News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Images from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola hailed the spectacular football his side played in their 4-3 Champions League semi-final first-leg win over visitors Real Madrid on Tuesday, even if he was not completely satisfied with the scoreline.
A round-up of Saturday's football action in La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
IMAGES from the La Liga matches played on Sunday
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane says Frenchman Karim Benzema is "distraught" about being left out of the squad for this year's European Championship, the only major tournament to be played in his home country during his career.
Real Madrid should have midfielder Xabi Alonso and forward Karim Benzema back from minor injuries for Tuesday's King's Cup semi-final second leg at holders Barcelona, coach Jose Mourinho said on Monday.
France and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema insisted on Wednesday he has done nothing wrong after being put under investigation in France in connection with an alleged attempt to blackmail a fellow international with the use of a sex video.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. score twice as his side punished a sloppy Liverpool to win 3-1, while Manchester City beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Real Madrid striker Benzema and Bayern Munich forward Ribery, who are not attending the four-day trial, are being tried on charges of paying Zahia Dehar, a prostitute-turned-fashion model, for sex in 2008 and 2009, when she was aged 16 and 17.
Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr both scored a brace to give the LaLiga leaders a 4-1 home win over Valencia
France soccer internationals Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema have been discharged of solicitation of an underage prostitute, the Paris Correctional Tribunal said on Thursday.
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema took Real Betis apart to give Real Madrid a resounding 5-0 win on Saturday that put them level on 50 points with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga.
The win took second-placed Real to 62 points after 29 games, two behind champions Barca who beat Leganes 2-0 on Tuesday.
Mathieu Valbuena and Karim Benzema, embroiled in a sextape scandal, were omitted from France's squad on Thursday for the games with Germany and England later this month while Hatem Ben Arfa was recalled.
Cristiano Ronaldo will play no part in Real Madrid's game against Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday after the prolific Portuguese forward was left out of the squad on Friday.
Karim Benzema and Kaka scored late goals to give Real Madrid an emphatic 3-0 win at APOEL Nicosia in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.
Portugal international Goncalo Guedes fired Valencia into the lead in the 35th minute with a thumping shot from inside the area which was too powerful for Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
Real Madrid's teenage Brazilian duo Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes sent them top of La Liga as both scored in a 2-0 win over Osasuna on Wednesday.
Whatever Karim Benzema does in a Real Madrid shirt his achievements are generally overshadowed by the exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo yet the France forward has a splendid Champions League record of his own.
Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez has joined Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli from Manchester City on a deal until 2027.
Real Madrid's unbeaten start to the La Liga season came to an abrupt and surprising end as Real Mallorca claimed a stunning 1-0 victory at a rocking Son Moix on Saturday to climb out of the relegation zone.
Real Madrid ended their five-year wait for the La Liga title on Sunday as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema scored in a 2-0 win at Malaga, clinching a 33rd league triumph.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a two-year contract extension with Al Nassr, the Saudi Pro League side announced on Thursday, which will keep the Portuguese forward at the club well past his 42nd birthday.
Real's Cristiano Ronaldo will be going in search of his third consecutive World Player of the Year award
Real Madrid moved to within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona after Karim Benzema, Isco, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Cristiano Ronaldo all scored in a 5-1 thrashing at struggling Getafe on Saturday.
A near-record crowd of 105,826 saw Real Madrid score three first-half goals and hang on for a 3-2 win against Chelsea in a friendly at Michigan Stadium on Saturday. The attendance was less than 4,000 shy of the United States record attendance for a soccer match, set two years ago at the same stadium in Ann Arbor when 109,318 watched Real Madrid and Manchester United square off.
Racism cost me Euro 2016 spot, claims Benzema
Gareth Bale scored against his former club Tottenham Hotspur as Real Madrid claimed a convincing 2-0 win over the Premier League club in a friendly at the pre-season Audi Cup in Germany.
A summary of Saturday's action in LaLiga, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga.
A French court rejected Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema's request to stop a trial over his alleged attempt to blackmail fellow French soccer international Mathieu Valbuena using a sex video, a judicial source said on Friday. The affair involved phone-recorded sex footage that could prove embarrassing for Valbuena, according to sources close to the inquiry. Benzema's name came up during phone taps in relation to the inquiry opened last July, police sources say.
In Maximum City as the Wellness Ambassador of Kanakia Paris, a French-themed residential complex, the French football icon opened up about Real Madrid, Euro 2016 and the current France team among other topics. Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com was all ears.
Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has not recovered sufficiently from a knee injury and has been left out of the squad for Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg at Juventus, the holders said on Monday.
Cristiano Ronaldo broke his four-game scoring drought with a hat-trick as Real Madrid trounced lowly Malaga 7-0 in La Liga on Thursday to trim the gap with leaders Barcelona back to seven points.
Karim Benzema scored twice after the interval with a penalty and a header from a corner to give Santiago Solari's side a 3-1 lead, after Raphael Varane struck in the 34th minute to cancel out Anuar Tuhami's goal for Valladolid five minutes earlier.
Newly-crowned champions Real Madrid beat Mallorca 4-1 to break the 100-point barrier on the final day of La Liga season as Villarreal sensationally slipped through the relegation trapdoor.
Teenager Curtis Jones grabbed a 58th-minute winner as an injury-hit Liverpool qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Ajax Amsterdam at Anfield on Tuesday.
Real Madrid set a Spanish record of 40 matches unbeaten in all competitions after they came back from two goals behind to snatch a 3-3 draw at Sevilla with a last-gasp equaliser from Karim Benzema in the King's Cup on Thursday.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said Cristiano Ronaldo "is 100 percent" and will face Manchester City in Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg but striker Karim Benzema and midfielder Casemiro will miss the game. Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury which forced him to miss Madrids last three games in all competitions and has resumed full training. But Benzema is yet to recover from a hamstring problem and Casemiro is still out after a knock to the hip sustained in Saturday's 1-0 win at Real Sociedad. "Cristiano is fine, he is 100 percent. He has trained and will be with us tomorrow, there is no risk," Zidane told a news conference. "We need a 100 percent Cristiano," he said. "He's a different player. His numbers show that and I'm happy he's with us tomorrow. I'd have liked Karim and Casemiro to be there too, but others will play and that's that," added Zidane. "Karim's situation is different. He still has a problem and we don't want to take any risks," he said.
