When France meet Portugal in Sunday's Euro 2016 final, the outcome is likely to depend on the performances of Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann -- the second time the two players have clashed with a European trophy at stake in six weeks. Portugal's Ronaldo steered Real Madrid to their Champions League triumph at the end of May after his French rival Griezmann missed a penalty for city rivals Atletico.
Portugal head into Sunday's Euro 2016 final after another disciplined performance, proving again in their 2-0 win over Wales that they perform like a well-rehearsed orchestra rather than a solo act. That has a huge amount to do with their 61-year-old conductor and coach Fernando Santos who took charge in September 2014, vowing to put "tactics first and technical ability second".
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Here are talking points from the weekend's Premier League action:
Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas says the signing of Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois has not affected his desire to remain at the triple European champions as he emphatically ruled out leaving the club in order to be assured of first team football.
Having reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals without winning a game in 90 minutes it is probably time for Portugal fans to stop worrying about their misfiring forwards and instead give credit to the coach and defenders who have got the to the last four.
Manchester United climbed two places up to second in the Premier League after Marcus Rashford scored deep into stoppage time to give them a fortuitous 1-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday.
Images from the Nations League matches.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Imperious Liverpool extended their Premier League home winning streak against Arsenal to six on Saturday with an easy 4-0 victory that lifted them to second in the table.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Radamel Falcao answered Zlatan Ibrahimovic's early opening goal for Paris St Germain with a quick equaliser for a 1-1 draw that kept Monaco top of Ligue 1 on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
New coach Luciano Spalletti failed to inspire AS Roma as they were held 1-1 at home by bottom club Verona on his debut on Sunday and Juventus notched their 10th Serie A win in a row by hammering Udinese 4-0 away.
Photos from the UEFA Champions League last 16 first leg-matches played on Wednesday
A summary of Saturday's matches in the English Premier League.
France substitute Kylian Mbappe engineered two late goals to rescue a 2-2 draw against Iceland and spare the blushes of the world champions in their friendly.
Lionel Messi came off the bench to preserve Barcelona's unbeaten run in La Liga with a sensational late equaliser in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Sevilla on Saturday as the runaway leaders came back from two goals down in the space of a minute.
Roberto Firmino's goal gave Brazil a 1-0 victory over Chile in a feisty friendly at the Emirates Stadium in London on Sunday, their eighth successive win since last year's disappointing World Cup campaign.
Javier Hernandez's late strike kept Real Madrid on course for a record-extending 11th European Cup crown with a 1-0 win over 10-man Atletico Madrid in a tense quarter-final at the Bernebau on Wednesday.
IMAGES from Saturday's English Premier League matches.
The policy of buying players cheap and selling them for a higher price a few years on is a business model that worked well for clubs like Atletico Madrid and FC Porto. With the transfer window open for the next few weeks, Rediff.com takes a look at clubs that made smart deals over the years.
Schuerrle hits treble for the world champs; Lewandowski helps Poland thrash Georgia
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