Former European champions Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic, who both suffered the indignity of being knocked of the Champions League qualifiers by underdogs this season, will meet in the Europa Leagueafter being drawn together in the group stage on Friday.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
"There are lots of great players in circulation, but nobody is worth as much as him," Ancelotti was quoted as saying in Corriere dello Sport on Thursday.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas says the signing of Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois has not affected his desire to remain at the triple European champions as he emphatically ruled out leaving the club in order to be assured of first team football.
Arsenal are still in contention for the English Premier League title and it is too soon to say that leaders Chelsea can go through the season undefeated, manager Arsene Wenger said.
A former Playboy model has completed a takeover of debt-ridden top division club AFC Hermannstadt.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck four times as PSG thrashed Belgian side Anderlecht 5-0 on Wednesday night and joined a select band of strikers to score four goals in a single Champions League match. Bikash Mohapatra presents nine other players who preceded the Swede in performing the feat.
Mohamed Abrini was arrested in the borough of Anderlecht, in Brussels, next to the western district of Molenbeek, while two other suspects were detained at the same time as Abrini, and two further arrests made in an undisclosed location in Brussels.
A summary of Wednesday's group matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid and AC Milan led a procession of six teams into the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday while big-spending Manchester City failed again on the European stage to further dent English soccer's standing.
United's leading goal-scorer suffered knee ligament damage during the 2-1 Europa League quarter-final win over Anderlecht last month and has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
Juergen Klopp got a taste of the problems at Liverpool as his first home game as manager ended in a frustrating 1-1 draw against Rubin Kazan who played more than 50 minutes with 10 men in the Europa League on Thursday.
AC Milan recovered from a goal down to win 3-1 at 10-man Catania thanks to a second-half double from Stephan El Shaarawy and a strike by Kevin-Prince Boateng who was sent off near the end of a lively Serie A clash on Friday.
Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic escaped a ban on Thursday for mimicking pointing a gun at the opposition bench in a Ligue 1 game against Toulouse last month.
Juventus did the bare minimum as they scraped into the Champions League knockout stage on Tuesday with a 0-0 draw at home to Atletico Madrid, a result which also suited the Spaniards who topped the group.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
Manchester United showing 'concrete interest' in the French forward
Brussels airport suicide bombers were brothers El Bakraoui known to the police, Brussels public broadcaster RTBF has said. Belgian police are hunting an Islamic State suspect seen with two supposed suicide bombers shortly before they struck Brussels airport in the first of two attacks that also hit the city's metro, killing at least 30 and wounding over 200. The blasts on Tuesday claimed by the Syrian-based militants four days after the arrest in Brussels of a prime suspect in November's Paris attacks, sent shockwaves across Europe and around the world, with authorities racing to review security at airports and transit systems, and drawing an outpouring of solidarity. Investigators said they were focussing on a man in a hat who was caught on CCTV pushing a laden baggage trolley at the airport with two others they believed were the bombers. An unused explosive device was later found at the airport and a man was seen running away from the terminal after the explosions. Security experts believed the blasts, which killed about 20 on a metro train running through the area that houses European Union institutions, were probably in preparation before Friday's arrest of locally based French national Salah Abdeslam, 26, whom prosecutors accuse of a key role in the November 13 Paris attacks. "A photograph of three male suspects was taken at Zaventem. Two of them seem to have committed suicide attacks. The third, wearing a light-colored jacket and a hat, is actively being sought," prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told a news conference. The two men in dark clothes wore gloves on their left hands only. One security expert speculated they might have concealed detonators. The man in the hat was not wearing any gloves.
Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt headed a late goal to send the five-times European champions into the last 16 of the Europa League with a 1-0 victory over a defiant Sparta Prague at Anfield on Thursday.
Schalke 04 hit back from two goals down to draw 2-2 and overcome fellow Germans Borussia Moenchenglach on away goals in their Europa League last 16 tie while Manchester United edged Rostov 1-0 to progress on Thursday.
(Reuters) - Real Madrid, Manchester United and Paris St Germain reached the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday on a night when the goals flowed all over Europe with United the highest scorers in a 5-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen.
UEFA Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk were knocked out of the Europa League after being held to a 1-1 draw by visitors Fulham in their round of 32 tie Thursday. Former European champions Liverpool and Juventus progressed to the last 16 and Werder Bremen striker Claudio Pizarro scored a hat-trick as his side went through with a 4-1 win over former England manager Steve McLaren's Twente Enschede.
French club Olympique Lyon and Atletico Madrid of Spain booked their places in Thursday's draw for the Champions League group stages with convincing playoff wins on Tuesday.
Manchester United may field weakened teams in the league if a top-four finish seems beyond them in order to boost their chances of winning the Europa League, manager Jose Mourinho said.
Manchester United and Liverpool, English football's two most decorated clubs, were drawn together in the last 16 of the Europa League on Friday.
Real Madrid are determined to create an intimidating atmosphere for visitors VfL Wolfsburg as they try to overturn a two-goal deficit in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Olympique Lyon virtually guaranteed their place in the Champions League group stage for the 10th successive season after thumping Anderlecht 5-1 in the first leg of their playoff final on Wednesday.
There will be plenty of tension in the air in North London on Wednesday when out-of-sorts Arsenal face Borussia Dortmund seeking to qualify from the Champions League group stage for the 15th successive season.
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Karim Benzema came off the bench to score 13 minutes from time and ruin any chance of a dream result for resilient Ludogorets as holders Real Madrid carved out a patchy 2-1 win in Wednesday's Champions League Group B match.
Reports this weekend have claimed Bale will put pen to paper on a three-year deal with Jiangsu and earn a staggering one million pound per week as he leaves Real Madrid following a six-season stint during which the winger has won four UEFA Champions League titles and the 2017 La Liga crown.
UEFA banned two Girondins Bordeaux players on Tuesday for a total of five European club matches after ugly scenes during their UEFA Cup defeat by Anderlecht.
Arsenal and Galatasaray are facing disciplinary action after supporters of the Turkish club lit red flares and threw them onto the pitch, briefly holding up play, in their Champions League group match on Wednesday.
They were joined in the second knockout round by Bayer Leverkusen, who enjoyed a 5-1 demolition of Galatasaray, and now meet league rivals Hamburg SV, who dispensed with FC Zurich. Werder Bremen cruised through 4-0 on aggregate against Braga.
Manchester City failed in an audacious transfer deadline day move for Leicester City midfielder Riyadh Mahrez, British media reported on Wednesday.
It was an all too familiar sight for Arsene Wenger as Arsenal threw away a lead to lose 2-1 at Swansea City on Sunday and the Frenchman acknowledged his flaky team are becoming a cause for concern.
New Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp made it three wins from his last three matches with a 1-0 success at Rubin Kazan in Russia that left them second in Group B, two points behind Swiss club Sion on Thursday.
Michael Essien is poised to make a first international appearance in more than two years after being named as a surprise inclusion in Ghana's squad for a key World Cup qualifier against Zambia next month.
Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey scored a contender for goal of the season when he blasted home a 30-metre volley to help his team cruise past Galatasaray 4-1 to finish second in Champions League Group D.
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