Giampiero Ventura, a 68-year-old who has never won a major title, was named on Tuesday as the next Italy coach to replace Antonio Conte after Euro 2016.
Claudio Ranieri has received an honour from the Italian president after the soccer manager led rank outsiders Leicester City to the top of the English Premier League.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Chelsea have signed left back Marcos Alonso from Italian top-flight club Fiorentina on a five-year contract, the Premier League side announced on Wednesday. The 25-year-old Spaniard is no stranger to English football, having played for Bolton Wanderers from July 2010 to July 2013. He also spent five months on loan at Sunderland in 2014.
Written off as too old and accused of hastening the downfall of Andre Villas-Boas, Chelsea's old guard have flourished under stand-in manager Roberto Di Matteo and will relish trying to halt Barcelona's bandwagon on Wednesday.
Arturo Vidal's double helped Juventus to their 12th straight league win with a 4-2 triumph over Sampdoria and saw the Italian champions restore an eight-point lead at the top of Serie A.
It is a very different victory of Maradona that fascinates me even more, notes ad guru Sandeep Goyal.
New Maradona film tracks highs and lows, intimate family moments
AS Roma were dumped out of the Italian Cup on penalties by second-tier Spezia after a 0-0 draw at home extended their winless streak to seven matches and heaped pressure on coach Rudi Garcia.
Liverpool twice squandered the lead, trailed 3-2 and then scored three times in the last 25 minutes to win 5-3 at Young Boys in an enthralling but blunder-prone Europa League tie on Thursday.
Chelsea's old guard masterminded one of the club's greatest European escapes to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, beating Napoli 4-1 after extra time at Stamford Bridge to edge an electrifying tie 5-4 on aggregate.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri believes Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to win the Ballon D'Or, following media reports that the forward has not been short-listed for the award's final three for the first time since 2010.
"When you start a prize with the Dalai Lama, how do you keep it going?" asked Thomas P DiNapoli, New York State comptroller, at the Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize event in New York, April 18.
Alessandro Del Piero, almost certainly playing his last home game for Juventus at the age of 37, celebrated with a goal as the Serie A champions beat Atalanta 3-1 on Sunday to finish their campaign unbeaten.
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga and Ligue 1.
AC Milan clung on to beat Parma 5-4 away in Serie A on Sunday despite an dreadful defensive display which included Mattia De Sciglio scoring an extraordinary own goal from near the halfway line late in the match.
Ten-man Inter Milan replaced AS Roma atop Serie A, at least for 24 hours, after beating Bologna 1-0 away on Tuesday to end a run of four games without a win but coach Roberto Mancini, who was sent off at the end, wants more from his side.
Sporting world lost some of its favourite stars this year.
Images from football action around European leagues played on Sunday
La Liga champions Real Madrid beat Getafe 3-1 on Saturday with a goal from Gareth Bale and two strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo to go 12 points behind leaders Barcelona and warm up for next week's Champions League game at Paris St Germain.
Leaders Juventus stayed three points clear in Serie A on Sunday after they thumped lowly Novara 4-0 and second-placed AC Milan won 4-1 at Siena with Antonio Cassano scoring for the first time since heart surgery in October.
Arsenal must trust in Arteta, says Guardiola.
Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro believes his country are outsiders to lift the Euro 2012 trophy and has tipped hometown club Napoli for success in this season's Champions League.
Serie A leaders AC Milan dropped two precious points by drawing 1-1 at Catania on Saturday in another match featuring controversy over a goalline clearance.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Atletico Madrid were handed a chance to avenge last season's Champions League final defeat by city rivals and record 10-times winners Real after the two sides were drawn together in the last eight on Friday. Paris St Germain and Barcelona were paired together having met in the group stage, with the French side winning in Paris and the Catalans coming out on top in Spain.
AS Roma moved four points behind third-placed Lazio in Serie A's Champions League qualifying spot after Pablo Osvaldo's early goal secured a 1-0 win over Genoa on Monday.
Holders Barcelona will play Bayer Leverkusen, a team famous for fading in the final straight, while their arch-rivals Real Madrid face a trip to icy Moscow in the Champions League round of 16 following the draw on Friday. Bayern Munich, whose Allianz Arena will host the final, take on FC Basel, the underdogs who spectacularly ousted Manchester United, in another of the top ties.
The Chelsea old guard showed they are not ready to be consigned to the scrapheap after a thrilling win over Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday.
England and Germany will be left without any teams in the Champions League quarter-finals unless Chelsea and Bayern Munich can overturn first-leg deficits in this week's ties.
Klopp poked more fun at his poor record in one-off matches
While Lyon rallied to hold Leipzig 2-2 after a Memphis Depay strike, it was the English clubs who made a mark on the night. Liverpool and Chelsea moved into the last 16 with contrasting wins and now all four English clubs, including Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, are in the Champions League knockouts this season.
Needing victory over last year's runners-up, Basel battled to a 2-1 win to jump ahead of United into second place in Group C and send the English champions into the Europa League. City, running riot at the top of the Premier League, beat already-qualified Bayern Munich 2-0 in their final Group A match but it proved in vain for the competition's newcomers as Napoli won 2-0 at Villarreal to grab second place.
Frank Lampard said his relationship with Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has "not been ideal" during the young Portuguese coach's first season in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Premier League leaders Manchester City face a tricky match at Napoli but they would also advance to the next stage with victory in southern Italy.
Surprise package FC Basel will be the only reigning domestic champions in action in the Champions League this week as they host Bayern Munich in the first leg of the round of 16.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Barca finished the season second in the standings on 82 points, four behind champions Real Madrid who visit Leganes later on Sunday. Alaves are 16th on 39.
