Late Griezmann strike ends Atletico's away day hoodoo
Rediff.com brings you some of the highlights from the sporting events held last week...
Lionel Messi's seemingly endless love affair with the Champions League continued with another virtuoso two-goal performance on Wednesday for Barcelona.
'The pandemic has caused football to change a lot, and for the worse. You can see it in the matches, and I hope this all ends soon and we can get fans back into the stadiums and return to normality.'
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
The rest of Barcelona's squad will have to do "a little bit more" to make up for the absence of five-times World Player of the Year Lionel Messi for the next three weeks, according to captain Andres Iniesta.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was back in training on Monday five days before the La Liga leaders play at second-placed Real Madrid in the first of the season's two Clasicos.
The Barcelona striker's clever, low free kick helped Uruguay to beat hosts Russia 3-0 on Monday and to clinch top spot in Group A with three straight wins.
The Euro 2020 Championship is being held across Europe for the first time in the competition's 60-year history, with 11 host cities in total.
The Argentina captain turns 31 in a few days and may be playing his last World Cup. He would need to win it to rival fellow great Diego Maradona for the eternal love of his compatriots.
Chelsea beat Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties on Thursday to set up an all-English Europa League final with local rivals Arsenal in Baku on May 29.
Barcelona battled back from a goal down and scored twice in the second half to overcome hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 in their Champions League Group C match on Wednesday despite the absence of the injured Lionel Messi.
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has joined other managers in lashing out at the packed European football calendar after deciding to rest Lionel Messi for Tuesday's Champions League trip to Dynamo Kyiv.
A summary of Tuesday night's matches in the UEFA champions League.
Barcelona's players reacted calmly to Wednesday's surprise 2-1 Champions League reverse at Celtic when the favourites squandered a chance to qualify from Group G with two games to spare.
The group stage of the Champions League starts this week with a number of new teams, but more familiar names are set to dominate European soccer's top club competition once again. Champions Barcelona, their big-spending Spanish rivals Real Madrid and England's quartet of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are all odds-on with the bookmakers to win their groups outright.
'We created so many chances and simply weren't effective with them. In fact we created a rainbow of different chances and there are just some days when the ball refuses to go in.'
Paris St Germain's then sports director Leonardo declared the club were ready for tougher competitions in Europe two years ago but Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final exit suggests PSG need more time to reach the top.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Real Madrid forwards Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema struck to give their side a 2-0 win at home to Eibar in La Liga
Photos of the World Cup match between Cameroon and Brazil being played in Brasilia
Coach Pep Guardiola was left thrilled after ManchesterCity revived their Champions League bid by beating his old club Barcelona 3-1 in a gloriously open Group C encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
Manchester United have deposed Real Madrid as the world's richest soccer club after revenue grew to a record $735 million in 2015-16, according to Deloitte's annual Money League published on Thursday.
Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has eased Real Madrid's injury concerns and could be fit to play in their Champions League match at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, coach Zinedine Zidane said.
The Portuguese can expect a hostile reception in Valencia, who had to suffer 15 of his goals for Real Madrid and are returning to the Champions League for the first time in three years.
A summary of Wednesday's group matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Inter Milan marched into the Champions League knockout stage after fortunate second-half goals from strikers Julio Cruz and Zlatan Ibrahimovic set up a 3-0 home win over Fenerbahce on Tuesday.
With just a few days to go to the World Cup, Argentina are not considered favourites as they struggled through qualifying for the prestigious tournament.
Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks the very best players from what has been an outstanding tournament.
Playing without crowd will be peculiar: Suarez
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Kylian Mbappe believes Les Bleus have what it takes to win the title in Russia if they all stick together.
Lionel Messi scored a penalty for the third Champions League game in a row with the Spaniards maintaining their winning start to the group stage.
Spartak Moscow will be without leading strikers Emmanuel Emenike and Welliton for Wednesday's Champions League Group G match at Benfica, the Russian club said on Tuesday.
Spanish teams have ruled with an iron fist in Europe for the last few years but a disappointing round of results in the Champions League has left the media wondering if this dominant era might be grinding to a halt.
Serge Gnabry scored twice as Bayern Munich beat Chelsea 3-0, while Antoine Griezmann's second-half equaliser handed Barcelona a vital away goal and earned them a 1-1 draw at Napoli in their Champions League last 16, first leg on Tuesday.
European champions Inter Milan will play Bayern Munich in a repeat of last season's final following the draw for the first knockout round of the Champions League on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona forward Pedro has damaged a calf muscle while away on international duty and will be out of action for 10 days, the La Liga leaders said in a statement on Wednesday.
