News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of all the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
Images from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Manchester United will return to their 'normal team' for the Premier League clash against Watford on Sunday, manager Jose Mourinho said, after suffering a surprising 1-0 defeat against Feyenoord in the Europa League.
Twice UEFA Cup winners Feyenoord and Tottenham Hotspur came through testing away ties on Thursday to progress to the group stage of the competition. Feyenoord overturned a 1-0 home defeat to win 2-1 against Swedish league leaders Kalmar and go through on away goals while a 1-1 draw for Spurs in Poland helped the Premier League strugglers eliminate Wisla Krakow 3-2 on aggregate in the first round.
Manchester United, winners of the competition in 2017, will have a lot of travelling to do to Eastern Europe after being drawn alongside Kazakhstan side Astana, Serbia's Partizan Belgrade and Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
An inspired Wayne Rooney became Manchester United's all-time leading goalscorer in European competition to ignite their crucial 4-0 trouncing of Feyenoord.
Napoli kept alive their hopes of advancing from Group C after Lorenzo Insigne, Victor Osimhen and Matteo Politano secured a 3-0 home win over Legia Warsaw.
Ono had won the AFC Young Player of the Year award in 1998.
The Ivorian apologised for his behaviour which the German Football League described on Twitter as "absolutely unacceptable" and which some media suggested could even hamper the Bundesliga's hopes of re-starting after the coronavirus outbreak.
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.
Spurs striker Bergwijn is major casualty as Netherlands trim squad
Dutch international Dirk Kuyt has agreed a move from Liverpool to Turkish side Fenerbahce, the English Premier League club said on Sunday.
Arsenal striker Robin van Persie will not extend his contract after revealing on Wednesday he was unhappy with the direction the Premier League club was taking.
Bastian Schweinsteiger has been left out of Manchester United's Europa League squad by coach Jose Mourinho, as the midfielder continues to be marginalised at the club.
Manchester United will exercise their option to extend veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic's contract for a second season at Old Trafford, manager Jose Mourinho said on Wednesday. The 35-year-old Ibrahimovic, who joined on a free transfer in July, has had a mixed start to his United career despite scoring eight goals in 17 games in all competitions. "Zlatan's situation is simple: he has a one-plus-one contract with the club and we will execute the option of a second season," Mourinho told reporters.
Sevilla's love affair with the Europa League was immediately rekindled as last season's champions and three-time winners began this year's group stage with a 2-0 home victory over Feyenoord on Thursday.
Manchester United-bound Memphis Depay scored a stunning free kick as Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven beat Heracles.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan hit back from two goals down against Celtic to claim a 4-2 victory that sent them into the Europa League knockout phase on Thursday as they were among 14 teams to progress in Europe's second-tier competition.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
A summary of Tuesday's group matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Manchester United must avoid a repeat of last month's performance in order to revive their Premier League campaign after the international break, midfielder Ander Herrera has said. United kicked off their league campaign with three straight wins under manager Jose Mourinho, but slumped to back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Watford, having lost to Dutch side Feyenoord in their opening Europa League game.
From a modest start, as player and coach, Bert van Marwijk built success with Feyenoord before taking over a promising Netherlands side following their disappointing quarter-final exit at Euro 2008.
Marko Pantelic struck a hat-trick to help Ajax Amsterdam thrash Vitesse Arnhem 5-1 in the Dutch league on Sunday, while Feyenoord also enjoyed a good away win, 2-0 at ADO Den Haag.
Ajax closed the gap with Dutch league leaders Twente Enschede to one point after Luis Suarez and Marko Pantelic earned them a 2-0 win at struggling Willem II Tilburg on Wednesday.
Wijnaldum followed up after France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made a fine stop from point-blank range just before halftime and Depay sealed the victory to give the Dutch a chance to win the group when they meet Germany in Gelsenkirchen on Monday.
The club has not made the length of the new deal public, but manager Arsene Wenger told Arsenal's website (www.arsenal.com): "It's fantastic news that Robin van Persie has committed his long-term future to Arsenal Football Club, we're all delighted.
To finish with dignity is how Robin van Persie wants to end his playing days on Sunday when he hangs up his boots after an 18-year career.
England captain Wayne Rooney has been cleared following a Football Association (FA) inquiry into the 'Wedding-gate' furore. Following an investigation, the FA bosses have accepted Rooney's explanation and insistence that he did not gate-crash a wedding reception.
Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is making a brief Dutch comeback for this month's World Cup qualifiers. Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk included Van der Sar, who retired from international football after Euro 2008, in his 22-man squad for the Group Nine games against Iceland in Rotterdam on October 11 and away to Norway four days later. Goalkeepers Maarten Stekelenburg of Ajax and Feyenoord's Henk Timmer, who is in the squad, are both nursing injuries.
Everton have agreed a deal with Dutchman Ronald Koeman to become the Premier League club's manager, the BBC reported on Tuesday.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has described next month's fixture list as a 'poisoned gift' following Thursday's Europa League 1-0 win over Zorya Luhansk.
Former European Footballer of the Year Ruud Gullit has been appointed Frank Yallop's successor as coach of Los Angeles Galaxy. The 45-year-old Dutchman previously coached Chelsea, Newcastle United and Feyenoord.
The 24 sides through from the group phase join the eight third-placed finishers in the Champions League in Monday's draw, including Manchester United and Ajax Amsterdam.
PSV Eindhoven midfielders Balazs Dzsudzsak and Otman Bakkal scored a goal apiece to give the Dutch league leaders a 2-0 victory at Ajax Amsterdam on Wednesday.
Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who made a mockery of his two-month exile from the starting lineup with a superb individual effort, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic secured an easy win that banished memories of their earlier group stage struggles.
Goals from Dirk Kuyt and Xabi Alonso helped Liverpool secure a 2-0 home win.
Frank Lampard scored Chelsea's winner in a 1-0 pre-season victory over Feyenoord.
Dutch soccer great Johan Cruyff says he is "2-0 up in the first half" of his fight against lung cancer and confident of winning the battle. A former smoker who had heart surgery in 1991, the 68-year-old former Barcelona coach was diagnosed with cancer in October. "After several medical treatments I can say the results have been very positive, thanks to the excellent work of the doctors, the affection of the people and my positive mentality," triple Ballon d'Or winner Cruyff said in a statement. "Right now I have the feeling I am 2-0 up in the first half of a match that has not finished yet. But I am sure I will end up winning." Considered one of football's all-time greats, Cruyff helped Ajax Amsterdam win three European Cups from 1971-73 and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1971, 1973 and 1974. He joined Barcelona for a then-world record transfer fee of $2 million and it was the Catalan club that defined his coaching career as he helped them win their first La Liga title in 15 years in 1974.
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
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