UEFA Cup favourites AC Milan missed the chance to progress to the knockout stages as group winners when a late Mahir Saglik equaliser handed VfL Wolfsburg a 2-2 draw at the San Siro on Wednesday. As Group E's top side, Wolfsburg are guaranteed a tie against a third-placed side from another group in Friday's last 32 draw while seven-times European champions Milan must face a third-placed finisher from the Champions League group stage.
Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were the major winners following the resumption of European soccer's big leagues in the wake of the novel coronavirus shutdown but some clubs may wish the season had been declared null and void. Bundesliga champion Bayern were the only club across the continent to post a 100% record since the restart, winning all nine of their games, scoring 27 goals in the process.
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.
In other matches, VfL Wolfsburg edged past Hertha Berlin 2-0; promoted Ingolstadt snatched a last-gasp 1-0 win at Werder Bremen
Manchester City crushed Leeds United 7-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday to make it seven Premier League wins a row and move four points clear at the top of the table.
Holders Barcelona will face fellow Spaniards Atletico Madrid, runners-up two seasons ago, in the Champions League quarter-finals following the draw in Nyon on Friday.
The Champions League group stages took on a less predictable look after Thursday's draw, helped by UEFA's decision to tweak the seeding system.
Cristiano Ronaldo, whose extra-time penalty put the seal on Real Madrid's 4-1 Champions League final victory over Atletico Madrid in May, was named UEFA's Best Player in Europe on Thursday.
Spurs striker Bergwijn is major casualty as Netherlands trim squad
Atletico Madrid fell to their heaviest league defeat of the season
German soccer teams started the week in isolation on Monday after going into seven-day quarantine ahead of the Bundesliga season restart on Saturday, with club bosses saying completing the campaign amid the coronavirus outbreak will not be easy. The German Football League (DFL) decided last week to resume the first and second division from May 16 after a two-month suspension, making it the first major sports league to attempt a restart.
In-form Borussia Moenchengladbach struck three times in 14 minutes in the second half to floor champions Bayern Munich 3-1 on Saturday and inflict their first Bundesliga defeat of the season.
Volkswagen's Car Towers -- at the theme park Autostadt next to the carmaker's plant in Wolfsburg in Germany -- are transparent cylindrical buildings that rise 150 feet to 490 feet above the ground.
Manchester City's quadruple bid remained intact as Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne secured a 2-0 win at Everton in their FA Cup quarter-final clash
Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski took the honours as the league's top scorer with 30 goals after netting in the champions' 3-1 victory over already-relegated Hanover 96.
The unprecedented shutdown of world sport in response to the coronavirus spread that has infected more than 134,000 people and killed around 5,000 also prompted organisers to postpone the Formula One motor races in Vietnam and Bahrain. The start of the lucrative Indian Premier League has also been postponed until April 15 as a "precautionary measure", the Board of Control for Cricket in India said.
The 19-year-old Mbappe followed up a domestic treble with Paris St Germain with a string of impressive performances in France's World Cup winning campaign.
As Leicester City celebrates its unexpected title triumph, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com lists similar success stories across Europe's top leagues.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Images from the football matches played across Europe over the weekend.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to training after recovering from a hamstring injury and could be fit to face Manchester City in the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday. Ronaldo has not featured since April 20, but could return for the second leg having missed last week's 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium. The 31-year-old Portuguese trained with his team mates during the first half of Sunday's session before working out on the pitch alone, Real said on their website. Striker Karim Benzema also continued his recovery from a hamstring injury and Alvaro Arbeloa - who has not played since early April - completed some running exercises.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo was named UEFA's Player of the Year, beating Lionel Messi and Gianluigi Buffon to the prize, European soccer's governing body announced during the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday.
Photos from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
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Bayern Munich scraped past Hertha Berlin 1-0 courtesy of an Arjen Robben goal to stretch their lead at the top of the table to 10 points and extend their unbeaten Bundesliga run to 16 games over two seasons.
Images from La Liga and German Cup matches played on the weekend.
Cristiano Ronaldo marked his 600th league appearance with his 20th Serie A goal of the season as Juventus beat Spezia 3-0 on Tuesday to move within three points of second-placed AC Milan.
Several records and milestones were set after Real Madrid beat Liverpool 3-1 in the Champions League final on Saturday. With the victory Real became the first team to win three straight titles in the Champions League era.
Bayern Munich moved closer to a record-extending 30th league title after their Polish striker Robert Lewandowski ended a personal jinx in a 5-0 drubbing of struggling Fortuna Duesseldorf in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The result left leaders Bayern, who are chasing an eighth successive league title, top of the standings on 67 points from 29 games, 10 ahead of closest rivals Borussia Dortmund who visit bottom team Paderborn on Sunday.
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski netted the Bundesliga's fastest hat-trick on his way to a sensational five-goal haul as a halftime substitute in their 5-1 demolition of VfL Wolfsburg on Tuesday.
Treble winners Bayern Munich edged past Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 courtesy of a Mario Mandzukic volley on Saturday to equal their club record of 27 games without defeat as minnows Hoffenheim demolished Hamburg SV 5-1.
The manufacturer of some of the most iconic brands is now doing a course correction.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will again be duelling for the title of world's best footballer after their names once again headed the shortlist on Thursday for The Best FIFA Men's Player.
Angel Correa saw La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid snatch a 2-1 victory away to Granada on Saturday
Xherdan Shaqiri scored one goal and set up three and substitute Mario Gomez notched a quick hat-trick as Bayern Munich, chasing a treble of titles, crushed VfL Wolfsburg 6-1 on Tuesday to move into the German Cup final.
Real Madrid were made to toil by the 10 men of Athletic Bilbao but eventually won 3-1 on Tuesday thanks to two strikes from Karim Benzema to go level on points with La Liga leaders Real Sociedad.
Eintracht Frankfurt captain Marco Russ has been diagnosed with a tumour after he had initially tested positive in a routine doping test, the Bundesliga club said on Thursday.
Germany coach Joachim Loew has named four talented youngsters, including three uncapped players, in his preliminary 27-man squad for Euro 2016.
Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao scored two superb goals and Diego added a late third to seal a commanding 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the all-Spanish Europa League final on Wednesday.
The injury will also rule him out of the reigning European champions' two Champions League quarter-final legs against last year's runners-up Paris St Germain, scheduled for April 7 and April 13.
Bayern Munich made it seven wins out of seven in the Bundesliga on Saturday as two goals from Franck Ribery led them to a 2-0 win over a toothless Hoffenheim in an embarrassingly one-sided match.
