News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
RB Leipzig's Timo Werner scored a hat-trick as they demolished hosts Mainz 5-0 on Sunday to reclaim third place in the Bundesliga with an emphatic victory after three straight draws. Schalke 04 slumped to a shock 3-0 home defeat by relegation-threatened Augsburg on Sunday, their fourth defeat in five games dropping them to eighth place in the Bundesliga.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Barcelona continued their rampant run of domestic form to beat Osasuna 2-0 away from home on Saturday and move to within two points of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, with Lionel Messi setting up goals scored by Jordi Alba and teenager Ilaix Moriba.
In-form Borussia Moenchengladbach struck three times in 14 minutes in the second half to floor champions Bayern Munich 3-1 on Saturday and inflict their first Bundesliga defeat of the season.
Former Borussia Dortmund manager Juergen Klopp is expected at Anfield on Thursday as the German edges closer to becoming Brendan Rodgers' successor at Liverpool.
Former European champions Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic, who both suffered the indignity of being knocked of the Champions League qualifiers by underdogs this season, will meet in the Europa Leagueafter being drawn together in the group stage on Friday.
Rediff.com brings these and other big news from the sporting world, encapsulated in this photo feature...
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.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan will face Arsenal in the standout last-16 tie in the Europa League after the draw was made in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday.
Juventus scored twice in a minute as they came from behind to clinch a dramatic 3-2 win over Olympiakos after Andrea Pirlo had celebrated his 100th Champions League appearance by scoring from a characteristically effortless free kick on Tuesday.
Ajax wary of attacking Napoli.
Barcelona's fourth defeat of the season left them seventh in the standings on 14 points after 10 games, 12 points behind leaders Atletico.
Schalke 04 striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar could not have dreamt of a better comeback after five months out when he scored the opening goal in his side's 3-0 victory at Hamburg SV on Sunday.
Bayern Munich's party was wrecked by Borussia Moenchengladbach who hit back for a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, forcing the Bavarians to wait at least a week to clinch a fourth straight Bundesliga title.
Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was named African Footballer of the Year on Thursday, narrowly edging out Yaya Toure at the Confederation of African Football award ceremony.
The new managers of Manchester United and Manchester City will face an early confrontation when the teams meet in a friendly in Beijing on July 25. Jose Mourinho, officially confirmed as United boss on Friday, and old adversary Pep Guardiola, who is replacing Manuel Pellegrini at City, will renew hostilities in the pre-season International Champions Cup. There was little love lost between the pair when Mourinho was in charge at Real Madrid and Guardiola led Barcelona. The rivalry is likely to be just as fierce when United attempt to make up ground on their neighbours, who have finished above them in the Premier League for the past three seasons.
After seeing Cristiano Ronaldo pick up a fifth Ballon d'Or on Thursday, Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane described the Portuguese forward as the greatest player ever.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Bundesliga teams will be allowed up to five substitutions per match when it restarts on Saturday after the coronavirus stoppage, while teams will be relegated provided the season is completed, the German Football League (DFL) said on Thursday. Short-term venue changes will also be permitted if health reasons dictate such a need and the season will continue beyond its re-scheduled finish date of June 30 and into July if necessary, the DFL said following a general assembly.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Holders Bayern Munich eased past CSKA Moscow 3-1 on Wednesday to set a Champions League record with their 10th straight victory and underline their ambitions to become the first team to successfully defend the title.
Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola has apologised for putting some of his Premier League counterparts under pressure by publicly announcing an intention to trade Germany for England at the end of the season.
Cristiano Ronaldo finally became the highest scorer in Real Madrid's history while Bayern Munich set a record for the greatest number of successive wins at the start of a season in the Bundesliga this weekend.
Southampton's 15 million pound ($19.19 million) purchase of Lazio centre back Wesley Hoedt brought the overall spend by England's 20 elite clubs to a record 1.184.9 billion pounds.
Unbeaten Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich opened up an 11-point gap at the top after goals from Thomas Mueller and Kingsley Coman eased them past Hertha Berlin 2-0 on Saturday, their 13th win in 14 league games.
'There is no price limit to let him go or a price that we are ready to give in'
RB Leipzig scored twice in the opening 13 minutes but had to survive a late comeback from Manchester United to cling on to a 3-2 win on Tuesday that sent them into the Champions League knockout stage and eliminated the English side.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Former Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who recently joined Australian A-League club Central Coast Mariners to pursue his dream of playing football, has said that his touch in the game is getting better and he feels like he is steadily improving in football.
Bayern Munich slumped to a shock 4-1 loss at Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Sunday. The defeat ended their 32-match unbeaten run in all competitions stretching back to last year.
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.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta continues rebuilding the side around goal machine Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and younger talents like Bukayo Saka.
Runaway leaders Bayern Munich survived a torrid opening against Nuremberg, who hit the bar and had two players carried off injured in the first half hour, before hitting back for a 2-0 win in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
'Cultural diversity, we all thought it was cool around the (Germany-hosted) 2006 World Cup... now two guys are seduced by politically intelligent people to have a photo, and then have relatively few opportunities to say what they want 100 percent right'
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 750th goal of his remarkable career in a 3-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday
Five-times European champions Barca, with their trident of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar subdued, have not exited in the last 16 since going out to Liverpool in the 2006/07 season and the score equalled their worst Champions league loss.
An early Mohamed Salah penalty and a late strike by Divock Origi gave Liverpool a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday's all-English Champions League final
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.