Real have underperformed on the domestic stage, trailing Barcelona by 15 points and knocked out of the King's Cup by Leganes, and many predicted an early elimination from Europe when they drew the runaway Ligue 1 leaders in the last 16.
Real Madrid paid more than 200 million euros ($227.76 million) to assemble their forward line of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, but the attacking trio failed them again in Wednesday's Champions League exit to Juventus.
Roma teenager Afena-Gyan plays down apparent racist remark.
The right-footed Quaresma has scored at least one dozen similar goals during his career and also uses the trivela for passing and crossing.
He finished the decade with 20,960 international runs -- 5,775 more than anybody else -- and 69 hundreds -- 22 more than anybody else. This is a player performing at an extraordinarily high all-format level unseen in the history of cricket.
>The World Cup captain was a remarkable species: Always trying, pushing, lifting, harassing, delivering; the kind who would unhesitatingly jump into the deep end to save the day. They're all gone now, says Dhruv Munjal.
Portugal had to settle for a 0-0 draw at home to Spain in a heavyweight friendly on Wednesday after hammering the crossbar twice and missing a last-gasp open goal.
Nigeria midfielder John Obi Mikel has become the latest big name player to join the Chinese Super League gold rush after leaving Chelsea for Tianjin Teda.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United beat Everton 2-0 to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals, while 10-man Arsenal were held 1-1 by Sheffield United
Real Madrid tore apart Bayern Munich's ragged defence with a ruthless first-half display as they thrashed the defending champions 4-0 in their own stadium to reach their first Champions League final for 12 years.
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga and Ligue 1.
"According to the report issued from the city hall in Vigo, they consider that the Balaidos stadium is not safe for spectators or for players to attend the game on Sunday," said a statement from La Liga.
'In this spirit of camaraderie between professional and non-professional football, we have decided, as a team, to give up part of our Euro 2020 qualification prize money.'
Real Madrid on top because of performances, not referees, says coach Zidane.
Images from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday
Images from Saturday's action in the English Premier League.
As the countdown to 2018 starts, it's time to rewind those moments in sport that stood out this year.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Brazil survived an early scare and some physical tackling to beat Portugal 3-1 in a friendly in Boston that confirmed their early status as one of the favourites to win the World Cup on home soil next year.
Back in his hometown of Bondy, on the gritty northeast outskirts of Paris, there is immense pride at his exploits, but not that much surprise -- they always knew he'd make it big.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane cursed his side's carelessness after the European champions threw away a two-goal lead against Legia Warsaw and needed a late equaliser from Mateo Kovacic to salvage a 3-3 draw on Wednesday.
The best in international photojournalism was recently announced by World Press Photo's Annual Photo Contest. Despite fierce competition, the jury was forced to select just a handful of images from more than 73,044 photos by 4,548 photographers across 125 different countries. This year's grand prize was awarded to Venezuelan photographer Ronaldo Schemidt, earning him the title of Press Photographer of the Year. Here are some of the winners.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday
IMAGES from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday
Italy's victory over Belgium was celebrated as a triumph of the team over individual talents, but Friday's opponents Sweden are relying on the singular genius of frontman Zlatan Ibrahimovic to get their Euro 2016 campaign off the ground.
Real Madrid captain and centre back Sergio Ramos is "100 percent committed" to the club, new coach Rafa Benitez said on Thursday, amid continued speculation the Spain defender could be on his way to Manchester United.
When Michel Platini revamped the European Championship, turning the finals from a tough, lean 16-team tournament in 2012 into a flabby, 'roll up, anybody's welcome' 24-side affair in 2016, it was not surprising he ran into a blizzard of rebukes.
Juventus spent about 12 million euros ($13.42 million) to sign Carlos Tevez, a fraction of what Real Madrid paid for Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, yet it was the Argentine who called the shots in their Champions League clash on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
The last-16 knock-out round kicks-off this week with Chelsea visiting Paris on Tuesday; Zidane to coach Real Madrid as manager in his first match in Europe
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Nike Inc and some other big international companies face a grilling over their powerful role in Brazilian soccer.
In England, the celebrations went on at Leicester City as they marked their fairytale Premier League success with another win while champions Juventus' long unbeaten streak in Italy came to an end.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Amid the buzz surrounding what has been termed a game-changer for Indian football, Brazilian legend Zico says the 158-ranked nation's hopes of scaling greater heights in the world sport depends solely on the local players' "mentality" and their "ability" to develop.
