If you ask Barcelona and Spain fans about their most cherished footballing memories over the past decade the chances are they will involve an exquisite intervention from midfield maestro Xavi.
Two brilliant strikes from Isco and a late goal from Alvaro Morata gave Spain a spectacular 3-0 win over Italy, their nearest challengers in Group G, to move into the driving seat for automatic qualification to the 2018 World Cup.
A Neymar double and a clinical finish from Luis Suarez handed Barcelona a comfortable 3-0 victory over BATE Borisov that put them on the verge of qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League for the 12th consecutive season.
It turned out to be a field day for India's young pugilists as they punched their way to an unprecedented nine medals, including four gold, in the Golden Glove of Vojvodina -- an international boxing tournament being held in Kikinda, Serbia.
Alan Pardew's dream of reprising a celebrated 25-year-old FA Cup triumph was scuppered by Liverpool as the seven-times champions came from behind to book a place in the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday. This year's shock-laden competition had continued with second-tier Blackburn Rovers' 4-1 thrashing of the Premier League's Stoke City.
Lazio won 2-0 at Legia Warsaw on Thursday to qualify for the Europa League knockout stages after a tie marred by violence when Italian fans fought with Polish police on the way to the stadium.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
NorthEast United struck twice in the second half in a remarkable turnaround to stun Mumbai City FC 2-0 in a Hero Indian Super League match which saw the home side reduced to nine men in the end in Mumbai.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino likes to erase bad memories and cherish good ones and it is a trait he hopes his players have acquired ahead of Saturday's clash at Premier League champions Manchester City.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The good news for Schalke 04's defenders as they prepare to face Chelsea in their opening Champions League Group G match on Wednesday is that striker Diego Costa is nursing a slight hamstring injury.
Chelsea struck the woodwork twice but could not find a breakthrough in an entertaining 0-0 Champions League draw at Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday that left everything to play for in Group G.
Atletico Madrid were handed a chance to avenge last season's Champions League final defeat by city rivals and record 10-times winners Real after the two sides were drawn together in the last eight on Friday. Paris St Germain and Barcelona were paired together having met in the group stage, with the French side winning in Paris and the Catalans coming out on top in Spain.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Jose Mourinho's Chelsea turned from domestic whipping boys back to European stalwarts on Wednesday, beating his former club Porto 2-0 to top Champions League Group G.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Holders Sevilla maintained their Europa League challenge with a 1-0 win over Rijeka in a winner-takes-all clash on Thursday.
In a nod to the domination of her sport, Simone Biles has already entered the debate as the greatest gymnast of all-time even though she has yet to turn a single somersault on the Olympic stage.
A summary of all the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
Jonatan Soriano's love affair with the Europa League continued as last season's top scorer grabbed a hat-trick on Thursday to help Salzburg become one of four teams to reach the knockout stages.
Jonathan Soriano scored an incredible goal from near the halfway line to complete a stunning 3-0 win for Salzburg away to once-mighty Ajax Amsterdam in the Europa League round of 32 on Thursday.
Rediff.com takes a look at a few other players who shunned champion sides for mediocre clubs in the Premier League.
An ambitious project to awaken a sleeping giant of Asian soccer looks like confirming Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's famous remark that India pricks up its ears only when comparisons with China are made. With China embarked on a multi-billion dollar mission to become a soccer superpower by 2050, India looks set to follow suit with its own plan to raise its status in the game to match its burgeoning economic power. Come October, India, most famously described as soccer's sleeping giant by former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, will launch a programme to engage more than 11 million children in soccer-related activities.
Wayne Rooney celebrated his 100th England cap by scoring a penalty to lead his team to a 3-1 win over Slovenia in a Euro 2016 Group E qualifier at Wembley on Saturday which only came to life after halftime.
Asked about the popularity of the Indian Super League, and whether FIFA will recognize it, secretary-general Jerome Valcke was quick to point out that for the world body there is only one league and that's the I-League. Manu Shankar reports
Bringing you all the news from the summer transfer window and other snippets from the soccer world...
'I think it's unacceptable what he does to Koscielny. He pushes him down, he hits him in the face. I do not understand Mike Dean's decision at all. Why does Diego Costa stay on the pitch and Gabriel is sent off?' 'If you want to speak about Diego Costa with me, it's just to say he played like he has to play and that's why you have full stadiums, you sell to television around the world for millions and millions because the game has to be played like that'
A round-up of Euro 2016 warm-up matches played on Sunday
This week's digest of stories that are weird, true and funny.
Following their 2-0 win over nine-member Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League game at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, NorthEast United FC's head coach Ricki Herbert said he was disappointed that his team couldn't defeat their under-strength opponents by a bigger margin.
Marathon man Kei Nishikori secured a monumental upset by sweating out a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 win over world number one Novak Djokovic at the U.S. Open on Saturday to become the first Japanese man to reach a Grand Slam final.
The mood turned somber at the 35th National Games after a young netball player lost his life in a freak accident.
The 'sleeping giant' woke up to a new dawn with the Indian Super League putting Indian football on the global map, but the national team continued to paint a grim picture, plummeting to its worst-ever rankings in an eventful year for the sport.
With eight teams remaining at Euro 2016, a guide to the form of the quarter-finalists, looking at their strengths and weaknesses.
Images from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
For Manchester United, the answer to a slump in form or a crisis of confidence comes in 50 pound notes. Millions of them.
Brazilian Andre Moritz dazzled the home crowd with a hat-trick of goals to power Mumbai City FC to a stunning 5-0 victory over state rivals FC Pune City in a Hero Indian Super League fixture.
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Bodh Gaya emerged as a centre that encouraged a continuous dialogue of civilisation, it has enabled India to re-forge her age old linkages with countries, who derived inspiration from Buddha's message of compassion. It is this dialogue that was sought to be interrupted by the dastardly attack, says Dr Anirban Ganguly.
Two hundred years after George Stephenson built the steam-powered Blucher, Open Knowledge pays tribute to 200 years of rail transport.
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