A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Barcelona extended their winning start to their title defence to six games when Neymar scored his debut La Liga goal and Lionel Messi netted his seventh of the season in an entertaining 4-1 victory at home to Real Sociedad on Tuesday.
Real must beat Athletic Bilbao in their concluding league match to emerge Spanish champs. \n\n
Barcelona have been 'harmed' by this week's La Liga fixture schedule, coach Ernesto Valverde said on Wednesday.
Unbeaten leaders Barcelona extended their near-perfect start but again suffered the defensive lapses that have plagued them this season when Lionel Messi netted twice in a 4-2 La Liga win at Real Mallorca on Sunday.
The new head coach of Spain's national team needed to be a person of strong character, President of Spain's Football Federation Luis Rubiales said during a press conference.
Rodrigo Palacio snatched an 88th minute win for Inter Milan over Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League on Thursday while Lazio were on the wrong end of some late drama in a 1-1 draw at Panathinaikos.
Barcelona closed to within four points of Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga after the leaders lost 3-2 at home to Valencia.
Samuel Eto'o scored twice to give ambitious Anzhi Makhachkala a 2-0 Europa League win over Young Boys on Thursday while Liverpool lost 3-2 at home to Udinese and Videton, Sparta Prague and Molde pulled off surprise wins.
Real Madrid rested Cristiano Ronaldo and suffered a fifth Liga defeat of the season as Espanyol's Gerard Moreno struck late for a 1-0 win over the Spanish and European champions.
Europe's top club coaches gave their support on Thursday to the much-maligned Europa League.
Serie A champions Juventus continued their rebuilding when they signed forward Simone Zaza from Sassuolo for 18 million euros ($19.72 million), the Turin club said on their website (www.juventus.com) on Tuesday.
Rafa Benitez has been sacked as coach of Real Madrid, according to reports in the Spanish press. Sunday night's 2-2 draw with Valencia has proved to be the final straw for president Florentino Perez with the club likely to confirm the news soon. France legend Zinedine Zidane - the coach of Real Madrid's second team, Castilla - is expected to take over.
The former Real Madrid striker is expected to make his Liverpool debut in their lunchtime game against Manchester United at Anfield.
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
The fixtures for the group stages in the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League, which kicks-off on Wednesday.
Jenni Hermoso scored a late hat-trick as Barcelona hammered CD Tacon 9-1
Ronaldinho was in inspirational form as he returned to lead Barcelona to a 5-1 home victory over an unfortunate Real Betis in the Primera Liga on Saturday.
Former Real Madrid and Spain forward Raul has joined New York Cosmos for the 2015 season on a "multi-year" contract pending a medical, the North American Soccer League (NASL) club said on Thursday.
Mbappe becomes PSG's all-time highest goal-scorer as French champions extend lead
Manchester Utd's Fred receives racist abuse after defeat by Liverpool.
The Real Madrid striker will miss the club's King's Cup match against Athletic Bilbao
Following public comments from La Liga chief Javier Tebas, who said it was "not ideal" for the second El Clasico meeting between Real and Barca last season to be played with the latter having already won the league title, the two sides will face off earlier this campaign.
Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas will be out for three to four weeks after damaging a thigh muscle in the early stages of Sunday's 2-1 La Liga win at Real Betis.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will again be duelling for the title of world's best footballer after their names once again headed the shortlist on Thursday for The Best FIFA Men's Player.
Athletic Bilbao's bid for a berth in next season's Europa League stuttered when they lost 2-1 at Espanyol on Monday.
It was, possibly, the biggest takeaway from France's victory. They can win when Mbappe does not shine or score, and his reaction to Giroud's goal proved Deschamps's point when he said he did not need to manage the Paris St Germain forward's ego.
Trippier suspension temporarily halted by FIFA
Liverpool twice squandered the lead, trailed 3-2 and then scored three times in the last 25 minutes to win 5-3 at Young Boys in an enthralling but blunder-prone Europa League tie on Thursday.
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.
David Beckham will miss the tour opener in the United States as his club Real Madrid want him to continue despite picking up a ban.
Spain coach Luis Aragones could call up a replacement with Celta Vigo's Borja Oubina, Villarreal's Cani or Valencia's Jaime Gavilan among those pressing for a place.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has decided to rest Lionel Messi, Neymar and most of his regulars for the King's Cup last 16, second leg match at Elche later on Thursday.
Karim Benzema scored twice after the interval with a penalty and a header from a corner to give Santiago Solari's side a 3-1 lead, after Raphael Varane struck in the 34th minute to cancel out Anuar Tuhami's goal for Valladolid five minutes earlier.
Portugal midfielder Tiago has decided to retire from international soccer citing personal reasons, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said on Monday.
Fresh from propelling Barcelona to their fifth trophy of 2015, their prolific strikes are now seeking to break the Spanish record of goals in a calendar year when they play Real Betis on Wednesday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances