Barcelona's Neymar struck twice to put the Spanish side in the Champions League final despite a 3-2 loss at Bayern Munich on Tuesday as they progressed 5-3 on aggregate and will face Real Madrid or Juventus next month.
Bayern Munich will not only have to overturn a 3-0 Champions League semi-final first leg deficit against Barcelona on Tuesday but they will have to do it against a superb defence and in the midst of their biggest slump in years.
Bayern Munich are on a mission with coach Pep Guardiola firing up his injury-hit team as they seek to reverse a 3-1 deficit against Porto in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The Bavarians have now won the German league title a record 29 times.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday.
Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-2 via penalties to enter the final of the World Cup on Wednesday. The teams were goalless at the end of 120 minutes, and extra-time in the second semi-final.
A summary of Saturday's football action across the world.
When Netherlands striker Robin van Persie put away a spectacular diving header against world champions Spain on a balmy afternoon at last year's World Cup it set them on the way to a 5-1 win and the promise of glory.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has gone on to become one of the Bundesliga's most prolific strikers since he was shunned at Real Madrid and will finally have a chance to show his former club what they are missing on Wednesday.
Runaway leaders Bayern Munich survived a torrid opening against Nuremberg, who hit the bar and had two players carried off injured in the first half hour, before hitting back for a 2-0 win in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Ahead of their high-profile clash on Saturday, check out the five standout clashes between Arsenal and Chelsea.
Real Madrid tore apart Bayern Munich's ragged defence with a ruthless first-half display as they thrashed the defending champions 4-0 in their own stadium to reach their first Champions League final for 12 years.
Juventus clinched a place in the Champions League knockout stages when a brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo assist set up Mario Mandzukic to give them a 1-0 win over Valencia on Tuesday.
Holders Bayern Munich eased past CSKA Moscow 3-1 on Wednesday to set a Champions League record with their 10th straight victory and underline their ambitions to become the first team to successfully defend the title.
Barcelona took a big step towards the Champions League semi-finals.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Cristiano Ronaldo converted one penalty, missed another and also scored from open play as Portugal beat Latvia 4-1 in their World Cup qualifier on Sunday. On a typically dramatic night for the Portugal captain, Ronaldo fired the European champions ahead from his first spot kick of the evening in the first half, but missed a chance to double their lead when his second effort struck the post.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Ten of the 16 sides also reached the same round two seasons ago and, as usual, the big five leagues dominate with 13 clubs hailing from either the English, Spanish, German, French and Italian leagues.
Barcelona snapped a four-match winless run in La Liga with a 4-2 home victory over title rivals Sevilla on Saturday to reclaim top spot but the triumph was marred by talisman Lionel Messi fracturing his arm and being ruled out for three weeks.
Lionel Messi was in inspired form as champions Barcelona hammered Celta Vigo 5-0 on Saturday, recording a fourth straight league victory which keeps them top of La Liga after Real Madrid had put the pressure on the Catalans with a 4-1 win at Eibar.
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.
Belgium became the first European team to qualify for next year's World Cup when a Romelu Lukaku header gave them a 2-1 win away to Greece on Sunday with the goals coming in a five-minute second-half spell.
Real Madrid were the big winners in Spain as their success at Almeria was followed by a Barcelona draw and a surprise Atletico Madrid defeat.
Brazilian soccer legend Pele is doing 'fine' and will be discharged from a Sao Paulo hospital early on Thursday after he was admitted for stomach pains, one of his aides said.
The goal machines of Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Shakhtar Donetsk cranked into top gear on Tuesday as the Champions League captivated its continental audience with a record 40 goals in one eight-game night.
Ruthless Bayern Munich scored five goals in the first 35 minutes on the way to a 7-1 demolition of AS Roma on Tuesday which bore an uncanny resemblance to Germany's win over Brazil by the same score in the World Cup semi-final.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Following this stunning turn-around of fortunes for Barcelona, here is a flashback of some of the best come-from-behind wins recorded in Europe's premier club competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his first five-goal haul in Real Madrid's 9-1 hammering of Granada while title-chasing Bayern Munich and Chelsea won again in Germany and England.
A summary of Tuesday's qualification matches next year's FIFA World Cup.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
(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.
Neymar scored twice as Barcelona reached the Champions League semi-finals.
Barcelona's Luis Suarez hit a brace and set up a double for a spritely Lionel Messi to score in his first start after injury in a rampant 6-1 Champions League victory over AS Roma on Tuesday.
Thiago Silva's extra-time header sent Paris St Germain into the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Following Bayern Munich's brilliant 7-4 (on aggregate) win over FC Porto in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, here's a look at a few memorable come-from-behind victories in Europe's premier football competition.
As Leicester City celebrates its Premier League triumph, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com salutes the man behind it.
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