Big cities are the breeding grounds for romance this year.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Paris St Germain's league record 36-game unbeaten streak came to an abrupt halt when they lost 2-1 at Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday.
Serie A witnessed some breath-taking football action, especially when AC Milan could not convert the umpteen chances they had against Sassuolo while Inter went to top. In Ligue 1 action, all the star players found the net for PSG. Here are images from the soccer matches played across Europe on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Holders Spain were knocked out of Euro 2016 in a 2-0 defeat by Italy on Monday after goals by Giorgio Chiellini and Graziano Pelle set up a quarter-final with world champions Germany. Chiellini opened the scoring after 33 minutes while Pelle wrapped up the victory in stoppage time to end Spain's reign as European champions which covered the 2008 and 2012 tournaments.
Germany bolstered their back line with the return of central defender Mats Hummels on Thursday but lacked penetration at the other end of the field as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Poland at Euro 2016.
Salzburg forced Lazio into a second-half capitulation as the Italians crashed out in the Europa League quarter-finals after losing 4-1 but Olympique de Marseille staged a thrilling fightback to see off visitors Leipzig 5-2 on Thursday. Arsenal also reached the semi-finals after recovering from a wobble to draw 2-2 at CSKA Moscow and progress 6-3 on aggregate, while favourites Atletico Madrid reached the last four after losing 1-0 at Sporting to go through 2-1 over the two legs.
Captain Paul Pogba produced an outstanding performance garnished by two goals to help Manchester United to a resounding 3-0 win at Swiss debutants Young Boys Bern in their Champions League Group H opener on Wednesday.
Real Madrid are hoping the fit-again Cristiano Ronaldo can lead them into the Champions League final although strike partner Karim Benzema remains a doubt for Wednesday's return match with Manchester City.
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.
A round-up of all the international friendlies played on Tuesday
World No 1 Novak Djokovic's had to take a medical timeout before completing a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 dominating win over Luxembourg's Gilles Muller at Roland Garros on Thursday.
Javier Pastore's double inspired a weary Paris St Germain to a 3-1 win at Nice as the French champions reclaimed top spot in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Liverpool laboured to a 2-0 win over Denmark's Midtjylland on Tuesday as a goal from Diogo Jota and a Mohamed Salah penalty secured a hard-fought Champions League Group D victory at Anfield.
Sweden ended Germany's hopes of a third women's World Cup win, coming from behind for a surprise 2-1 quarter-final victory on Saturday thanks to goals from Sofia Jakobsson and Stina Blackstenius.
Mbappe struck in the 74th minute to put PSG on 80 points from 29 games and on the brink of retaining the title with second-placed Lille, who beat Nantes 3-2 away earlier on Sunday, still 20 points behind having played a game more.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Goals by Burak Yilmaz and Ozan Tufan gave Turkey a 2-0 win over Czech Republic in Euro 2016 on Tuesday that secured third place in Group D and kept alive their hopes of reaching the tournament's knockout stages.
For Ireland to reach the knockout stages at Euro 2016 they must achieve something they haven't done in 28 years - win a game at the European Championship. Martin O'Neill's team face an Italian side already guaranteed victory in Group E and manager Antonio Conte is likely to field many of his reserves, but it remains to be seen if Ireland can end their long winless streak in this must-win game.
Germany and Poland edged closer to the Euro 2016 knockout stage after playing out the first 0-0 draw of this year's tournament at the Stade de France on Thursday. The result means both teams have four points in Group C ahead of Northern Ireland, who have three after their 2-0 win against a Ukraine side who are still without a point and cannot now qualify for the last 16 at the finals.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
In Maximum City as the Wellness Ambassador of Kanakia Paris, a French-themed residential complex, the French football icon opened up about Real Madrid, Euro 2016 and the current France team among other topics. Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com was all ears.
Paris St Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his first Ligue 1 goal this season before missing a penalty as they beat En Avant Guingamp 3-0 to extend their lead to four points on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Jakub Blaszczykowski's goal gave Poland a 1-0 win over Ukraine in their final Euro 2016 Group C match on Tuesday and sent them into the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
La Liga champions Barcelona began the new campaign with a 3-0 win over Alaves on Saturday with the help of a spectacular under-the-wall free kick from Lionel Messi, who scored twice, and a curling shot from substitute Philippe Coutinho.
Paris is set to go ahead with a bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, the French capital's deputy mayor in charge of sports told Reuters.
2016 is at the halfway stage and the year has already seen some stunning sporting wins, underdogs emerging triumphant on the biggest stages of them all.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain became the second England international to leave Arsenal in two days when he joined Premier League rivals Liverpool for a reported 40 million pounds on Thursday.
At least one person has been injured by an explosion on the bus taking the Borussia Dortmund soccer team to their UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg match against Monaco in Dortmund on Tuesday.
Ireland reached the knockout phase at a European Championship for the firs time when Robbie Brady's late goal earned them a 1-0 victory against Group E winners Italy on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Toni Kroos struck with a fierce long-range shot a minute from time to give Germany a 1-0 victory over Spain in a friendly between two injury-depleted European heavyweights in Vigo on Tuesday.
Italy's Cristiana Girelli bagged a hat-trick and substitute Aurora Galli struck twice as they thrashed Jamaica 5-0 to qualify for the last 16 of the women's World Cup on Friday.
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