Porto deservedly beat Braga 1-0 to win the Europa League after a superb header by Colombian striker Falcao decided the first all-Portuguese final of a European competition on Wednesday.
Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo is comfortably the most influential soccer player online in China.
A summary of the Euro 2024 qualification matches played on Saturday.
Manchester United's early exit from the Champions League last season cost the English club almost 17 million euros in payments from UEFA compared with the previous year, figures released on Friday showed.
Juventus have been deducted 15 points for the current season by an Italian soccer court investigating its transfer dealings.
Rattled by embarrassing domestic defeats, Chelsea looked jittery before Olivier Giroud settled their nerves with a close range tap-in shortly after halftime at StamfordBridge following good work by N'Golo Kante and Willian in the build-up.
Striker Luis Suarez scored one goal and missed two second-half penalties as Ajax Amsterdam beat nine-man FC Timisoara 2-1 in Romania on Wednesday to reach the knockout stage of the Europa League.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 750th goal of his remarkable career in a 3-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday
Real will ease the pain by retaining their Champions League title, their only hope of salvaging a disappointing season.
European champions Real Madrid head to rampaging Borussia Dortmund for their Champions League Group F game on Tuesday in a frazzled state with their buoyant start to the season having been punctured by successive La Liga draws.
Celtic, who won Europe's premier club competition in 1967, set up a clash with Romanians Cluj in the next stage after a 2-0 win at Nomme Kalju completed a 7-0 aggregate rout of the Estonian champions.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr on a 2-1/2 year contract.
Chelsea returned to their early-season form to open up a five-point lead in the Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continued to make mincemeat of La Liga defences and Juventus extended their lead in Serie A. In France, Olympique Lyonnais retained top spot with a 2-0 win at RC Lens.
PSV Eindhoven's disappointing season took a turn for the worse as they went out of the Europa League after losing 1-0 at home to Ukrainians Chernomorets Odessa, who pipped them to second place in Group B on Thursday.
European champions Barcelona will quickly renew acquaintances with their former striker Samuel Eto'o when they begin the defence of their trophy at Inter Milan in their opening Champions League match next month. The draw also brought together AC Milan and nine-time European champions Real Madrid in another mouthwatering Italian versus Spanish clash with Brazil forward Kaka facing his old club at his new Bernabeu home on Matchday Three.
The UEFA has ruled out changing its Champions League suspension rules regarding yellow cards for at least three years and has no intention of bringing them in line with the rules used in the European Championship, officials have told players' representatives.
Free-scoring Manchester City will face the toughest test yet of their European credentials when they face European aristocrats Barcelona in the first leg of the standout tie of the Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday.
Inter, Liverpool sweating on last-16 spots
After a week of controversy caused mainly by FIFA president Sepp Blatter's comments about racism, UEFA will hope that action on the pitch dominates this week's Champions League headlines as the group stage reaches crunch time.
The attractive football preached by Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup was displayed to great effect when the Welsh side stunned 10-man Valencia with a 3-0 away victory in the Europa League.
Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal are all preparing for sudden-death Champions League games.
The Portuguese forward put his team on the verge of their third final in four years and took his tally to 103 goals in the competition as he helped Madrid vanquish their neighbours at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Manchester United and Liverpool, English football's two most decorated clubs, were drawn together in the last 16 of the Europa League on Friday.
FIFA also announced a newly structured international calendar which its president Gianni Infantino said had been endorsed by the ECA.
Red Star, who won the European Cup in 1991 and reached the latter stages the following season, finished second in Group H behind Arsenal who crushed BATE Borisov 6-0.
Barca captain Messi opened the scoring with a "Panenka" penalty chipped straight down the middle in the 17th minute after Luis Suarez was fouled in the area, putting the home side ahead in the tie after a goalless first leg in France.
The strip made a memorable debut in the 7-0 thrashing of Maribor in the Champions League group stage, marking Liverpool's biggest ever away win in European competition.
Benzema enjoyed a stellar campaign with Real Madrid last season, scoring 44 goals in 46 games in all competitions as he inspired them to a La Liga and Champions League double.
The ECA, an organisation representing 220 soccer clubs, opposes the world governing body's decision which Rummenigge, the former Germany international who is also Bayern Munich's chief executive, has previously dismissed as "nonsense".
Barcelona look well set to wrap up the La Liga title.
Everton have been handed the dubious distinction of being the 'dirtiest' Premier League team after a study on the all-time cards and fouls by www.dirtyteams.co.uk.
Spain became the first country to have five teams in the Champions League group stage in one season after Valencia squeezed past Monaco .
Holders Chelsea will meet Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in the quarter-finals of the League Cup next month.
Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League hopes were crushed by mid-table Belgian side Gent, who booked their spot in the last 16 with a 2-2 draw at Wembley on Thursday as the hosts paid the penalty for Dele Alli's first-half red card.
Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra expected to breach the 90m mark at the Diamond League final in Zurich but said he was happy to win the trophy, becoming the first Indian to do so.
India were made to toil hard by the world No 2 Australia before eventually losing the match in a close encounter.
Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale said on Wednesday he has an extra incentive to reach a third Champions League final in four years because the title game will be played in his hometown of Cardiff. "This is the reason I came to Madrid - to play in the Champions League, to win the Champions League," the 27-year-old Bale said in an interview with UEFA.com. "To have the Champions League final in my home town is an even bigger motivation," he said.
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.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
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