Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Goetze will miss Saturday's Champions League final against Bayern Munich due to a thigh muscle injury, the Bundesliga club said on Wednesday.
Borussia Dortmund bounced back after slumping to their fourth straight Bundesliga defeat against Hanover 96 at the weekend, cruising past second tier St Pauli 3-0 on Tuesday to reach the German Cup third round.
Manchester United took over at the top of the Premier League while Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi could be out for up to two months with a knee injury and rampant Bayern Munich extended their perfect start to seven league wins.
Bayern Munich cruised into a first all-German Champions League final when they routed Barcelona 3-0 at the Nou Camp on Wednesday to secure a crushing 7-0 aggregate success.
Long-serving Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger can do very little to salvage even pride from what looks like being another trophyless season after Tuesday's 3-1 Champions League home defeat by Bayern Munich.
The Bayern Munich juggernaut rolled on with a 3-1 first-leg win over an Arsenal side lacking confidence and ill-equipped to stop the German giants seizing control of their Champions League last 16 tie on Tuesday.
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Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has drawn comparisons between his team's upcoming Europa League quarter-final, second-leg clash against Borussia Dortmund and playing the FIFA video game. Dortmund, second in the Bundesliga, travel to Anfield for the return leg on Thursday having conceded an away goal in the 1-1, first-leg draw in Germany, and Sturridge drew the unusual parallel to describe his emotions before the game. "It's like when you're playing a final on FIFA and you're playing against your mate. You've all put 20 pounds ($28.46) in the middle and there's 100 pounds. "The pressure's on, your palms are sweaty, but as you get into the game, the nerves go away and you enjoy it. And that's exactly what it's like," he told his club's website.
Bayern Munich demolished Schalke 04 4-0 with two goals from David Alaba to open a 15-point gap at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday as champions Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen slipped up.
VfB Stuttgart edged past surprise package Freiburg 2-1 on Wednesday to set up a German Cup final against Bayern Munich and secure a European spot for next season.
Xherdan Shaqiri scored one goal and set up three and substitute Mario Gomez notched a quick hat-trick as Bayern Munich, chasing a treble of titles, crushed VfL Wolfsburg 6-1 on Tuesday to move into the German Cup final.
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.
Injured Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben is unlikely to recover in time for the side's Champions League quarter-final return leg in Benfica next week, coach Pep Guardiola said on Friday.
Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski scored eight minutes from time to give champions Borussia Dortmund a nervous 2-1 win at 10-man VfB Stuttgart on Saturday and delay the all but inevitable Bayern Munich title party by at least a week.
Bayern Munich have appointed former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola to replace Jupp Heynckes from the end of this season, the Bundesliga club said on Wednesday.
"I want to reach the highest level possible as a player and I think the most important thing is that at the end of the season we can be happy and maybe have some titles," playmaker De Bruyne told the City website (www.mcfc.co.uk).
A wrap of the football matches played across Europe over the weekend.
Barcelona have one hand firmly on the La Liga title after winning 2-0 at Alaves on Tuesday, leaving them 12 points clear at the top of the table with four games to play.
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Fourth division club Carl Zeiss Jena stunned Hamburg SV 3-2 in the German Cup on Sunday, taking the scalp of the Bundesliga's former European champions to cause the biggest sensation of the competition's first round.
The English top flight was the earliest of the major European leagues to start this season, kicking off on Aug. 10, a week before Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A and a fortnight ahead of Germany's Bundesliga.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Arsenal led a list of nine clubs who grabbed a second win in as many games in the Europa League group phase as France striker Olivier Giroud scored his 100th goal for the club in a 4-2 win at BATE Borisov on Thursday.
Stuttering La Liga leaders Barcelona suffered their second defeat by Real Madrid in five days when they went down 2-1 at the Bernabeu in Saturday's 'Clasico'.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich effortlessly cruised to a 1-0 victory at Hoffenheim on Sunday courtesy of a Mario Gomez goal that kept them on course for the title with a 17-point advantage at the top.
VfL Wolfsburg parted ways with coach Dieter Hecking on Monday after their disappointing start to the Bundesliga season, the club said.
The Bavarians advanced to the German Cup last four after eliminating holders Dortmund, who had also won back-to-back league titles in 2011 and 2012, with a sparkling performance.
He will become Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's second signing following the arrival of Germany forward Andre Schuerrle from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen last month.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has ridden out periods of turbulence in what is certain to be eight successive trophyless seasons of domestic disappointment but the heat is back on when Bayern Munich visit in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Runaway leaders Bayern Munich won 2-0 at VfL Wolfsburg on Friday with goals from Mario Mandzukic and Arjen Robben to move a massive 18 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
Germany midfielder Julian Draxler has joined Paris St Germain on a four-and-a-half year contract from VfL Wolfsburg, the French champions said on Tuesday. The 23-year-old was a member of the victorious Germany squad at the 2014 World Cup. "For the first time in my career I will discover a new country, a new league and I am very proud to take this step in one of the best clubs in Europe," Draxler said in a club statement.
Images from football matches played across Europe over the weekend.
Mario Mandzukic scored one goal and created the other as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich pulled 11 points clear of their nearest title rivals with a 2-0 victory at VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.
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.
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The 32-year-old German, who signed for United at the start of last season, has fallen out of favour since manager Jose Mourinho arrived at the club at the start of the current campaign.
Bayern Munich are brimming with confidence ahead of Wednesday's Champions League Group F clash at home to France's Lille with president Uli Hoeness labelling their current form as "football art".
Images from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Five-time European champions Liverpool are in the quarter-finals of this year's competition
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