For the first time since 1998, the Champions League final will feature two teams who entered the competition as domestic champions, a throwback to the day's of the old European Cup when only a country's title winners were allowed to enter.
Real Madrid's Croatia midfielder Luka Modric was named winner of the 2018 Ballon d'Or on Monday, breaking Cristiano Ronaldo's and Lionel Messi's decade-long hold on the prestigious award.
'In my opinion he has taken on more challenges and succeeded at all of them. He's the most complete player I have seen and his work ethic, as I mentioned, is unmatched.'
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
A round-up of Friday's action in the UEFA Nations League.
Benzema, who has scored 30 goals in all competitions for Real Madrid this season, has not played for France since 2015 after a blackmailing scandal over which he faces a trial in October.
Barcelona finally made a statement of intent in what has been a chaotic season as they came from behind to beat La Liga leaders Real Sociedad 2-1 at home on Wednesday.
Round-up of football matches played around Europe on Saturday.
Barcelona abandoned their hopes of signing Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool after the Merseyside club demanded 200 million euros ($237.14 million) for the Brazil attacking midfielder, the Liga side's director Albert Soler said.
"This was one of the reasons why I took this opportunity. To train with all these personalities and this talent."
Jose Mourinho said on Monday he would step up Manchester United's pursuit of Gareth Bale if the Real Madrid winger was left out of the starting line-up in Tuesday's European Super Cup between the Red Devils and the Champions League holders.
The World Cup final between Russia and Croatia in Moscow was briefly interrupted when three intruders ran onto the pitch before they were hauled off by stewards.
The mesmerising moments that made the 2018 FIFA World Cup a blockbuster worldwide.
Deschamps has proven both innovative and brave as coach, and is now one victory away from joining an elite club.
"It would be a big deal, increasing the team's appeal and also because it would bigger business for Juve, through merchandising," a Milan-based trader said.
More than the story of any other footballer or athlete, Pele's life helped democratise his sport; made it the stuff of a widely shared dream. Shyam G Menon salutes the memory of the greatest footballer ever.
The enormous structured global advertising machinery that surrounds every football game on the planet today? Pele was perhaps single-handedly responsible for all of it. By just being brilliant, captivating crowds, and behaving like a being from the future, doing things that STILL provoke oohs and aahs from watchers. Vaibhav Raghunandan salutes the Incomparable Pele.
Real Madrid have endured a miserable season since Zinedine Zidane left in May, first sacking Julen Lopetegui and then Santiago Solari.
Eight years is a long time in the life of an athlete. But just like Messi, Di Maria has preserved and persisted towards his childhood dream, points out Deepti Patwardhan.
Real Madrid dug deep in a 3-0 home win against lowly Alaves in the La Liga, but Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain their second Ligue 1 loss of the season.
AS Monaco, beaten 2-0 at home in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Juventus, will have to make history in Tuesday's return if they are to end Ligue 1's long absence from the final.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a perfect hat-trick inside 32 minutes as Juventus bounced back from their midweek Champions League exit by beating Cagliari 3-1 away in Serie A on Sunday.
Sadio Mane scored twice to help Senegal fight back and shock Brazil 4-2 in a friendly in Lisbon on Tuesday.
The football world gathered in the Qatari capital on Friday as the draw ceremony for the World Cup finals got under way with music and dance.
IMAGES from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
Spurs striker Bergwijn is major casualty as Netherlands trim squad
France stretched their unbeaten run against Croatia to eight games after a late goal by Kylian Mbappe gave the world champions a 2-1 win in their Nations League top-tier Group 3 match on Wednesday.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo struck his fifth international hat-trick, including a spectacular volleyed opener, to lead the European champions to a 5-1 win over the Faroe Islands in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday.
A 'winning culture' may be one of the most over used terms in modern football but Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti proved on Saturday, at Liverpool's expense, that there truly is meaning and value in the concept.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
Bayern Munich winger Serge Gnabry has been ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris St Germain after testing positive for COVID-19 while midfielder Marc Roca will miss the game due to injury.
One goal determined the outcome of the Champions League final on Sunday but there could be no doubt that Bayern Munich deserve to be crowned European champions for the sixth time. With a 1-0 victory over Paris St Germain courtesy of Kingsley Coman's header, Bayern have achieved what no team have managed in Europe's elite club competition -- win every game.
The FIFA World Cup at Russia saw a variety of celebrations -- from the weird to some fancy dance moves -- Rediff.com has got it all covered here...
France began dreaming of World Cup glory after a two-decade wait after Les Bleus on Tuesday defeated Belgium to reach the final
Didier Deschamps is confident he has prepared his players for any tactical surprises his opposite number Roberto Martinez might spring
Belgium's Eden Hazard is making the strongest bid for that crown.
France head into their World Cup opener against Australia in Kazan on Saturday sweating on the fitness of fullback Djibril Sidibe and under pressure to deliver an emphatic win to erase doubts about the cohesion of a team of brilliant individuals.
PSG make winning start as Messi arrival looms
Liverpool's Champions League winning trio of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane joined regulars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Men's player award
Neto will sign a four-year deal with Barcelona that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2022-23 season and he will replace Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen who moved the other way on Wednesday.
