A lacklustre Bayern Munich needed a long-range goal from Spaniard Xabi Alonso to secure a 1-0 victory over Darmstadt 98 on Tuesday that put them into the quarter-finals of the German Cup.
Staging football matches without spectators must only be a short-term fix during the coronavirus pandemic as the prolonged absence of fans could damage the game, former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said. The German Bundesliga became the first major soccer league to resume since the novel coronavirus outbreak shut down sports earlier this year, and its return behind closed doors is being closely watched by other leagues.
Austria's Hungarian-born defender Gyoergy Garics has decided to stay at Euro 2016 despite his father's death last week, saying his last words were to carry on. The 32-year old's father, Gyoergy Garics Sr, died from cancer at his home in Hungary last Friday. Garics said he would have wanted him to stay at the tournament as Austria prepare to take on his native Hungary in Group F on Tuesday.
Bayern Munich slumped to their first defeat for three months when the Bundesliga leaders suffered a shock 2-1 reverse at home to Mainz 05 on Wednesday.
Rediff.com brings you these and other exciting news from the week gone by in this photo feature...
For over three months, there was no soccer of any kind in England, where it is by far the most popular sport.
The games sounded more like Sunday kickabouts or high-intensity training sessions than the return to action of highly-paid professionals in the world's best attended football league with normally an average of about 42,000 spectators per game.
Bayern Munich came from a goal down at home to beat Ingolstadt 3-1 on Saturday and make it three wins in three Bundesliga matches as they went two points clear at the top. The champions were far less convincing than in their Champions League 5-0 win over Rostov on Tuesday and were caught napping after eight minutes with Paraguayan Dario Lezcano slipping the ball through the legs of Manuel Neuer.
Substitute Joel Pohjanpalo scored a hat-trick in the last 11 minutes to fire Bayer Leverkusen to a 3-1 win at home to Hamburg SV on an afternoon of late Bundesliga drama on Saturday.
Hamburg SV clung on to their time-honoured place in the Bundesliga once again after beating second-tier Karlsruhe.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich were made to work extremely hard for a 3-1 victory at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday that sent them eight points clear at the top of the table with five games left.
Photos from the football matches played in the Serie A, Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 on Sunday
All you must know about soccer's return to action after coronavirus
Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored twice as Borussia Dortmund thrashed Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0 on Saturday to launch their season with a bang on coach Thomas Tuchel's Bundesliga debut with the club.
Bayern Munich's party was wrecked by Borussia Moenchengladbach who hit back for a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, forcing the Bavarians to wait at least a week to clinch a fourth straight Bundesliga title.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football fieLd
A summary of the results of the football matches played across Europe on Sunday
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