Europa League favourites Manchester United secured a 1-1 draw on a threadbare pitch at Rostov, while Olympique Lyonnais beat AS Roma 4-2 helped by a fine individual goal from Nabil Fekir in their last 16, first leg ties on Thursday.
Belgium have retained injured Vincent Kompany in their final World Cup squad but put fellow defender Laurent Ciman on standby in case the Manchester City skipper is not fit for their opening match in Russia.
Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League hopes were crushed by mid-table Belgian side Gent, who booked their spot in the last 16 with a 2-2 draw at Wembley on Thursday as the hosts paid the penalty for Dele Alli's first-half red card.
Bastia forward Brandao has been sentenced to one month in prison for headbutting Paris St Germain midfielder Thiago Motta, a French tribunal said on Thursday.
Arsenal and Chelsea were among seven teams to reach the Europa League knockout stage on Thursday, while last year's runners-up Olympique de Marseille were eliminated at the group phase.
Bayern Munich and Barcelona registered easy wins, while Manchester United came from behind to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 and Chelsea surrendered the top spot after a 1-1 at home against Atletico Madrid.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo come face-to-face next month when Sweden meet Portugal in a World Cup playoff and they sharpened their claws with six goals between them on a thrilling night of Champions League action on Wednesday.
Fellow Serie A sides Atalanta and Lazio also won while Portugal's Vitoria Guimaraes began their match against Salzburg with not a single European player in the team.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A weekend of surprise results across Europe's big leagues saw Bayern Munich's unbeaten run come to an end, Napoli knocked off top spot in Serie A and Manchester City toppled in the Premier League where Leicester City are the new leaders.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Arsene Wenger must start learning from his mistakes if Arsenal are to compete at the highest level of European football, Alisher Usmanov, the London club's second-largest shareholder, has said.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will delve into the depths of his squad for the visit to Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday, as an injury crisis engulfs Old Trafford.
Seven-times champions AC Milan, knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona in the last two seasons, were drawn against the Catalans again in the group stage of this season's competition on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
United's Ibrahimovic, Roma's Dzeko find the net thrice to give clubs first leg advantage
A summary of all the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Four-time European Champions Ajax Amsterdam were felled at the first hurdle of the continent's second tier Europa League on Thursday, exiting in the group stage two days after rivals PSV Eindhoven celebrated long-awaited success.
Manchester United and Manchester City must switch their focus from the Champions League to the Premier League when they meet at Old Trafford on Sunday in a derby that Louis van Gaal says will show whether United are true title contenders.
Manchester United's woes deepened as stunning goals by Moussa Sow and Jeremain Lens gave Fenerbahce a 2-1 Europa League win on Thursday that left Jose Mourinho's side facing a battle to reach the knockout stages.
Schalke 04 beat rivals Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the Bundesliga Ruhr valley derby on Saturday to confirm their improving form after a bad start to the season.
Holders Real Madrid chased away some of their early-season blues when Gareth Bale scored the pick of the goals in a 5-1 rout of FC Basel in their Champions League Group B opener on Tuesday.
Napoli began their Europa League group stage campaign in scintillating fashion.
An impudent individual goal from Philippe Coutinho steered Liverpool comfortably into the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday after a 1-1 draw at bitter rivals Manchester United completed a 3-1 aggregate win.
Manchester United's hopes of salvaging their season in the Europa League suffered a stinging setback when they lost 2-1 at Danish side Midtjylland in the first leg of their last-32 clash on Thursday.
Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to Manchester United on a year-year contract "to finish what I started," the 35-year-old announced in a club statement on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United opened up the Premier League title race with a convincing 2-0 home victory over leaders Chelsea on Sunday that leaves second-placed Tottenham Hotspur just four points behind.
As Leicester City celebrates its unexpected title triumph, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com lists similar success stories across Europe's top leagues.
The three teams with 100 percent records in this season's Champions League can secure their places in the knockout stage this week with two games to spare.
Danny Welbeck's hat-trick in a 4-1 thrashing of a feeble Galatasaray side helped ignite Arsenal's Champions League campaign in a lop-sided Group D clash in north London on Wednesday.
Manchester United suffered a double blow on Thursday with Daley Blind ruled out for a 'long' spell due to a knee problem and Radamel Falcao receiving a "new injury" that will keep him out for at least two more weeks.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Liverpool target Chelsea after midweek tinkering, while third-placed Manchester City, whose hopes of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stage were dealt a severe blow in a humiliating 2-1 home defeat by CSKA Moscow on Wednesday, travel south to face struggling Queens Park Rangers.
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