Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will resume their perennial battle to be crowned the world's best footballer after they headed the shortlist of 30 players for the 2016 Ballon d'Or announced on Monday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Daniel Sturridge led Liverpool to a great win over Swansea while Gareth Bale helped Real Madrid to go top of the La Liga table, after shock defeats of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, with a 3-0 win over Elche at the weekend. Chelsea clung to top place in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Everton, while Bayern Munich opened a 19-point lead in the Bundesliga with their 14th successive league win while closest rivals Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund lost. Rediff.com brings you a glance of the footballers of the weekend.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted to feeling frustrated after his side missed out on top spot in their Champions League group and an easier draw in the knockout stages.
Napoli suffered an agonising exit from the Champions League after beating Premier League leaders Arsenal 2-0 on Wednesday.
Manchester City marched into the quarter-finals of the Champions League
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A round-up of Saturday's matches in Ligue 1, Serie A and Bundesliga.
Lionel Messi stole Cristiano Ronaldo's thunder again by plundering yet another hat-trick for Barcelona and Basel ruined Jose Mourinho's Champions League return with a shock win at Chelsea.
If Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, soccer's most expensive duo, can produce the brilliance that prompted Real Madrid to invest $260 million in, the Spanish giants could finally land their 10th European Cup this season.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Neuer made the squad despite playing in just one official game, a friendly against Austria on Friday, since breaking a bone in his foot in September but talented 22-year-old Sane was the biggest name to miss out.
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho saluted the passion of the Galatasaray fans on Tuesday after his team scrambled past the Turkish side into the Champions League semi-finals.
Paris St Germain extended their Ligue 1 lead to 13 points with a 4-3 home victory against Girondins de Bordeaux on Sunday but the French champions were again exposed at the back and had Neymar sent off. A Marquinhos double, Edinson Cavani's 200th PSG goal and a goal by Kylian Mbappe put the capital side on 65 points from 26 games but they lost captain Thiago Silva to a muscle injury and Neymar picked up a straight red card for a late challenge in stoppage time.
Japan head coach Akira Nishino named an experienced final 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia on Thursday.
Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, failing to make it past the group stage of the competition for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Germany and Turkey were the only candidates to stage the 24-team tournament.
Paris St Germain's second-string side were held to a 4-4 draw at struggling Amiens after erasing a three-goal deficit only to concede a stoppage time-equaliser in Ligue 1 on Saturday. The result left PSG 13 points clear of second-placed Olympique de Marseille after manager Thomas Tuchel rested several regular starters ahead of Tuesday's first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with Borussia Dortmund.
Barcelona lost for the second straight La Liga game in a 1-0 home reverse against Celta Vigo but there was no such trouble for Manchester City, who beat 10-man Manchester United 1-0 thanks to Sergio Aguero.
Lightning struck twice for Marc-Andre ter Stegen on Saturday when the Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper scored a bizarre own goal in a 1-1 draw at Eintracht Braunschweig and his opposite number also put through his own net.
The Champions League is set for some much-needed drama this week with the conclusion of a group stage which has been all too predictable and produced an embarrassing procession of one-sided matches.
The Indian ace drew with GM Peter Leko of Hungary in the first game of the semi-final in the Dortmund Sparkassen chess tournament.
Real Madrid's world record signing Gareth Bale scored on his debut in Spain, while Arsenal's new recruit Mesut Ozil also lived up to expectations in his first appearance in England's Premier League.
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.
Paris St German threatened action against Joey Barton on Wednesday after the Olympique Marseille midfielder likened Brazilian defender Thiago Silva to a transsexual and called him an 'overweight ladyboy'.
'It was a great atmosphere, I am so pleased for all of the people who have had harder times with us this season'
A five-point lead at the top of the Premier League should have been enough to put a smile on Arsene Wenger's face, yet it was the convincing manner of Saturday's 2-0 victory over Liverpool that most pleased the Arsenal manager.
A five-point lead at the top of the Premier League should have been enough to put a smile on Arsene Wenger's face, yet it was the convincing manner of Saturday's 2-0 victory over Liverpool that most pleased the Arsenal manager.
The title credentials of leaders Arsenal and third-placed Liverpool will come under scrutiny when they meet in a heavyweight Premier League clash on Saturday.
Kevin Volland ties record for fastest Bundesliga goal.
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.
Brazilian Kaka looked a player reborn while producing a superb display in AC Milan's 1-1 Champions League draw with Barcelona on Tuesday.
When Bayern Munich take on Borussia Dortmund in the first all-German Champions League final on Saturday, it will not only be a clash of footballing cultures but also a showdown of two different coaching styles.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The Indian ace beat Peter Svidler in the second round of the Sparkassen Dortmund Super Grandmasters chess championships.
Champions Bayern Munich lifted their 22nd Bundesliga trophy on Saturday after a comfortable 3-0 over Augsburg as they prepare for the all-German Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund in two weeks.
Treble winners Bayern Munich demolished Schalke 04 4-0 with a stellar performance on Saturday to join Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table after they drew 1-1 at Nuremberg.
Arsenal's dramatic 2-1 Champions League win against Anderlecht on Wednesday rescued three valuable points but the victory only served to paper over the ever-widening cracks.
Arsenal completed the signing of Lehmann from Borussia Dortmund to fill the breach left by David Seaman.
Brazil (Selecao) might be the most loved -- and most successful -- football team across the globe, but the Germans (Die Mannshaft), says Bikash Mohapatra, are easily the most consistent in the history of football.
