It was not so much the maths, though Liverpool's nine-point advantage over defending champions City, with one point less over Leicester City and Chelsea, is a significant gap, especially as Juergen Klopp's side have lost one league game in 18 months.
Dele Alli condemned Champions League holders Real Madrid to a horrendous Wembley debut with two goals as Tottenham Hotspur reached the last 16 with a stunning 3-1 victory.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has underscored the unpredictable nature of the Premier League this season, stating that it seemed as if "nobody wants to win the league".
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Australia thrashed England by eight wickets in their fifth and final one-day international at Old Trafford on Sunday to win the series 3-2 and take some consolation for the pain of Ashes defeat.
Each Round of 16 game was entertaining. Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks the games to remember.
How quickly affections can switch in soccer. Where once they would serenade coach Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge with an operatic flourish, now Chelsea fans have fallen headlong for another man driving them inexorably to the Premier League title.
France overwhelmed Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium on Sunday to lift the trophy for the second time in 20 years.
Southampton suffered an embarrassing 1-0 League Cup quarter-final defeat at third tier Sheffield United on Tuesday while Chelsea powered through with a 3-1 win at Derby County.
Mario Balotelli enjoyed a rare moment of ecstasy in a Liverpool shirt by inspiring a 2-1 win over Swansea City in the League Cup on Tuesday while Chelsea had to call for reinforcements to see off Shrewsbury Town.
The Indian Olympic Association on Monday said it will bid for either the 2026 or 2030 Commonwealth Games while also agreeing to withdraw its boycott call for the 2022 Birmingham edition over shooting's exclusion. The country hosted the 2010 edition in New Delhi.
Liverpool took a giant step towards their first title since 1990 on Saturday when their 3-0 win at Bournemouth combined with Manchester United's 2-1 victory at Manchester City to leave the champions 14 points adrift of the Premier League leaders.
Inter Milan's aversion to Europa League football continued with a 3-1 defeat at Sparta Prague, while AS Roma ended a continental hoodoo stretching back seven games with a 4-0 home win over Romanian side FC Astra on Thursday.
CGF has maintained that shooting has never been a compulsory sport in the Games.
Aston Villa returned to winning ways in stunning fashion as Ollie Watkins scored twice in a 3-0 away thumping of an abject Arsenal in drizzly north London on Sunday.
New manager Sam Allardyce said the days of talking about England's potential are over and it has to become reality as he looked ahead to qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is poised to write the final chapter in a glittering career with Manchester United in England's Premier League and although drama is guaranteed, a happy ending is not.
Less than a week after FIFA set up a task force to look into when the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar can be held, English FA chairman Greg Dyke said it will never take place in the searing heat of the Middle East summer.
Mind games have begun ahead of the Asia Cup final played between host Bangladesh and India at Mirpur on Sunday. While India's team director Ravi Shastri has termed it as 'yet another match', Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza called India as clear favourites to relieve pressure from his young side in the title clash. "We all know that Indians are clear favourites in the final. Let there be no debates or discussions on that," Mashrafe said at a packed match-eve press conference. India have been in rampaging form with four convincing wins in the tournament, including the 45-run thumping of Bangladesh in their opening league match. "What we have got is a young team which has won matches playing as a unit. We still don't have a T20 star, who can single-handedly win us a match. Crowd, pitch, conditions, everything will favour us but that can never ensure that we will win the final," Mashrafe clarified. Commenting on Shastri's statement, Mashrafe said that for his team which rarely makes final appearances, it's a "big occasion". "What Ravi Shastri has said is absolutely right. It is another match for them as they are used to hype and big matches. They can take it like 10 other matches. "India has played big finals, won trophies. What is easy for them may not be that easy for us. But we are trying to focus on the game, shut ourselves from the hype and remain and play as normally as possible," the Bangladesh skipper said.
His retirement will leave a hole at the top of New Zealand's batting order in limited-overs matches, while it could also change the way they approach games in future.
Ian Bell and Stuart Broad shared an unbroken century partnership to lift England to 326 for six on a compelling third day of the first Ashes Test against Australia on Friday.
Liverpool and champions Manchester City drew 0-0 at Anfield while Chelsea and Arsenal enjoyed comfortable away wins. City are top on goal difference from Liverpool and Chelsea with Arsenal two points behind.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The BCCI on Tuesday named Ravi Shastri as the new chief coach of the Indian cricket team with former fast bowling great Zaheer Khan being appointed the bowling coach for a period of two years.
Chelsea have signed Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga for a world record 80 million-euro ($92.8 million) fee from Athletic Bilbao, the Premier League club said on Wednesday.
With 100-plus Tests and 400-plus wickets, most of them not exactly coming on rank turners, Harbhajan's name will always figure among true blue cricketing elites of India.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
England's comprehensive Ashes victory over Australia was built on a purposeful and well-drilled team that combined the perfect blend of youth and experience.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Manchester United won 2-1 at Crystal Palace to consolidate fourth spot.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Leicester City continued to do their best Houdini impression on Saturday as they escaped the Premier League drop zone for the first time since November while Manchester City went up to second spot with a thrilling win.
The dynasty will only be built on European success, though, and after the quarter-final exit to Liverpool, Manchester City's owners, who want a gilded continental powerhouse to match United's global lustre, will demand it and back those demands with huge funding.
New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi has no qualms in saying that Mumbai, in the warm-up match, showed the visitors how to play in Indian conditions and they will have to play better to beat the hosts in the upcoming Test series. Ronchi felt there were more positives than negatives to take out of the only warm-up match of the team's India tour. "I think getting used to the wicket which was changing over three days (was one takeaway). It was deteriorating a bit with guys facing more spin towards the end and ball doing a few different things. Mumbai bowled and batted really well.
Despite all the hype, however, the match will do well to live up to some of the Manchester derby tussles down the years. Here are five of the most memorable:
England's unlikely bowling hero in the Tests, all-rounder Moeen Ali also made an impact with the bat at Edgbaston while playing his first ODI of the series and has admitted that he learnt a lot by watching Indian batsmen from the sidelines.
Images from Saturday's action in the Premier League.
A scarcity of gold medals in the first few days of the Olympics is leading China to reflect on its past obsession with finishing first, amid agreement that being champion is no longer everything.
Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as champions Manchester City made a convincing start to their title defence with a 5-0 win over West Ham United.
