the pitch if there was a repeat, leading to a debate as to whether teams should take the law into their own hands.
AS Roma have been fined 50,000 euros for racist behaviour by fans in Sunday's Serie A match at AC Milan, a game interrupted by the referee early in the second half.
Napoli qualified for the Champions League group stage by winning 3-0 at Bologna on Wednesday and two goals from Mario Balotelli kept AC Milan on course for the qualifying round with a 4-0 victory at Pescara.
Spain's big two face a pair of Italian giants in the Champions League this week, boasting 22 European Cups between them, as AC Milan aim to end a recent bad record against Barcelona and Juventus seek to peg back Real Madrid.
Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari put Ghana in the Champions League spotlight as they scored the goals which gave AC Milan a shock 2-0 win over Barcelona on Wednesday.
Be it at Inter Milan, Manchester City or AC Milan, striker Balotelli has grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons. This season, the striker walks the same, shameful road. The Italian's tryst with trouble continued when he was handed a three-match ban for his sending-off at the end of Sunday's 2-1 home defeat by Napoli. As Balotelli keeps jumping from one controversy to another, Rediff.com brings you a quick recap of episodes involving the 'indisciplined Italian'.
Inter Milan have been fined 15,000 euros after fans chanted racist slogans about their former striker Mario Balotelli during a Serie A match on Sunday.
The two teams have met eight times in the European Cup, with Real winning four times and Liverpool three.
Juventus midfielder Sami Khedira has been banned for two matches after being sent off in the derby against Torino for verbally abusing the referee.
After a week of controversy caused mainly by FIFA president Sepp Blatter's comments about racism, UEFA will hope that action on the pitch dominates this week's Champions League headlines as the group stage reaches crunch time.
Lionel Messi has often said personal accolades are secondary to the fortunes of the team and Barcelona's Argentina forward would probably swap all four of his World Player of the Year awards for a comeback success against AC Milan on Tuesday.
Inter Milan's Marco Materazzi was let off with a warning for wearing a mask of Italian Premier and AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi after Sunday's city derby, the Italian Soccer League said on Tuesday.
Struggling Inter Milan are praying their penalty curse does not strike again when they face Serie A leaders Juventus on Saturday.
Barcelona's Champions League match at AC Milan on Wednesday will be a poignant affair for interim coach Jordi Roura as he returns to the stadium where he suffered an injury that ultimately forced him to end his career.
Mario Balotelli's troubles have followed him back to Italy after media reports on Thursday said the AC Milan striker was fined by police following a row over his parked car at a city airport.
European champions Inter Milan will rewrite the record books and claim a place among the greats if they retain the Champions League trophy this season.
Napoli jumped to second place in Serie A thanks to a laboured 1-0 win at lowly Cagliari while fellow title hopefuls Inter Milan suffered a 1-0 defeat at Parma in Monday's late game.
Italy striker Mario Balotelli is all set to tie the knot with his girlfriend, Fanny Neguesha after proposing her in Manus.
Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker could be sidelined for a month with an ankle injury, manager Arsene Wenger said on the eve of Wednesday's Champions League game at AC Milan.
Carlos Tevez could stay at Manchester City until the end of the season even though he has not kicked a ball for them since September and is unlikely ever to do so again.
Alessandro Florenzi ran more than half the length of the field to score and cap a 2-0 win for AS Roma over Genoa which took them back into second place in Serie A on Sunday.
Juventus scored three goals in the opening 19 minutes to destroy AS Roma 4-1 and move three points clear in Serie A on Saturday.
Real Madrid and Barcelona were made to work hard before grinding out wins in La Liga at the weekend while Inter Milan scored a surprise derby victory over AC Milan in Serie A.
Serie A leaders Inter Milan failed to capitalise on the draw between closest rivals AC Milan and AS Roma when they were held 0-0 by Genoa at the San Siro on Sunday.
Xavi produced a goal of surgical precision to give Barcelona a 3-2 win over AC Milan on Wednesday in an enthralling Champions League match which also featured Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring against the Catalan club he left acrimoniously last year.
Under pressure AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti will not throw in the towel on the Serie A title despite trailing leaders Inter Milan by 11 points.
Juventus striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss his club's title showdown with AC Milan next month.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Inter Milan were confirmed as 2006 Serie A champions on Monday after Italy's football federation (FIGC) said it did not have the authority to revoke the decision which stripped Juventus of the title.
Ancelotti replaces Zinedine Zidane, who left Real last month.
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