Between trying to compose himself, wiping away tears and facing a long standing ovation, it took Lionel Messi more than a minute to start his farewell news conference on Sunday at FC Barcelona, where the Argentine has spent all of his playing career.
City host Crystal Palace in the league on Saturday, the only team they failed to score against last season while also losing 2-0 at home.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho sprung to the defence of new goalkeeper Asmir Begovic after the Bosnian conceded four goals against the New York Red Bulls.
Paris St Germain will play Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona were pitted against an unpredictable Napoli, while Chelsea were drawn against Bayern Munich. City, who will be at home in the second leg, have yet to beat the Spanish side with two draws and two defeats in their previous four meetings.
A sloppy Real Madrid were held 0-0 at home to Real Betis on Saturday in a further blow to their hopes of retaining the La Liga title.
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.
It took Giroud, who owed his place in the starting lineup to Benzema's absence, 115 international appearances to score his 51 goals, while Henry needed 123 from 1997-2010.
Manchester City look to take an important step in their transformation into one of the world's leading clubs on Tuesday by reaching the Champions League semi-finals for the first time.
Paris St Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani each scored twice in a 4-0 win over Bastia as their reshuffled side opened up a three-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Carlo Ancelotti left his job at Paris St Germain because he felt he did not have the full trust of the management, the now Real Madrid coach said on Tuesday.
The Paris St Germain forward was both architect and executioner for Brazil, who inflicted a seventh straight last-16 exit on the central Americans, sliding home in the second half and then teeing up Roberto Firmino late on.
German champions Bayern Munich sacked coach Carlo Ancelotti on Thursday, a day after they suffered a crushing 3-0 defeat to Paris St Germain in the Champions League.
Ciro Immobile scored a 69th-minute penalty to earn hosts Lazio a 1-0 victory over 10-man Bayern Munich.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester City reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time after a superb curling shot from Kevin de Bruyne gave them a 1-0 second-leg win over Paris St Germain that sealed a 3-2 aggregate victory on Tuesday.
Olympique de Marseille will lead Ligue 1 into the two-week break thanks to Michy Batshuayi's half-volleyed winner in a 2-1 home victory over Lille on Sunday.
IMAGRS from the soccer matches played across European leagues on Friday
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Argentina look set to keep Julian Alvarez in attack for Sunday's World Cup final
IMAGES from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
A round-up of matches played in the Serie A and French Ligue 1 on Sunday
The team may be able to rely on Real Madrid's young trio of Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Eder Militao and Premier League rising stars Bruno Guimaraes, Antony and Gabriel Martinelli, among others.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
IMAGES from Saturday's action in the English Premier League.
Chelsea surged to the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 home win over Stoke City thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Frank Lampard and Willian at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
AS Roma's dramatic Champions League elimination by Porto, thanks to a late penalty awarded with a VAR review, was a 'terrible way to go out', their captain Daniele De Rossi said on Wednesday.
Lionel Messi drew level with Diego Maradona's number of World Cup goals and appearances on Saturday, but the current No. 10 knows that only winning the trophy at long last will earn him the same eternal love of his fellow Argentines.
Roundup of the matches being held across major football leagues in Europe on Sunday
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Champions Paris St Germain provisionally moved back to the top of Ligue 1 as Adam Lang's own goal, Edinson Cavani's penalty and a second-half header from Lucas Moura downed promoted Dijon 3-0 at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.
Marseille cement second place with Montpellier win
Lionel Messi is back in the Argentina squad for next month's World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Colombia after missing the last three due to injury in which his team have dropped seven points. Messi was named on Friday in coach Edgardo Bauza's 26-man squad and will captain Argentina away to arch-rivals Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Nov. 10 and at home against Colombia in San Juan five days later. Argentina have slipped down the South American group standings to fifth after a shock 1-0 home defeat by Paraguay and 2-2 draws with Peru and Venezuela, all without Messi.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
PSG's big buy has been left out squad for the Ligue 1 match against Brest.
Ten-man Paris St Germain got the defence of their Ligue 1 title off to a good start when Lucas's second-half strike earned them a 1-0 win at Lille on Friday.
City need three points to be sure of securing their third title in four years
Paris St Germain have signed last season's Serie A top scorer Edinson Cavani from Napoli on a five-year contract, the French Ligue 1 champions said on Tuesday.
Barcelona's 16-year-old forward Ansu Fati continued his explosive start to life in the first team by scoring and providing an assist as the La Liga champions thrashed Valencia 5-2 on Saturday.
'I selected the team, I selected the strategy and I am as disappointed as the players, but the buck stops with me.'
Holders Manchester City cruised into the Champions League quarter-finals for the seventh consecutive season with a 3-1 victory over FC Copenhagen.
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