Real's Cristiano Ronaldo will be going in search of his third consecutive World Player of the Year award
Lionel Messi scored twice as La Liga champions Barcelona saw off a persistent Valencia side, who had Eliaquim Mangala sent off in the first half, to win 4-2 on Sunday and stay on the heels of leaders Real Madrid.
Messi stretched Barca's lead by finishing off a brilliant move with Luis Suarez in the 50th minute and the Uruguayan joined his close friend and strike partner on 15 league goals by robbing an Eibar defender and finishing inside the near post in the 68th.
Asked to rate Croatia's success in the past four years, Dalic said the 2018 semi-final win over England was so far their biggest match.
Indian boxers assured two medals in the ongoing World Championships.
Barcelona suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat by Granada on Thursday, conceding two second-half goals to blow the chance of moving top of La Liga.
Argentina produced their best performance of the Copa America so far to crush Paraguay 6-1 and set up a classic final against hosts Chile.
The AFA thanked 58-year-old Sampaoli and his assistants, who have also left their positions, for their services.
Playing in a "false nine" role, Messi capped a disappointing tournament with another subdued display at Kazan Arena as Argentina bowed out of the last 16 with a 4-3 defeat.
Jorge Sampaoli took the blame for Thursday's shambolic 3-0 World Cup defeat by Croatia as he tried to deflect the criticism from a terrible goalkeeping mistake and a poor performance by his captain Lionel Messi.
Roger Federer has joined the list of sports stars helping out the needy during the coronavirus pandemic, with the former world number one and his wife donating one million Swiss Francs ($1.02 million) to vulnerable families in his native Switzerland. Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola had each donated one million euros ($1.08 million) to help clinics and medical centres fight the outbreak.
Only four teams are left in the Copa America and whichever lifts the trophy next weekend, one thing is guaranteed -- the winning coach will be an Argentine.
A late goal by Marcos Rojo gave Argentina a dramatic 2-1 victory over Nigeria in Group D on Tuesday and sent the twice champions through to the knockout stages of the World Cup.
Not even a lively performance from Lionel Messi - at least in the first half in St Petersburg - as they edged out Nigeria 2-1 to finish second in Group D will give their large travelling band of supporters in Russia much in the way of confidence.
Chelsea's Spanish striker Diego Costa was named along with usual suspects Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 23- man FIFA Ballon D'Or short-list released on Tuesday.
Media reports suggest Sevilla's Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli, who has never disguised his ambition to take charge of the national team and steered neighbouring Chile to the Copa America title in 2015, will step into the vacancy.
Barcelona earned their first Primera Liga win of the season with a 6-1 rout away to promoted Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
Third tier Poli Ejido came from behind to clinch a 3-2 win at home to Espanyol in their King's Cup last-16 first leg on Wednesday.
'There are many myths about the team and about this generation'
Argentina, still reeling from the shock resignations of captain Lionel Messi and coach Gerardo Martino, have chosen Edgardo Bauza as their new coach, the Argentine FA said on Monday.
The former Boca Juniors and Napoli player coached Argentina at the 2010 World Cup, where his team were beaten 4-0 by Germany at the quarter-final stage
Sampaoli looked morose after Argentina's heaviest defeat in a World Cup group stage since 1958 and appeared resigned to his side's fate.
Two goals from Arda Turan and one from Lionel Messi gave Barcelona a 3-0 win over Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup second leg on Wednesday to seal a 5-0 aggregate victory.
Barca must beat Villareal on the weekend if they are to stand a chance of overhauling Real in the run in.
Despite an abundance of individual talent, Argentina have looked anything but impressive during Sampaoli's year in charge and their 1-1 draw against the World Cup debutants, including a missed Lionel Messi penalty, was another frustrating afternoon.
Underlying tensions mean Luis Enrique will not be remembered with the same reverence as Pep Guardiola, even though he has delivered a similar trophy haul.
Valverde's knowledge of Barca and his many years of experience of coaching in Spain saw him pip Argentine Jorge Sampaoli and Luis Enrique's assistant Juan Carlos Unzue to the top job.
Prolific Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo is determined to make next year an even bigger success.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
La Liga leaders Barcelona hit two goals in the final three minutes to earn a 3-2 win at Rayo Vallecano
La Liga's reputation as the epicenter of world soccer talent has been bruised by the world record smashing sale of Neymar to Paris St Germain and how Barcelona react to the departure of one of their leading players will define the new season in Spain.
Argentina have reached three major finals in three years but the team who came so close to winning the 2014 World Cup face crunch games against Peru and Ecuador that will determine if they miss out on the global showpiece event for the first time since 1970.
The forward was again the stand-out Brazil player and he coolly side-footed home his 60th international goal in the 76th minute after Diego Laxalt brought down Danilo, although Uruguay claimed there was a handball in the build-up.
Breaking records has become Cristiano Ronaldo's favourite pastime. Very few footballers can do everything and Ronaldo is of that rare breed
The Bernabeu faithful have never taken Gareth Bale to their hearts with injury problems and a perceived lack of integration into the side often used as sticks to beat him with.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The past week saw a lot of brilliance in sports. It started with Juventus and Barcelona lighting up the Champions League with their inspiring football and, later in the week, Mercedes' Nico Rosberg stoked the F1 circuit in Spain, capping a brilliant win to cut teammate Lewis Hamilton's lead to 20 points. Rediff.com has this, and many more memorable moments snapped right here.
Pedro hit a first-half hat-trick as Barcelona cruised into the last 16 of the King's Cup with a 8-1 second leg demolition of lower league Huesca at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Argentina's experimental line-up proved too strong for an outclassed Singapore in their international friendly on Tuesday, with the South Americans swatting aside their hosts 6-0 and the opening five goals coming from first-time scorers.
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