Dinamo Bucharest sent Everton crashing with a 5-1 defeat in the first leg of their UEFA Cup first round tie.
Holders Real Madrid will start their attempt to win a record third straight Champions League title in a group with Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur and Apoel Nicosia after Thursday's draw.
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.
Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet saved an early penalty and James Milner's shot was deflected into his own net by Havard Nordtveit for the English Premier League side's second goal in an end-to-end match.
Coach Jose Mourinho believes playing on an artificial pitch will be like child's play for his Inter Milan team as they look to knock out CSKA Moscow in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic maintained his perfect tournament record and advanced to his fifth China Open final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Andy Murray on Saturday.
CSKA Moscow winger Yuri Zhirkov has been voted Russia's Player of the Year for the first time in a nationwide poll conducted by the country's Football Association. The 25-year-old beat Zenit St Petersburg playmaker Andrei Arshavin, one of the outstanding players at Euro 2008 where the Russians reached the semi-finals for the first time in 20 years.
Holders FC Barcelona have been placed in Group E, along with Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma, Dinamo Zagreb.
Images from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday
Harry Kane netted his 200th goal for Tottenham Hotspur as they won 3-1 at Ludogorets and AC Milan's 24-match unbeaten run ended
European football's governing body UEFA is reportedly seeking an internal inquiry on why UEFA guidelines on dealing with racism in football were not followed during Wednesday''s Champions League game between ManchesterCity and CSKA Moscow.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Real Madrid's miserable run of results continued as they slid to a shock 1-0 La Liga defeat at Alaves by conceding a goal deep in stoppage time on Saturday, marking their longest run without scoring in over 33 years.
Up to 50 of Chelsea fans possessing tickets were stopped from entering the ground for Tuesday's Champions League game at CSKA Moscow.
Real Madrid failed to win their Champions League group for the first time in four years when a late goal by substitute Marco Reus allowed Borussia Dortmund to equalise and clinch a 2-2 draw.
Black players could boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia if the country does not tackle racism in the stands, ManchesterCity's Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure was quoted as saying on Friday.
Holders Real Madrid were sensationally knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday after being thrashed 4-1 at home by an outstanding Ajax Amsterdam who overturned a first-leg deficit to reach the quarter-finals 5-3 on aggregate.
Manchester United were given a troublesome tie against Club Bruges in the draw for the Champions League playoff round on Friday, although it could have been worse as they avoided Lazio, CSKA Moscow or Monaco.
Levski Sofia fans force players to remove shirts after derby defeat
Seven-times champions AC Milan, knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona in the last two seasons, were drawn against the Catalans again in the group stage of this season's competition on Friday.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini will be back in the dugout after returning from suspension when City attempt to kick-start their Champions League campaign against a rampant, in-form AS Roma at the Etihad on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick for Real Madrid illuminated an opening night goals bonanza as the leading contenders began the Champions League group stage with a bang on Tuesday.
Photos from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Spanish champions Barcelona have exercised the buy-back clause to re-sign midfielder Denis Suarez from Villarreal, the Catalan club announced on Monday.
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.
Edinson Cavani scored early for Paris St Germain but a series of wasted chances came back to haunt them as Ajax Amsterdam equalised late to deny the French a winning start on the road in a 1-1 draw in Champions League Group F on Wednesday.
Rediff.com brings you some of the highlights from the sporting events held last week...
Zenit St. Petersburg, led by Portuguese coach Andre Villas-Boas, won the Russian Premier League title.
Bayern Munich carved out a 1-0 win at CSKA Moscow on Tuesday thanks to Thomas Mueller's first-half penalty in the strangely muted atmosphere of a cold, damp and deserted Khimki Arena.
Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic crowned a triumphant homecoming with a second-half goal as Paris St Germain crushed Malmo 5-0 on Wednesday to book a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
The Champions League group stages took on a less predictable look after Thursday's draw, helped by UEFA's decision to tweak the seeding system.
Needing victory over last year's runners-up, Basel battled to a 2-1 win to jump ahead of United into second place in Group C and send the English champions into the Europa League. City, running riot at the top of the Premier League, beat already-qualified Bayern Munich 2-0 in their final Group A match but it proved in vain for the competition's newcomers as Napoli won 2-0 at Villarreal to grab second place.
Surprise package FC Basel will be the only reigning domestic champions in action in the Champions League this week as they host Bayern Munich in the first leg of the round of 16.
Germany's Bundesliga is set to be given the green light for a restart, probably from May 15, as part of measures to further ease the country's coronavirus regulations, two people familiar with the preparations told Reuters. The Bundesliga would be the first of the five major European domestic soccer leagues to resume play after a stoppage which has seen almost all football put on hold around the world since mid-March.
Liverpool scored three goals in 12 dramatic first-half minutes, two of them from Emre Can, on their way to a hugely entertaining 4-2 win over Hoffenheim which took them back to the Champions League group stage after a two-season absence on Wednesday.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League last 16 first leg matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Belgian league leaders Antwerp secured a shock 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan extended their unbeaten run to 23 games as they won 3-0 against Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday, while Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 win over Dundalk.
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