Carlos Tevez scored a superb hat-trick as impressive Manchester City crushed Blackburn Rovers 4-1 to move into fourth place in the Premier League on Monday.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson branded Manchester City's handling of Mark Hughes' dismissal last week as "unacceptable", adding his voice to the widespread condemnation of the way he was treated. Ferguson was the latest of Hughes' rivals to speak of their shock at the way he was forced to take control of his team in Saturday's 4-3 victory over Sunderland before being sacked and replaced by Italian Roberto Mancini immediately after the game.
Aris Salonika maintained their 41-year unbeaten home record in European competition by holding Manchester City to a 0-0 draw in their Europa League last-32 first leg on Tuesday.
Jose Mourinho has been appointed coach of Inter Milan for the next three years, the Italian champions said on Monday. Former Chelsea and Porto boss Mourinho succeeds Roberto Mancini, whose dismissal was confirmed on Thursday, 11 days after he led the side to their third consecutive Serie A title.
Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho travelled to Italy on Friday for talks about a job with Inter Milan.
Robinho has turned down a formal offer from Fenerbahce hoping to leave Manchester City for a Spanish or Italian club before the August 31 transfer deadline.
Manchester City forward and Wales captain Craig Bellamy has moved to Championship (division two) club Cardiff City on a season-long loan deal and says he wants to lead them to the Premier League.
Manchester City have grabbed the spotlight on the eve of the Premier League season, with Robinho named in their 25-man squad list on Friday and Mario Balotelli flying in for a medical.
Brazilian striker Robinho is reported to have begged Manchester City to let him quit Eastlands so he can make his loan move to Santos permanent.
Gareth Barry scored five minutes from time to give Manchester City a 1-1 draw at Stoke City on Tuesday and lift Roberto Mancini's men above Liverpool into fourth place in the Premier League. City moved on to 45 points from 25 matches, one ahead of Liverpool who have played one game more.
Manchester City winger Robinho could make his final appearance for the club at Scunthorpe in the FA Cup fourth round game on Sunday.
Manchester United have the perfect opportunity to repair their battered pride on Wednesday when they head across town to face Manchester City in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final.
Chelsea scrambled a 2-1 home win over west London rivals Fulham on Monday as two goals in two minutes saved them from what was looking like a first home defeat for more than a year. Tottenham Hotspur moved back into the top four with a 2-0 victory over struggling London rivals West Ham United, while in the day's late match Manchester City gave new boss Roberto Mancini a second straight win with a 3-0 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Italian champions Inter Milan probably have more attacking options than any other team in Europe except Barcelona and they finally believe they can make a mark on the Champions League this season.
Inter Milan set up an Italian Cup quarter-final tie with Juventus after beating Reggina 3-0 at home on Thursday and 7-1 on aggregate.
Portugal rested Cristiano Ronaldo and still overcame new-look Italy 1-0 in their opening Nations League match on Monday, giving visiting coach Roberto Mancini plenty to think about. Forward Andre Silva scored three minutes after halftime in the League A Group 3 game to give the Portuguese their first win over Italy in a competitive match since 1957.
AS Roma won the Italian Cup on a 7-4 aggregate victory despite a 2-1 defeat in the second leg final at holders Inter Milan.
Inter Milan beat Siena 2-1 to clinch their second successive Serie A title with five games to spare.
Emma Hayes, who led Chelsea to the 2021 Champions League final, is joined on The Best FIFA Women's Coach shortlist by England manager Sarina Wiegman and Canada coach Beverly Priestman.
The Lazio defender apologised for the behaviour that got him sent off during the match against Chelsea this month.
Italy's delight at reaching the Euro 2020 semi-finals with Friday's 2-1 win over Belgium was soured by a serious injury to left-back Leonardo Spinazzola who was taken off on a stretcher in the second half and is expected to be out of the tournament.
Inter were 4-1 up after Marco Materazzi scored in the 68th minute but the defender's excessive goal celebration led to him being sent off for a second yellow card and his side were then left to struggle with 10 men.
Coach Roberto Mancini made eight changes to the starting line-up from the team which lost 1-0 to Portugal in the Nations League in their last outing where he in turn had made nine changes from the previous game.
With this win Italy have extended their unbeaten run to 29 games, the last 10 coming off wins where they have scored 31 goals and conceded none.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini believes that the postponement of Euro 2020 could work in his team's favour although a gap of 10 months between working with his players will create difficulties. Under his leadership, they finished their Euro 2020 qualifying group with a 100% record and are on a run of 11 successive wins.
Italy are back and they have a point to prove.
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Gianluca Vialli, who earned 59 caps for Italy and enjoyed a stellar club career with Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea, has died from cancer at the age of 58.
The winner will be named on August 26, along with UEFA's women's player of the year and Champions League positional award winners, at the Champions League group stage draw in Istanbul.
Italy are one win away from being crowned champions of Europe
Thousands of euphoric fans thronged the centre of Rome to hail coach Roberto Mancini and his team
IMAGES from football matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Inter Milan clinched fourth place in Serie A after a 2-1 home victory over Empoli on Saturday while AC Milan gave their European aspirations a boost with a 1-0 triumph over 10-man Bologna.
The old guard, once again, came good for Italy, this time steering the Azzurri to Euro 2020 glory, but wily defensive stalwarts Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini cannot go on forever.
Brazil shocked and other big upsets at World Cup qualifiers played on Tuesday
Qatar returns to the spotlight on Friday little more than a year after the first World Cup held in the Arab world when the relocated and delayed 2023 Asian Cup gets underway amid a seismic shift in football's global order.
Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks the very best players from what has been an outstanding tournament.
The winners will play either Belgium or Portugal in the quarter-finals next Friday in Munich.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
