But such was Pep Guardiola's team's domination of the Premier League last season that reinforcements hardly seemed necessary and the solitary addition of Riyad Mahrez makes an already potent attack even more fearsome.
Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliott put on a world record 267-run partnership as New Zealand recovered from 93-5 to thump Sri Lanka by 108 runs in the fifth One-Day International in Dunedin on Friday.
Opener Rohit Sharma smashed an unbeaten 124 to help India overcome a top-order wobble and register a series-clinching six-wicket victory in the third one-day international against Sri Lanka in Pallekele on Sunday.
Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane made up for the absence of Sergio Ramos by scoring one goal and making another to help his side to a hard-fought 3-0 win at Getafe. La Liga leaders Barcelona were held to a 2-2 draw at struggling Espanyol on Saturday as China striker Wu Lei came off the bench to grab a late equaliser in a pulsating city derby.
Spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has been named in Sri Lanka's one-day international squad for their five-match series against Pakistan, starting next week, after recovering from a knee injury. Muralitharan, 37, the highest wicket-taker in ODI history, missed the three-match Test series with a tendon injury and will team up with Ajantha Mendis and recalled leg spinner Malinga Bandara in a 15-man squad that includes three spinners.
Five Sri Lankan cricketers plus the assistant coach were wounded when around a dozen gunmen attacked their bus as it drove under police escort on Tuesday to the Gadaffi stadium in Lahore.
Pakistan Punjab governor Salmaan Tahseer, Governor of Pakistan's Punjab province on Tuesday, said the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus in Lahore was similar to the Mumbai's 26/11 attack. Four Pakistan players -- Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana -- were injured after armed gunmen attacked the team bus and hurled grenades as they made their way to the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore to take part in the second Test.
Teenager Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in a magnificent free kick on his European debut to set Liverpool on the way to a 2-1 win at Hoffenheim which put them on the brink of UEFA Champions League group stage place.
Trent Boult and Neil Wagner quickly wrapped up Sri Lanka's second innings on Sunday as New Zealand clinched the series 1-0 with a dominant 423-run victory in the second Test.
Sri Lanka fought off a strong challenge from Ireland at Lord's on Sunday to win their Twenty20 World Cup Super Eight match by nine runs. Ireland, the only non-Test playing nation still in the tournament, restricted the 1996 World one-day champions to 144 for nine after Sri Lanka had won the toss and elected to bat.
Skipper Mahela Jayawardene and vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara were left out of Sri Lanka's 15-man squad on Tuesday for the Twenty20 match against India next week. Tillakaratne Dilshan will lead the side, with Chamara Kapugedera serving as his deputy.
South Africa and Sri Lanka are set to play two frontline spinners apiece on what promises to be a turning wicket at Centurion Park for their Champions Trophy opener on Tuesday. The hosts, the International Cricket Council's top-ranked one-day team, have off-spinner Johan Botha and left-armer Roelof van der Merwe while Sri Lanka will counter with off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and the unorthodox Ajantha Mendis.
With pitch deteriorating fast at the P Sara Oval in Colombo, Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga on Thursday said a 250-plus score would be enough to defend against the famed Indian batting line-up in the third and final Test.
Virat Kohli is the first Indian captain to win two series in Sri Lanka.
The hosts have hit nadir in both form and confidence, and, after a lop-sided 3-0 Test series victory, the script did not change much in the opening ODI, where India steamrolled the opposition by nine wickets.
Sri Lanka's openers shared a fluent century stand to lead their side to 162 for one in reply to England's 416 on the second day of the third and final Test at Lord's on Friday.
With 23 wickets at 19.43 runs apiece, Shane Warne has surpassed Sohail Tanvir's tally of 22 at an average of 12.09. Warne is now the leading wicket-taker in the IPL.
France striker Olivier Giroud ended a run of 10 international games without a goal by netting a stunning winner as the world champions claimed a deserved 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in their Nations League clash on Sunday.
Sri Lanka seized control of the second Test in Colombo on Sunday by bowling Pakistan out for 90, the tourists' lowest total against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka, with skipper Kumar Sangakkara unbeaten on 81, replied strongly to finish on 164 for three, a lead of 74.
Bowlers put their foot on the pedal after a flamboyant innings from debutant Hardik Pandya enabling India to be in firm control of the proceedings in the first Test against Sri Lanka, in Galle.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bat in the fifth one-day international against India in Colombo on Sunday. Spinner Pragyan Ojha and pacer Praveen Kumar made way for debutant Ravindra Jadeja and Laxmipathy Balaji.
Bowler Chaminda Vaas could play his final Test after being recalled to the Sri Lankan side to face Pakistan starting on Monday. Vaas, 35, is expected to announce his retirement from Test cricket before the start of the third Test, which would be his 111th game in a 15-year career that has bagged 354 wickets.
Robert Lewandowski struck twice in the first half as holders Bayern Munich cruised past Schalke 04 3-0 on Wednesday to reach the German Cup semi-finals.
Sri Lanka vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara said all his team members are safe and out of danger following the attack by gunmen on the team's bus near the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore on Tuesday morning. 'There are a few injuries but everyone is safe and all the players are out of danger,' Sangakkara said.
India captain Virat Kohli said his team were not invincible after the defending champions allowed Sri Lanka to chase down a target of 322 to win a pulsating Champions Trophy match at The Oval on Thursday.
India won the toss and elected to bat in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka.
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.
Mahendra Dhoni's men will be eyeing a seventh consecutive victory when they taken on Sri Lanka in the second ODI of the five-match series in Colombo on Saturday.
Sachin Tendulkar's 18-year-old son announced his arrival in the international arena with a wicket in his first 12 balls for India U-19, and the significance of the game was not lost on the cricket fraternity.
The 35-year-old has been bamboozling batsmen for 15 years now on the international scene and yet still somehow retains the element of surprise.
It was not the free-flowing City of late and Tottenham will rue missing some good chances to salvage something from a disjointed affair on a patchwork pitch at a half-empty Wembley.
With the International Cricket Council finding it tough to convince apprehensive cricketers on touring Pakistan for next month's Champions Trophy, Sri Lanka on Friday said it is ready to hold the tournament even at a short notice. The event, which is scheduled from September 11 to 28, is facing an uncertain future after Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand, raised concerns over touring Pakistan due to the security situation.
The four Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorists were shot dead by Pakistani police in Lahore.
India cricket coach Gary Kirsten's ailing mother Gayl Hall passed away in Cape Town on Friday after losing a battle against cancer. Gayl was 64 and undergoing treatment for lung cancer at the Vincent Pallotti Hospital.
Rajneesh Gupta provides a detailed analysis of the list of referrals made to the third umpire or the television umpire with all the important details during the first Test match.
Sri Lanka will allow their top players to compete in the Indian Premier League rather than tour England next year, Sri Lanka Cricket said on Thursday.
Skipper Angelo Mathews held his nerve under pressure and scored an unbeaten half-century as Sri Lanka recovered from a bad start to beat Bangladesh by three wickets in the concluding league match of the Asia Cup in Mirpur on Thursday.
South Africa need six more wickets with two days still to play to win the second Test against Sri Lanka, who closed the third day at Newlands on Wednesday on 130 for four, still 377 runs behind the mammoth target set them. Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada both took two wickets in the Sri Lankan second innings as the home team closed in on victory and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. South Africa have ample time to whittle away the rest of the Sri Lankan batting while the visitors, set 507 runs to win, must survive six more sessions if they are to force a most improbable outcome.
Already-qualified France played out an uninspiring goalless draw with Denmark in their final World Cup Group C match at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium on Tuesday, which was enough to ensure that both teams advance to the knockout stage.
Sri Lanka will look towards veteran Lasith Malinga to deliver with the ball and get them back on the winning path after their horror showing in the three-Test series.
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