Champions League regulars Dynamo Kiev and Rangers suffered early exits in the qualifying rounds on Wednesday while Benfica safely survived their tie against Trabzonspor.
IMAGES from the Champions League quarter-final played between Barcelona and Bayern Munich in Lisbon on Friday.
Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery scored a sensational volley to lead the German champions to a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday that sent them eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with six matches left. Frenchman Ribery, who has missed most of the season due to injury, took off at the edge of the box and sent his mid-air volley past Lukas Hradecky in the 20th minute after the keeper had initially saved a shot from Mario Goetze. It was the 32-year-old's second goal of the campaign after being sidelined for eight months with an ankle problem and then suffering another injury that kept him out until last month. Bayern found no resistance from Eintracht and Xabi Alonso rattled the crossbar with a free kick early in the second half with the hosts enjoying close to 70 percent possession.
One of Europe's most expensive teenagers Renato Sanches has yet to nail down a starting spot with Portugal but the brawny midfielder is making his presence felt on the continent's biggest stage.
Modest Braga, who have never won a Portuguese league title, stunned five-times European champions Liverpool 1-0 with a first-half penalty in the Europa League on Thursday.
Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt headed a late goal to send the five-times European champions into the last 16 of the Europa League with a 1-0 victory over a defiant Sparta Prague at Anfield on Thursday.
Substitute Fredy Guarin gave former European champions Porto a late 2-1 Europa League win at Sevilla on Thursday while their old rivals Benfica beat VfB Stuttgart by the same score.
Brazil defender David Luiz is overjoyed to be back for a second spell at Chelsea after leaving Paris St Germain on transfer deadline day. The 29-year-old, who quit Stamford Bridge for Paris two years ago, has returned for a fee that media reports put at 34 million pounds ($45.09 million). Luiz won the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup in his three years at Chelsea after joining from Benfica in 2011.
The chinks in Inter Milan's armour were exposed again as Tottenham Hotspur beat the holders 3-1 in Champions League Group A and all three teams able to secure last-16 qualification flopped on Tuesday.
The chinks in Inter Milan's armour were exposed again as Tottenham Hotspur beat the holders 3-1 in Champions League Group A and all three teams able to secure last-16 qualification flopped on Tuesday. Like Inter, 2009 winners Barcelona only needed a win to go through with two games to spare but drew 1-1 at FC Copenhagen in Group D while Olympique Lyon's three-match winning streak came to a halt in an enthralling 4-3 defeat at Benfica in Group B.
Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches has been named as the Young Player of the Tournament at UEFA Euro 2016. The award winner - open to all players born on or after 1 January 1994 - was chosen by the UEFA's technical observers, which included legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Striker Luis Suarez scored one goal and missed two second-half penalties as Ajax Amsterdam beat nine-man FC Timisoara 2-1 in Romania on Wednesday to reach the knockout stage of the Europa League.
Five-times European champions Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat at Lille after a late goal by forward Eden Hazard while Juventus beat underdogs Fulham 3-1 in Europa League last 16 first leg matches on Thursday.
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid have signed Argentina midfielder Angel di Maria from Benfica on a six-year contract, the Spanish club said on their website on Monday. The 22-year-old, who has helped Argentina reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup in South Africa, is the first signing the club have made since Jose Mourinho replaced Manuel Pellegrini as coach last month.
Chelsea have completed the signing of Basel's Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah, the Premier League club said on their website on Sunday.
Greek Super League leaders Olympiakos Piraeus set a club record 17 successive league wins by beating Levadiakos 3-1 at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium on Sunday.
Five-time champions Brazil qualified for the World Cup finals on Saturday after beating arch-rivals Argentina 3-1. Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano scored twice after Benfica skipper Luisao opened the scoring for the Brazilians in a fast, hard-tackling match.
Fernando Torres will face his former club Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-finals after scoring twice to help Liverpool beat Benfica 4-1 at Anfield on Thursday.
Manchester City are ready to face the best players in Europe, striker Sergio Aguero said after a 3-2 aggregate Champions League quarter-final victory over Paris St Germain booked their place in the next round. Aguero missed a first-half penalty on Tuesday but Kevin De Bruyne's 76th-minute strike saved the Argentine's blushes as it ensured City beat PSG to qualify for the semi-finals of Europe's elite club competition for the first time. City will be joined by 10-times European champions Real Madrid and with Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Benfica all vying for places in the semi-finals, Aguero knows there is no easy route to win the Champions League. "At this point you cannot choose. To win the Champions League you have to play against the best and we were up against one of those, a favourite," Aguero told British media.
Ajax were joined by Young Boys, who stunned Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 away for a 3-2 aggregate win over the Croatians, and AEK Athens who scraped a 1-1 home draw with FC Vidi after a 2-1 win in the first leg in Hungary.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday
On a good night for English clubs in the Europa League, Manchester United hammered AZ Alkmaar 4-0, while Wolverhampton Wanderers also thrashed Besiktas 4-0 in Group K, and Arsenal came from two goals down to draw 2-2 away to Standard Liege and finish first in their pool. The upset of the night came in Group J as Crivelli scored a 90th-minute winner against Borussia Moenchengladbach to send Basaksehir through and knock the Germans out, with AS Roma grabbing the runner-up spot thanks to a 2-2 home draw with Wolfsberger as the Europa League group stage concluded on Thursday.
The 31-year-old is still recovering from the knee injury which forced him to limp out of the Euro 2016 final against France in the first half, coach Fernando Santos said.
Holders FC Barcelona have been placed in Group E, along with Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma, Dinamo Zagreb.
Top two teams in each group qualify for the first knockout round. Third placed team to play in the UEFA Cup.
India's football captain says Bob Houghton is the best coach he's played under.
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.
Injury-hit English clubs, Liverpool and Chelsea also open their European campaign on Tuesday.
The game at Huddersfield is the first meeting between the clubs since 1972 and the Yorkshire side have not won one since 20 years before that, in March 1952.
Manchester United and AS Roma will meet in the Champions League group stages.
Managerless Tottenham Hotspur face a long trip to Ukraine for a meeting with former boss Juande Ramos after being drawn against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the last 32 of the Europa League.
India have been drawn in Group A alongside USA, Colombia and Ghana. The hosts face USA on October 6, followed by Colombia and Ghana on October 9 and October 12 respectively at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
Lisandro Lopez gave leaders Porto a 1-0 victory over second-placed Maritimo to make it four wins from their first four games as they moved three points clear in the Portuguese Premier League on Saturday.
Favourites Barcelona will meet Benfica in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
A summary of all the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
The 21-year-old midfielder is likely to be Portugal's key player at the World Cup.
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.
Champions League favourites Barcelona face an all-Iberian derby with Benfica in the quarterfinal
