News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
The central defender has been without a club since leaving Championship (second-tier) side Aston Villa following their playoff defeat by Fulham at Wembley Stadium last season.
Up for sale and saddled with debt, a squad in need of an overhaul and a manager that splits the club and its supporters - Liverpool are a long way from their famous glory days.
No Dutch top-flight league soccer title will be awarded this season after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the campaign to a premature close, the Dutch FA (KNVB) said after a meeting with clubs and unions representing coaches and players on Friday. Ajax were top of the Eredivisie table with 56 points from 25 games, only ahead of AZ on goal difference, and both teams will now fill the Netherlands' qualifying places in UEFA's 2020-21 Champions League, Europe's elite club competition.
Real Madrid will be without forward pair Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, midfielder Toni Kroos and defender Pepe for Tuesday's UEFA Super Cup encounter with Sevilla in Trondheim, Norway.
Alessandro Del Piero, almost certainly playing his last home game for Juventus at the age of 37, celebrated with a goal as the Serie A champions beat Atalanta 3-1 on Sunday to finish their campaign unbeaten.
Lionel Messi scored one goal and created another as Champions League winners Barcelona lifted their fourth European Super Cup trophy Friday with a 2-0 victory over Porto, who finished with nine men.
Spain became the first country to have five teams in the Champions League group stage in one season after Valencia squeezed past Monaco .
Manchester United will be without midfielder Anderson for their Premier League run-in because of a hamstring injury, manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday.
Kevin de Bruyne struck twice to inspire Manchester City to a dominant 4-2 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday and move the champions level on points with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.
Ten-man Arsenal suffered a 3-0 Premier League defeat at Leicester City on Sunday in another blow to their hopes of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League.
Newcastle United continued their push for Europa League football next season when two excellent goals from Papiss Cisse and a superb strike from Hatem ben Arfa gave them a 3-1 win at West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Sunday.
Porto coach Andre Villas Boas moved a step closer to an expected move to Premier League giants Chelsea after resigning his post with the Portuguese and Europa League champions on Tuesday.
Liverpool have assured Rafa Benitez that his job is secure despite the club joining the Champions League also-rans.
Included in Barcelona squad to face Dortmund
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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.
Introducing goalline technology at soccer stadiums would prove a cheaper, as reliable aid to referees than UEFA's method of two additional assistants, according to manufacturers.
Liverpool and Juventus, forced into the indignity of beginning their season in the Europa League qualifying rounds, both won 2-0 away on Thursday as European club football ventured into deepest Siberia.
Michael Laudrup became the latest manager to fall victim to a jinx that has now claimed five of the last six men who led their clubs to victory in the League Cup final when the Dane parted company with Swansea City on Tuesday.
Marco Ruben's header put Villarreal up to third in La Liga with a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, after Valencia fell to a solitary Ivan Rakitic strike in a pulsating encounter with Sevilla.
Barcelona will meet Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-finals following the draw on Friday while Manchester City face Tottenham Hotspur in an all-Premier League clash.
Manchester City must rebuild for title challenge: Guardiola
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Arsenal has scored 10 goals in 11 league games this season to find themselves 15th in the Premier League
Jose Mourinho accused his Manchester United side of playing with the intensity of a summer friendly as their season suffered another setback with a 2-1 Europa League defeat at Fenerbahce on Thursday.
Villarreal secured their place in the Champions League qualifying round with a 2-0 win at local rivals Valencia on Sunday, guaranteeing fourth place in La Liga.
Ronaldo's moments of brilliance, however, are getting ever rarer. Even in the Europa League, where he has started all four matches against mediocre opponents such as Sheriff Tiraspol and Omonia Nicosia, he has only scored once, off a penalty.
Atletico Madrid gave new Inter Milan coach Rafa Benitez plenty to think about when they deservedly beat the Champions League winners 2-0 in the European Super Cup at the Stade Louis II in Monaco on Friday.
Soccer governing bodies FIFA and UEFA had decided together that all Russian teams, whether national or club sides, be suspended from participation in FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Tennis World No 1 and Real Mallorca shareholder Rafa Nadal has hit out at governing body UEFA for excluding the financially-troubled La Liga club from European competition this season.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Bayer Leverkusen have signed South Korean forward Son Heung-min from Hamburg SV and have agreed with Chelsea for the transfer of winger Andre Schuerrle as the club prepare for next season's Champions League, they said on Thursday.
The UEFA president said that without a second-leg to fall back on, teams have been forced to go for goals.
Porto will face a disciplinary hearing after opponents Manchester City complained that striker Mario Balotelli suffered racist abuse during their Europa League match last Thursday.
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.
Tottenham Hotspur maintained their late-season drive for European soccer and pushed Newcastle United further towards relegation when they won a one-sided Premier League match 1-0 at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique will miss this week's European Super Cup clash with Porto due to a calf injury, the Champions League holders said on Tuesday.
Second-placed Borussia Dortmund beat hosts Mainz 05 2-0 on Friday in coach Thomas Tuchel's return to his former club, ending their three-game winless run in the Bundesliga to close in on leaders Bayern Munich.
Three Frenchmen, one a member of a far-right organisation, were held for questioning after allegedly assaulting Tottenham fans ahead of the London-based team's Europa League match against Olympique Lyon, police said on Thursday.
