British pair Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot defeated Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil in four sets in Ottawa to give Britain a 2-1 lead ahead of Sunday's reverse singles.
Alessandria became the first third tier club to reach the Italian Cup quarter-finals in more than 30 years as their giant-killing run continued with a 2-1 extra-time victory at Serie A strugglers Genoa on Tuesday.
Balotelli made his debut for his hometown club after completing a four-match suspension that he was handed at Olympique de Marseille last season, while the visitors were without Cristiano Ronaldo as he recovers from injury.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Paris Saint Germain's Neymar, Laywin Kurzawa and Leandro Paredes as well as Marseille's duo of Dario Benedetto and Jordan Amavi were given their marching orders after rival players threw punches and kicks at each other.
Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks the very best players from what has been an outstanding tournament.
Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain and evergreen AS Roma forward Francesco Totti lit up Serie A on Monday as the two teams won in contrasting fashion to boost their bids for an automatic Champions League spot.
Juventus held off a remarkable Inter Milan comeback by winning their Italian Cup tie 5-3 on penalties on Wednesday after a 3-3 draw on aggregate to set up a final against AC Milan.
Inter Milan's lead at the top of Serie A was cut when they lost 2-1 at home to Lazio on Sunday while AS Roma beat Genoa 2-0 to record their first win in eight games and ease the pressure on under-fire coach Rudi Garcia.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A brilliant 88th minute strike by Eder helped Italy beat Sweden in a Group E match at the Euro 2016 and seal a last 16 berth.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri criticised his players for letting their guard down and losing 2-1 at arch-rivals Inter Milan after taking the lead in the second half at the San Siro.
Hellas Verona produced a huge upset by coming from behind to beat Serie A leaders Juventus 2-1 on Saturday, inflicting a third defeat of the season on the Italian champions. Cristiano Ronaldo set a new Juventus record by scoring in a 10th consecutive league game to put the visitors in front at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi after 65 minutes.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Venus Williams staged a spirited comeback to down third seed Petra Kvitova 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Saturday.
A summary of Wednesday night's action in the UEFA Champions League.
AS Roma stalwart Francesco Totti came off the bench with four minutes left and scored twice to give his Champions League-chasing side a dramatic 3-2 win over Torino in Serie A on Wednesday.
Leonardo Mayer beat Joao Souza in a Davis Cup singles match that lasted a record six hours and 42 minutes.
The Rio de Janeiro Olympics opening ceremony on Friday will break with the recent tradition of large-scale and expensive shows, featuring a low-emissions cauldron and an "analogue" experience, executive producer Marco Balich said on Monday.
Paris St Germain's then sports director Leonardo declared the club were ready for tougher competitions in Europe two years ago but Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final exit suggests PSG need more time to reach the top.
Antonio Conte far exceeded expectations with a limited Italy squad at Euro 2016 and the coach, who is heading for pastures new at English club Chelsea, is likely to prove a tough act for replacement Giampiero Ventura to follow.
Corinthians manager Tite has accepted an offer to coach Brazil but his appointment was met with fury at his former club, who accused the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) of underhand tactics and unethical behaviour.
Bayern Munich moved closer to a record-extending 30th league title after their Polish striker Robert Lewandowski ended a personal jinx in a 5-0 drubbing of struggling Fortuna Duesseldorf in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The result left leaders Bayern, who are chasing an eighth successive league title, top of the standings on 67 points from 29 games, 10 ahead of closest rivals Borussia Dortmund who visit bottom team Paderborn on Sunday.
Benfica's Oscar Cardozo scored a hat-trick in a 4-3 extra-time win over Lisbon rivals Sporting in the Portuguese Cup last 32 on Saturday with Luisao grabbing the winner after a blunder by visiting keeper Rui Patricio.
Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal smashed home a second-half penalty to earn a 1-0 win at home to Monaco in an absorbing Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday, leaving the tie on a knife-edge.
Delhi Dynamos staged a remarkable comeback to play out a 3-3 draw with Mumbai City FC in a high-scoring encounter of the Indian Super League (ISL), which witnessed end-to-end football throughout in New Delhi on Tuesday. For Mumbai City FC, Hungarian midfielder Krisztian Vadocz found the net twice, in the 33rd and 38th minutes, and the consistent Sony Norde added to the tally by finding the back of the net in the 69th minute at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Richard Gadze opened the account for the hosts when he found the target in the 51st minute and then substitute Badara Badji and Marcelinho scored in the 76th and 82nd minutes respectively.
One of the finest actors of our time says goodbye, yet again.
France striker Kylian Mbappe went off nursing a shoulder injury as they beat Uruguay 1-0 with an Olivier Giroud penalty in a rematch of their World Cup quarter-final on Tuesday.
Images from football matches played in the La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga on Saturday.
Lionel Messi scored a penalty for the third Champions League game in a row with the Spaniards maintaining their winning start to the group stage.
Spain's Alvaro Morata scored a goal in each half as they beat a highly defensive Malta side 2-0 away on Tuesday to move top of their Euro 2020 qualifying group with two wins out of two games.
Inter Milan went on a rare scoring spree to thrash Serie A newcomers Frosinone 4-0 and go clear at the top on Sunday, the first time Roberto Mancini's team have won a league match by more than one goal this season.
Portugal became the first team to qualify for the Nations League semi-finals when they held Italy 0-0 on Saturday, the second time in a year that the hosts have been knocked out of a competition following a goalless draw at the San Siro.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich survived several first-half scares in a 1-1 home draw with midtable Schalke 04 on Saturday as Philipp Lahm made his 500th appearance for the Bavarian club.
Many former players believe that storming out of games is a powerful tool to counter racism, a move that will force administrators to take the problem more seriously, and act in a way that compels clubs to obliterate such a culture and evict those responsible, says Dhruv Munjal.
The Libertadores Cup derby between Boca Juniors and River Plate was called off at halftime on Thursday after River players were sprayed with an irritant by a fan of their bitter rivals.
Summary of World Cup qualifiers played across the world on Thursday
