England forward Raheem Sterling joined Chelsea on a five-year contract from Manchester City, the two English Premier League clubs announced on Wednesday.
Porto deservedly beat Braga 1-0 to win the Europa League after a superb header by Colombian striker Falcao decided the first all-Portuguese final of a European competition on Wednesday.
A summary of Thursday's matches in the Europa League.
England will head to the World Cup on the back of a six-match winless sequence but with at least some pride and confidence restored after a thrilling 3-3 draw at home to Germany in the Nations League on Monday.
A summary of Saturday's action in the UEFA Nations League.
There were, however, no eye-catching major deals in the final 24 hours of transfer activity for European clubs which continues the trend of recent January windows.
Kazakhstan's Astana fought back to beat a youthful Manchester United side 2-1 at home, Arsenal's woes continued as Frankfurt's Daichi Kamada scored twice to secure a 2-1 win.
Udinese missed out on the Champions League for the second season running on Tuesday, losing on penalties to Braga in the play-offs after a comical shoot-out miss to leave Italy with only two clubs in Europe's top competition.
Photos of the Champions League game that were played on Tuesday.
Barcelona were held 1-1 at home by Napoli in the first leg of their Europa League knockout stage playoff
IMAGES from Europa League matches played on Thursday.
Check out the red carpet arrivals at amfAR gala this year.
Werder Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese saved two first-half penalties as the Bundesliga side began their UEFA Cup campaign with a 3-0 win over Braga.
Manchester United, winners of the competition in 2017, will have a lot of travelling to do to Eastern Europe after being drawn alongside Kazakhstan side Astana, Serbia's Partizan Belgrade and Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
Juergen Klopp's Europa League nightmare came true on Friday when his Liverpool side was drawn to meet former club Borussia Dortmund in next month's quarter-finals.
The FIFA 2022 World Cup will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday, November 20. Here is a list of the 26-man squads playing in the quadrennial global football extravaganza.
Harry Kane netted his 200th goal for Tottenham Hotspur as they won 3-1 at Ludogorets and AC Milan's 24-match unbeaten run ended
Images from action in the Europa League matches on Thursday.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp enjoyed a satisfying return to Borussia Dortmund as his new side frustrated his former charges and claimed a valuable away goal to draw 1-1 in their Europa League quarter-final, first leg on Thursday.
A bar owner in Brazil who looks like Osama bin Laden is expecting business to boom when the crowds come for the World Cup.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur built hefty leads with emphatic away wins in their Europa League last 32 first-leg matches but AC Milan were held to a 2-2 draw at Red Star Belgrade as the competition resumed on Thursday.
Manchester United head to Premier League leaders Chelsea on Sunday with Alex Ferguson admitting that not only is he worried about his porous defence but he now has a problem in attack - albeit a "good" one.
Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra will be rested for Manchester United's Champions League clash against Braga on Tuesday ahead of the Premier League match against Chelsea, manager Alex Ferguson said on Monday.
Manchester United winger Nani will not be sold in the January transfer window, manager Alex Ferguson said on Sunday in dismissing media reports that the Portuguese international could leave Old Trafford.
Malaga gave themselves an excellent chance of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time by beating Panathinaikos 2-0 at home in the first leg of their playoff on Wednesday.
Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa has been ruled out for up to four weeks with a knee injury, manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday.
Bruges scored four times in the last 17 minutes to beat Maribor 4-3 in the Europa League on Wednesday while Atletico Madrid and PAOK Salonika were among six teams to qualify for the knockout stage.
Portuguese trio Porto, Benfica and Braga reached the Europa League semi-finals in contrasting styles as Europe's second-string club competition produced another goal feast on Thursday.
Liverpool and Ajax Amsterdam, who have won the European Cup nine times between them, failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League after making embarrassing exits from the competition on Thursday.
Sevilla's failure to qualify for the Champions League group stages has put coach Antonio Alvarez's future in doubt before La Liga has even started.
Arsenal hope to complete a full set of English clubs going into the Champions League knockout phase on Wednesday though there could be a few anxious faces at The Emirates when they take on Partizan Belgrade.
Inter Milan midfielder Christian Eriksen scored his first goal for the club since last month's move from Tottenham Hotspur to set up a 2-0 win at Ludogorets Razgrad in their Europa League last 32, first leg on Thursday. Getafe pulled off a surprise 2-0 home win over last year's Champions League semi-finalists Ajax Amsterdam, while Manchester United were held 1-1 at Club Brugge in wet and windy conditions. Wolverhampton Wanderers' Diogo Jota scored a second successive hat-trick in the competition to lead his side to a 4-0 victory over Espanyol and Arsenal won 1-0 at Olympiakos Piraeus with a late Alexandre Lacazette goal.
Arsene Wenger spoke in a calm, almost matter-of-fact fashion after his Arsenal side had torn Braga to shreds on Wednesday.
Any sliver of a doubt over whether Cristiano Ronaldo would lead Portugal into the Euro 2016 was erased on Tuesday when he was named in their 23-man squad for the finals.
Sevilla and Valencia recorded opening day wins in La Liga, helping dispel some of the doubts surrounding their abilities to challenge for honours this season.
Round up of the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas could be out of action for upto three weeks after injuring his hamstring in Tuesday's Champions League defeat by Braga, manager Arsene Wenger has said.
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