Jude Bellingham converted a penalty and Kylian Mbappe added another goal before halftime to spur Real Madrid to a 2-0 victory over Getafe.
Classy Croatia handed Argentina a 3-0 drubbing to claim a place in the World Cup knockout stage thanks to goals by Ante Rebic, Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic in their Group D match on Thursday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the 500th club goal of his career
The club said in a statement that they will observe a period of self-isolation in accordance with league and UK Government protocols on quarantine.
Croatia will need their big-game players to step up.
The two key moments happened within six seconds of each other early in the match played behind closed doors at the Allianz Stadium.
Fiorentina hit four goals before halftime, including a cheeky backheel by Gonzalo Rodriguez and a Panenka-style penalty from Khouma Babacar, to beat Frosinone 4-1 and join Inter Milan at the top of Serie A on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said Argentina look lost and have no leadership after the 3-0 loss to Croatia which left them on the verge of a disastrous early exit from the World Cup, in an audio message leaked to Spanish and Argentine radio stations.
Ivan Perisic scored a stunning second half equaliser as Croatia pegged back Czech Republic for a 1-1 draw in Group D on Friday, keeping their slim hopes alive of qualifying to the European Championship knockout stages.
Croatia achieved their best-ever result in the tournament in losing Sunday's match to France, surpassing the third place finish of 1998.
Croatia progressed to the semi-finals of the World Cup after a second successive penalty shootout on Saturday but their inability to put away another unimpressive team over 90 minutes and extra time is a major worry for the Balkan side.
The 51-year-old, who was part of Croatia's 1998 World Cup squad that finished third in France, comes with an experience of over 18 years in coaching, structuring, and developing football and players back home, and internationally.
England fought back to qualify for the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League as Harry Kane and Jesse Lingard scored late goals in a pulsating 2-1 victory over Croatia, who were relegated from Group A4 after defeat at Wembley on Sunday.
A round-up of Saturday's action in LaLiga, Ligue 1 and Serie A.
Real Madrid dug deep in a 3-0 home win against lowly Alaves in the La Liga, but Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain their second Ligue 1 loss of the season.
They can now dream of going one better than their third-place finish in 1998, which marked their first participation in the World Cup finals as an independent nation.
Croatia's euphoric media ran out of superlatives as they hailed the Balkan nation's stunning World Cup win over Argentina which propelled them into the competition's knockout stages for the first time since the 1998 tournament when they finished third.
Jorge Sampaoli took the blame for Thursday's shambolic 3-0 World Cup defeat by Croatia as he tried to deflect the criticism from a terrible goalkeeping mistake and a poor performance by his captain Lionel Messi.
Fans protested against Monday night football in the Bundesliga as Eintracht Frankfurt beat visiting RB Leipzig 2-1, delaying the start of both halves of the match, the second by throwing hundreds of tennis balls onto the pitch.
Croatia will be ready for both versions of Russia, says Perisic
Croatia came back after conceding in the opening minute to defeat Denmark 3-2 in the penalty shoot-out and earn a World Cup quarter-final berth, after the two sides drew 1-1 in the Round of 16 match on Sunday.
Immobile strikes in Lazio's win, in contention for golden boot. IMAGES from the Serie A matches played on Wednesday.
World Cup: When wingers gave Croatia flight
Hosts Russia have exceeded expectations after advancing to the World Cup quarter-finals with a win on penalties over Spain but they will need more firepower if they are to give Croatia a run for their money on Saturday.
Images from soccer matches played across Europe on Saturday.
Images from football matches played in Europe on Friday.
Javier Hernandez came off the bench to help Mexico reach the last 16 of the World Cup as their watertight defense and swift counter attacks gave them a 3-1 win against Croatia on Monday to emerge from Group A as runners-up behind Brazil.
AC midfielder Franck Kessie scored from a penalty to give AC Milan a 2-2 draw away to Napoli in Serie A on Sunday, sparing the blushes of his goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma whose mistakes provided the hosts with both their goals. Sevilla closed in on Champions League qualification by beating struggling Real Mallorca 2-0 at home to open up a nine-point gap in the race for fourth spot in La Liga.
Croatia ruthlessly exposed England's limitations in the second half of the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday as Zlatko Dalic's side fought back to secure a famous 2-1 extra-time victory.
"Since 2008 we have never gone beyond this first knockout game and it was very important for us to get that monkey off our back," Modric said.
Third-placed Inter Milan scored twice in the last six minutes through Stefan De Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni to snatch a 2-1 win at Parma in Serie A on Sunday despite a subdued display. The scarcely-deserved victory left Inter eight points behind leaders Juventus and four adrift of second-placed Lazio with 10 games each to play.
Images from football matches played in La Liga and Serie A in Spain and Italy on Wednesday.
A diving header from Mario Mandzukic took a deflection off the Nigerian midfielder and crept into the goal for a deserved lead as Croatia dominated the count of chances created in the first 45 minutes.
Levante striker Roger Marti brushed off squandering a penalty to score the winning goal as his side pulled off a shock 2-1 La Liga victory at Real Madrid
Lionel Messi was at the top of his game as Barcelona earned a 3-2 win at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday to move up to third in La Liga.
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.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Lionel Messi scored his maiden goal for Paris St Germain in Tuesday's 2-0 Champions League victory against Manchester City.
Napoli brush aside lowly Crotone to go third in Serie A.
Images from the Champions League football matches played on Wednesday night.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances