'You realise the fear when Barcelona could get knocked out. It would hurt UEFA a lot. I don't know what they have to do for someone to send one of them off'
Higuain had a disappointing Copa America tournament in July, scoring two goals during the competition and missing his spot kick as Argentina lost on penalties to Chile in the final.
Anthony Martial went from villain to hero as his second-half equaliser earned Manchester United a deserved point in a 1-1 draw against CSKA Moscow in Champions League Group B on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola will return to the Nou Camp in the Champions League group stage after his new club Manchester City were drawn against his former Barcelona team on Thursday. The two sides were drawn in Group C alongside Borussia Moenchengladbach and former European champions Celtic in one of the toughest of the eight sections. Spanish coach Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Barca, faced the Catalans when he was in charge of Bayern Munich two seasons ago and suffered a 5-3 defeat in the semi-finals.
Manchester United defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson has joined Wolves on a season-long loan, the Premier League club confirmed on Twitter.
Forty years on from his father's success, current Milan captain Paolo Maldini is 90 minutes away from holding up the Champions Cup, again on English soil.
Luka Modric pulled one back for Zinedine Zidane's shellshocked side with a brilliant strike from distance early in the second half before substitute Vinicius Jr reduced the deficit to one goal.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone, a month on from a second Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid in three years, has made it clear that his immediate future is with the Spanish club. The Argentine, who has been at Atletico since 2011 and is under contract for another four years, said after the loss on penalties to Real that he wanted to explore his options. But now he says he is only concentrating on making the team better. "I spoke in the heat of the moment," Simeone told reporters on Wednesday in Buenos Aires. "We Argentinians are like that. Others are not at fault for beating you, I learned that a long time ago.
Rattled by embarrassing domestic defeats, Chelsea looked jittery before Olivier Giroud settled their nerves with a close range tap-in shortly after halftime at StamfordBridge following good work by N'Golo Kante and Willian in the build-up.
'That was quite an empty period in this club with no evolution in areas that are important'
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday '
VfL Wolfsburg have completed the signing of talented winger Kevin de Bruyne from Chelsea with the Belgian agreeing to a five-year contract, the Bundesliga club said on Saturday.
'Before the start of the season I felt Manchester United will be a lot better this year and they were my tip for the title'
China can challenge for World Cup glory by 2026 , says Eriksson.
Neymar has been included in Paris St Germain's squad for Wednesday's Champions League game against Bayern Munich after recovering from a foot injury, coach Unai Emery said on Tuesday.
Liverpool failed to muster a single shot on target in a Champions League game for the first time since a 1-0 defeat to Benfica in February 2006.
Holders Sevilla swept into a second consecutive Europa League final.
European champions Real Madrid will face former champions Liverpool, FC Basel and debutants Ludogorets of Bulgaria following the draw for the group stage of the Champions league on Thursday.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri is expecting a "boring" match against AS Monaco in the Champions League on Tuesday, believing that both sides will adopt a cautious approach.
Morata, who had scored his first goal for the club in last week's 2-0 win over Villarreal, rose to head home from close range on the half-hour mark following a corner which had been flicked on by Atleti captain Diego Godin.
Rediff.com gives you a glimpse of the best sporting action from the week gone by.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field on Friday
A list of some of sport's greatest comebacks after Tiger Woods ended an 11-year major championship drought with victory at The Masters on Sunday.
Parma, joint bottom of Serie A alongside Cesena, have signed Uruguay midfielder Cristian Rodriguez and Portugal forward Silvestre Varela, both on loan, the club said on Tuesday.
Instead, Allegri said on Monday, he would throw on all his best attacking players in an attempt to outscore his opponents in the first leg at the Juventus stadium.
Real Madrid were the big winners in Spain as their success at Almeria was followed by a Barcelona draw and a surprise Atletico Madrid defeat.
'We do have to examine new mechanisms like luxury taxes and in particular sporting criteria like squad limitations and fair transfer rules, to avoid player hoarding and excessive concentration of talent within a few teams' The last few years have seen the increasing dominance of a few elite clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
'I selected the team, I selected the strategy and I am as disappointed as the players, but the buck stops with me.'
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United smashed the British transfer record when they signed Argentina winger Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid for 59.7 million on Tuesday.
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
In Pep Guardiola's 100th match in charge of the Manchester club, captain De Bruyne led from the front as City outclassed the Gunners, who have now suffered six home games without a win. Images from the EPL matches played on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his first five-goal haul in Real Madrid's 9-1 hammering of Granada while title-chasing Bayern Munich and Chelsea won again in Germany and England.
Bayern Munich and Barcelona registered easy wins, while Manchester United came from behind to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 and Chelsea surrendered the top spot after a 1-1 at home against Atletico Madrid.
De Matos was appointed head coach in March this year and in a short span of time, he has tried to build a team ready to fight the best.
Argentina coach Gerardo Martino expects Lionel Messi to be fit for his team's second Copa America Centenario fixture this week -- even if he is satisfied that the two-time world champions are adjusting to life without their injured superstar.
Liverpool coach Juergen Klopp had praised Spanish clubs on the eve of the match, saying they had better scouting, coaches and player development than their English, German and Italian equivalents.
The challenge against champions Chlesea on Sunday is for Manchester United to show that they can replicate the confident and businesslike win that City showed a month ago.
A summary of Wednesday night's matches inthe UEFA Champions League.
Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski scored twice in a 3-0 victory over Schalke 04 on Saturday that edged them closer to a record fourth consecutive league title.