Rattled by embarrassing domestic defeats, Chelsea looked jittery before Olivier Giroud settled their nerves with a close range tap-in shortly after halftime at StamfordBridge following good work by N'Golo Kante and Willian in the build-up.
Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek had a Europa League night to remember by scoring the first hat-trick of his career as the midfielder inspired them to a 3-1 home win over Belarus champions BATE Borisov on Thursday.
Former European champions Celtic were helped by two own goals as they thumped Astana 5-0 at home and a late goal from Wissam Ben Yedder gave Sevilla a 2-1 win at Istanbul Basaksehir in torrential rain.
Bringing you all the news from the summer transfer window and other snippets from the soccer world...
American qualifier Steve Johnson is through to his first ATP Tour semi-final after an emphatic victory at the Delray Beach Open on Friday.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos left Bernardo Silva, one of the country's brightest young players, out of his final 23-man Euro 2016 squad on Tuesday but included 18-year-old Renato Sanches.
France stretched their unbeaten run against Croatia to eight games after a late goal by Kylian Mbappe gave the world champions a 2-1 win in their Nations League top-tier Group 3 match on Wednesday.
"I've had a bit more luck than in recent weeks, so I'm making the most of it. For a striker, it always works in cycles and I know that. You can't start doubting yourself," Giroud told reporters after the game.
Andy Murray's February torment deepened on Thursday after he lost 6-1, 6-3 to 18-year-old Croatian tyro Borna Coric in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Championships.
Iceland failed to use their brains in Sunday's 5-2 defeat to France at Euro 2016, joint coach Lars Lagerback said, though he spoke with pride of the team's achievements in getting to the quarter-finals in their first tournament appearance.
RB Leipzig marked their first appearance in the Champions League knockout round with a deserved 1-0 victory at last season's runners-up Tottenham Hotspur
Spain coach Luis Enrique said football had been unfair to his side after Thursday's dramatic 3-2 defeat in Croatia left them in danger of failing to reach the UEFA Nations League finals.
"Tomorrow we don't play six points against zero. We play at 7.45, at 0-0 with 90 minutes to go," he said.
Juan Del Potro's tennis career looked over after a second wrist injury sidelined him for the best part of two years in 2014 but the Argentine enjoyed one of his greatest moments when he led his nation to their maiden Davis Cup title.
Bayern Munich are confident they have overcome a mini-slump just in time for their Champions League round of 16 second leg against Juventus on Wednesday as they chase a treble of titles this season.
Jose Mourinho was delighted that Chelsea made a winning start to their Champions League campaign on Wednesday, but said he was not happy that Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal had all lost their opening matches.
A round-up of Tuesday night's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
A summary of Friday's night's qualifying matches for Euro 2020.
Lewis Hamilton looked forward to more success with Mercedes after collecting his fifth Formula One world champion's trophy at the governing FIA's gala awards on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Jose Mourinho's Chelsea turned from domestic whipping boys back to European stalwarts on Wednesday, beating his former club Porto 2-0 to top Champions League Group G.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Jose Mourinho suffered a nightmare homecoming as Porto, the club he led to the Champions League title in 2004, inflicted a 2-1 defeat on his woefully out-of-sorts Chelsea side in Group G on Tuesday.
Croatian Marin Cilic continued his recent run of sizzling form by overpowering John Isner 7-6(7-5), 6-3 in a late-night showdown to advance to the Delray Beach Open final against South Africa's Kevin Anderson.
The pilgrimage of a true GoT fan.
Bayern Munich dismantled Arsenal 5-1 in UEFA Champions League Group F on Wednesday after a sensational first-half performance to close on the knockout stages with two matches left.
CSKA Moscow must close part of their stadium for their next Champions League home game following the racist abuse hurled at ManchesterCity's Yaya Toure by the Russian club's fans last week, UEFA said on Wednesday.
The Dutch, who have not missed a Euro finals since 1984, kept their playoff chances alive with a 2-1 win in Kazakhstan
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
A round-up of Thursday night's matches from the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
Thirty-two countries, ranging from Finland and Sweden to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia and Kazakhstan, have declared interest in hosting matches at Euro 2020 which will be staged across the continent.
Croatia clinched a place in next year's World Cup finals on Sunday after holding Greece to a goalless draw at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Athens to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory in their playoff tie.
Manchester United ended their one-year Champions League hiatus in emphatic style when Wayne Rooney struck a hat-trick in a 4-0 destruction of Club Bruges that sent the three-times winners through 7-1 on aggregate on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
A resurgent Marin Cilic blasted his way by sixth seed Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Thursday to become the first Croatian to reach the U.S. Open semi-finals since his coach Goran Ivanisevic in 1996.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Kurt Zouma and Eden Hazard scored the goals the goals in a match that saw Diego Costa play central character.
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.
Real Madrid failed to win their Champions League group for the first time in four years when a late goal by substitute Marco Reus allowed Borussia Dortmund to equalise and clinch a 2-2 draw.
New AC Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic is known for his hot temper and iron will and fans will hope those traits inspire rather than alienate his players as he bids to turn around the fortunes of Italy's fallen giants.
