Given the improvements at Chelsea and Arsenal, it will still be a significant achievement for United to secure a top four finish and in the Champions League, a decent run in the knockout stages would also be a sign of progress.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Arsenal will have another chance to beat Bayern Munich in a Champions League knockout tie after the sides were paired in the round of 16 following Monday's draw. The teams met in the knockout stages in 2005, 2013 and 2014 with the German champions winning on all three occasions. Bayern, who finished as runners-up in their group, will host the first leg.
Celta Vigo thrashed Barcelona 4-1 on Wednesday with Iago Aspas hitting a double.
Former Manchester United player Paul Scholes has questioned whether the club should pay a world-record fee for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, saying the 23-year-old is not in the same bracket as the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
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.
Robert Lewandowski struck twice to steer champions Bayern Munich to a 2-1 win at Hamburg SV on Friday that stretched their lead at the top to 11 points as the Bundesliga resumed following a one-month winter break.
Arsenal have signed forward Nicolas Pepe from French club Lille for a club-record fee, the Premier League side said on Thursday.
Apex football body FIFA and the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which set the rules, have issued new guidelines ahead of the restart of the Bundesliga.
Kingsley Coman scored one goal and set up another as Bayern Munich came from a goal behind to beat VfB Stuttgart 3-1 on Saturday and defend their top spot in the Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich players were out in force celebrating their domestic double after Pep Guardiola's team clinched the German Cup.
A summary of Thursday night's UEFA Champions League matches.
Leicester City suffered a frustrating night on the south coast as they were held to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League
Poland's Robert Lewandowski has chalked up so many big-game landmarks during his club career that the 27-year-old seems overdue a major tournament performance with his country.
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.
Images from the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club in London on Sunday.
Inter Milan face Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and PSV Eindhoven in Group B which features three former European champions.
Liverpool's new manager Juergen Klopp promised to bring 'full throttle' football with a 'big heart' to Anfield in his first comments since the German was unveiled as the Merseyside's club new manager on Thursday night.
Barcelona flirted with a shock Champions League exit before moving into the semi-finals with an away-goals victory over Paris St Germain while Bayern Munich completed a comfortable aggregate win over Juventus on Wednesday.
Apart from when German clubs are in town, Arsenal's Emirates Stadium has been a fortress in the Champions League and manager Arsene Wenger says that must continue if his side are to continue their run of reaching the last 16.
Liverpool have signed Borussia Dortmund's Switzerland defender Philipp Degen.
In the other pairings, English champions Manchester United will take on Greek club Olympiakos, while AC Milan take on Atletico Madrid.
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Premier League title race looks poised to be one of the most thrilling in years.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp is not about to change his team's trademark style against Champions League quarter-final opponent
Barcelona first struggled to come to terms with their shock 4-0 defeat to Paris St Germain in the Champions League last 16 first leg but have sparkled in their last two games and are daring to believe they can defy history by reaching the quarter-finals.
Champions Bayern Munich eased past hosts Fortuna Duesseldorf 4-1 on Sunday with winger Kingsley Coman scoring twice, to go a point clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
VfL Wolfsburg ended Arminia Bielefeld's sensational German Cup run, crushing the third division club 4-0 on Wednesday to book a spot in their first Cup final in 20 years where they will face Borussia Dortmund.
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.
Bayer Leverkusen beat a second-string Bayern Munich 2-0 on Saturday to move up to third in the Bundesliga and get back on course for an automatic Champions League spot with three matches left in the season.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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.
Rediff.com brings these and other big news from the sporting world, encapsulated in this photo feature...
Liverpool's players oozed confidence in the post-Luis Suarez era as they began their final countdown to the start of the Premier League season.
Italian Luca Toni struck twice to earn Bayern Munich a 2-1 extra-time win over Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup final on Saturday. The victory gave the Bavarians a record 14th win in the competition and set up a likely domestic double.
Here we bring you all the sporting action from last week in this stunning photo feature.
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Substitute Mario Goetze led Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich on a second-half four-goal rampage after midtable Mainz 05 had the temerity to take a halftime lead at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
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.
Both players opted for safety and split the point in the opening round of the Dortmund chess meet.
