Lionel Messi scored and grabbed two assists as La Liga leaders Barcelona eased to a 4-0 win away to struggling Real Mallorca on Saturday, making the perfect return to action after Spanish football's three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The win takes Barca on to 61 points after 28 games, five clear of nearest challengers Real Madrid, who host Eibar on Sunday in their first game back.
IMAGES from football matches played across leagues in Europe on Sunday.
Real Madrid dug deep in a 3-0 home win against lowly Alaves in the La Liga, but Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain their second Ligue 1 loss of the season.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
A much-changed Brazil failed to win for the first time in 11 games but still qualified top in Group B for the quarter-finals of the Copa America on Sunday after drawing 1-1 with Ecuador in Goiania.
Saturday's draw left Spain third in Group E with two points and needing a win against Slovakia on Wednesday to guarantee their place in the next round of Euro 2020.
Jubilant fans thronged central Belgrade, bringing traffic at the main Republic Square to a halt as they waved Serbian flags and hooted their car horns.
Atalanta, who had a fairtytale run, making it to the quarter-finals of Europe's top club competition, were looking good to progress when Mario Pasalic scored the opening goal in the 26th minute to hand the Italians a one-goal lead.
Rediff.com brings you a quick flashback of the Round of 16 matches at the World Cup through these stunning captures!
The season kick backs into action with a local derby between Sevilla and Real Betis on June 11 and there will be fixtures for the following seven days, with Barca hosting Leganes on June 16
A summary of Thursday's matches in the Europa League.
Quaison fires Sweden to extra-time World Cup playoff win over Czechs
Images from the FIFA World Cup group fixtures between Costa Rica and Uruguay and Colombia and Greece.
The suspension of soccer leagues across Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic will see overall player value drop by 6.6 billion euros ($7.5 billion), or about 18%, in the transfer market, KPMG's global head of sports Andrea Sartori said. The majority of leagues have resumed or are in the process of restarting their seasons behind closed doors before the transfer window reopens, with clubs still reeling from the financial impact of the months-long shutdown.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck the quickest hat-trick of his career on his way to netting five goals in Real Madrid's 9-1 drubbing of second-from-bottom Granada on Sunday which took Real to within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Two late goals helped 1998 champions France end Nigeria's hopes of a first World Cup quarter-final appearance in a rough second-round match in Brasilia.
Images from the football World Cup match between Colombia and Ivory Coast.
Shrugging off two contentious off-side calls in the first half, a tenacious Mexico rode on Oribe Peralta's solitary second half strike to beat Cameroon 1-0 in a Group A match in Natal.
A summary of Thursday's South American World Cup qualifiers.
Valencia forward Carlos Soler scored a hat-trick of penalties as his side beat La Liga champions Real Madrid 4-1 at home in an extraordinary match on Sunday.
Super sub Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting struck the stoppage-time winner.
Images and a round-up of all the World Cup qualifiers played across continents on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Bolivia beat Venezuela 3-1 at home and Uruguay and Paraguay drew 0-0 in Montevideo.
Brazil's preparations for the 2014 World Cup suffered a setback after immediate suspension of construction at a host venue was ordered by a judge due to safety concerns.
World and European champions Spain overcame Italy 7-6 in a penalty shootout after surviving an energy-draining Confederations Cup semi-final that ended goalless after two hours in sapping heat and humidity on Thursday.
Four years after his miss in a penalty shootout sent Argentina spinning out of the Copa America, Carlos Tevez slammed home the winning spot kick against Colombia to book his country's place in this year's semi-finals.
Images from football matches played in the Italian Serie A and the La Liga on Friday.
The Confederations Cup in Brazil has been met with a lot of protests over the last four days, but the fans of the beautiful game are still thronging the stadiums in numbers. Right from their fancy attire to their creative placards, the excitement among supporters is palpable. Rediff.com gives you a quick glance through the action in the stands.
Images from La Liga and German Cup matches played on the weekend.
'Porto are a really, really good football team. We have to play at our limit 100 percent'
There was something appropriate in the way that Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich celebrated his team's Champions League triumph over Paris St Germain on Sunday. More than 90 minutes after the final whistle had blown on the 1-0 victory, Kimmich sat in the centre circle, in front of 65,000 empty seats at the Estadio da Luz, banging on a drum.
For the first time since 1998, the Champions League final will feature two teams who entered the competition as domestic champions, a throwback to the day's of the old European Cup when only a country's title winners were allowed to enter.
The home side spurned two chances to extend their advantage before the break but Barca levelled in the 52nd minute when Luis Suarez glanced in Lionel Messi's free kick.
Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks the five best matches of the final round.
Rediff.com brings you some of the highlights from the sporting events held last week...
Images from Saturday's Nations League group matches.
A round-up of Saturday's action in Serie A, La Liga and Bundesliga.
Barca looked set for a third consecutive league draw as they created scant opportunities but they were presented with the advantage of an extra man when Villarreal midfielder Daniel Raba was given a straight red card for a wild, studs-up challenge on Sergio Busquets on the hour mark.
Real Madrid have reluctantly agreed to play their La Liga match at Rayo Vallecano at 1745 GMT on Monday, a day after the game was abandoned because of alleged lighting sabotage at Rayo's Estadio de Vallecas stadium.
Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this eye-catching photo feature.
