A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The 2015 and 2016 Copa champions took the lead late in the first half with a towering header from midfielder Erick Pulgar.
Harry Kane's hat-trick turned Tottenham Hotspur's potentially tricky FA Cup fifth-round tie at Championship side Fulham into a Sunday stroll by the River Thames as they won 3-0 at Craven Cottage.
Images from the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg matches played on Wednesday
The draw was made on Monday for the Champions League round of 16.
Holders and Premier League leaders Arsenal will be at home to Championship (second tier) Burnley in the fourth round of the FA Cup after most of the big guns avoided top flight opponents in Monday's draw.
Manchester United's hopes of salvaging their season in the Europa League suffered a stinging setback when they lost 2-1 at Danish side Midtjylland in the first leg of their last-32 clash on Thursday.
World champions France had eight players, one less than former holders Spain, in international players' association FIFPro's 55-name shortlist for its World XI of 2018 award.
Arsenal's defence of the trophy ended with something of a whimper as Mikel Arteta's side struggled with repeatedly sloppy defending.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Liverpool fielded a starting lineup consisting mainly of reserves and youth team players with an average age of 19.4, a club record.
Manchester United eased the pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a 3-1 win at Everton in the Premier League on Saturday with Bruno Fernandes scoring twice and Edinson Cavani grabbing his first for the club.
In other ties, Serie A champions Juventus face Europa League winners Atletico Madrid and Barcelona take on Olympique Lyonnais.
Al-Nassr are one of 40 clubs from 20 leagues across the confederation drawn in 10 groups to face one another from Monday, with only the winners guaranteed to advance to the knockout rounds in the quest for the top prize of US$4 million.
Manchester City squandered a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Holders FC Barcelona have been placed in Group E, along with Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma, Dinamo Zagreb.
Argentina coach Diego Maradona has said Carlos Tevez should think of leaving Manchester United for Serie A title holders Inter Milan.
Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer berated his team for their under par performance in the first half in their FA Cup semi-final first leg loss to cross-town rivals Manchester United
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United flirted with calamity before coasting into the Europa League last 16 as debutant Marcus Rashford helped them overcome an early blow with two goals in a 5-1 home victory over Midtjylland on Thursday.
Manchester City to beat second-tier Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 and reach the FA Cup quarter-finals but Jose Mourinho's problems piled up as his Tottenham Hotspur side were bundled out in a penalty shootout by Norwich City.
The visitors' display was enough to earn them applause from their fans at the end.
Five strikers who surprised us in World Cup 2022.
Arsenal beat Brighton and Hove Albion 3-2 to reach the FA Cup fifth round.
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.
The new managers of Manchester United and Manchester City will face an early confrontation when the teams meet in a friendly in Beijing on July 25. Jose Mourinho, officially confirmed as United boss on Friday, and old adversary Pep Guardiola, who is replacing Manuel Pellegrini at City, will renew hostilities in the pre-season International Champions Cup. There was little love lost between the pair when Mourinho was in charge at Real Madrid and Guardiola led Barcelona. The rivalry is likely to be just as fierce when United attempt to make up ground on their neighbours, who have finished above them in the Premier League for the past three seasons.
'Solskjaer has improved morale by freeing players from the shackles with which Mourinho had bound them.' 'He has made his team a happier bunch of people,' says Suhit K Sen.
Uruguayan soccer player Diego Forlan on Monday denied evading taxes by hiding money in Swiss accounts with the British bank HSBC Holdings PLC.
Manchester City centre-back Vincent Kompany will serve a four-match ban after the FA dismissed his appeal on Tuesday against the red card he was shown in last weekend's defeat by Manchester United.
Liverpool handed their fiercest rivals a painful lesson on Thursday with a dominant 2-0 win over Manchester United in the first leg of a Europa League last-16 clash.
Manchester City progressed to the knockout stages of the Champions League from Group F on Tuesday after twice coming from behind to draw 2-2 with Olympique Lyonnais, a team Pep Guardiola hailed as one of the toughest he has ever faced.
Premier League clubs Watford and Hull City, and Championship side Leeds United paid the penalty for fielding weakened teams when they were all knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round on Sunday -- but holders Manchester United won comfortably.
Manchester City's stellar season gathered yet more momentum as the runaway English Premier League leaders reached the League Cup semi-finals with a penalty shootout victory at Leicester City.
Cricket icon Sunil Gavaskar celebrates a magnificent 75th birthday on July 10th. Rediff.com picks 15 facts about Sunil Gavaskar you need to know:
Manchester United face Arsenal in the match of the round at Old Trafford. United forward Louis Saha is still out with a cartilage problem but Wayne Rooney returns after being suspended for last week's derby against Manchester City.
In the other pairings, English champions Manchester United will take on Greek club Olympiakos, while AC Milan take on Atletico Madrid.
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.
Holders Real Madrid will start their attempt to win a record third straight Champions League title in a group with Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur and Apoel Nicosia after Thursday's draw.
VfL Wolfsburg reached the Champions League last 16 and dealt a knockout blow to Manchester United with a 3-2 victory to claim top spot in Group B and condemn their opponents to the Europa League on Tuesday.
