Ajax Amsterdam confirmed on Tuesday they are in talks with Real Madrid about the transfer of striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar but said no deal had yet been agreed.
The World Cup served up more nerve-shredding drama with Netherlands scoring two late goals to beat shattered Mexico 2-1 and 10-man Costa Rica bouncing back from conceding a stoppage time equaliser to oust Greece on penalties on Sunday.
Real Madrid, Manchester City, Arsenal and AC Milan suffered painful Champions League defeats on Wednesday which complicated their chances of progressing from an increasingly intriguing group stage.
Photograph of the World Cup game between Netherlands and MExico
Bundesliga leading scorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored twice and Raul was also on target in his last home appearance as Schalke 04 thumped woeful Hertha Berlin 4-0 on Saturday to qualify for next season's Champions League.
Bundesliga leaders Hoffenheim won 2-0 on Friday to send Schalke 04 slumping to their third successive league defeat on Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's debut.
Schalke 04 have signed Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Italian side AC Milan, coach Felix Magath said on Tuesday.
Schalke 04 won the German Cup for the fifth time on Saturday, crushing second division Duisburg 5-0 to book a Europa League spot as Manuel Neuer lifted the trophy in probably his final game for the club.
Real Madrid have decided midfielder Lassana Diarra will play in the Champions League knockout stages and not striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar, UEFA said on Monday following Sunday's deadline for registrations. The Spanish champions were forced to choose between the two new signings because of UEFA rules that state only one player can be registered who has already played in a UEFA competition with another club this season.
Netherlands striker Robin van Persie's petulant reaction to his substitution in their World Cup second-round victory on Monday could be the first hairline crack in the united front so far presented by the squad.
The Netherlands advanced to a second-round meeting with Slovakia in ominous style on Thursday when they beat Cameroon 2-1 to make it three wins out of three and secure top spot in Group E. After wins over Denmark and Japan, the Dutch were already assured of progress and the victory secured with goals by Robin van Persie and Klaas Jan Huntelaar guaranteed top spot.
Raul scored his 400th professional goal to set Schalke 04 on their way to an emphatic 4-0 win over VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday, handing visiting coach Felix Magath an unhappy return to the club he left just under one year ago.
AC Milan warmed up for next week's Champions League clash against Manchester United with a patchy 3-2 home win over Udinese in Serie A on Friday.
Schalke 04 striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar could not have dreamt of a better comeback after five months out when he scored the opening goal in his side's 3-0 victory at Hamburg SV on Sunday.
Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder and Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored second-half goals to hand the Netherlands a 3-0 home win over Japan in a low-key international friendly match on Saturday.
AC Milan have agreed a deal with Real Madrid to make Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar their first major signing of the close season.
The Netherlands staged a remarkable comeback to win 4-3 in Austria while European champions Greece beat Portugal 2-1 as all 16 Euro 2008 finalists contested friendlies on Wednesday. The Dutch were 3-0 down against Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria after 35 minutes but two late goals from strikers Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Klaas Jan Huntelaar gave them the win after they had clawed their way back into the match.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar struck twice to help Real Madrid register a 5-2 win at 10-man Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and cut Barcelona's lead at the top of the Primera Liga to three points.
Striker Raul set a club scoring record as Real Madrid swept aside Sporting Gijon 4-0 away on Sunday to cut Barcelona's lead at the top of the Primera Liga to 10 points.
Second-half goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie gave Netherlands a 2-0 triumph over Romania on Tuesday, wrecking their hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2008 quarter-finals. Huntelaar sidefooted home in the 54th minute from a right-wing cross by Ibrahim Afellay and Van Persie made sure of victory with a fierce left-foot drive in the 87th after expertly controlling a free kick by Demy de Zeeuw.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored twice as Ajax Amsterdam defeated arch-rivals Feyenoord 3-0 in the Dutch League on Sunday.
Inter Milan staged a fierce second-half fightback to draw 2-2 at Ajax Amsterdam.
Azeri champions Qarabag took a big step towards the playoff round with a 2-1 win at Cypriot side APOEL but Dinamo Zagreb left their progress hanging in the balance after the Croats played out a 1-1 home draw against Hungary's Ferencvaros.
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.
A solid defence helped Schalke 04 secure a 1-0 win at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday that lifted them above their rivals into third spot in the Bundesliga in the battle for Champions League places.
Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski made amends for several glaring misses when he scored a late goal and set up another as the German champions ground out a 2-0 win at battling Schalke 04 on Friday.
A stoppage time penalty from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar gave the Netherlands a dramatic 2-1 victory over Mexico in the second round of the World Cup on Sunday, minutes after the Mexicans seemed certain to reach the quarter-finals.
Second-placed Borussia Dortmund twice squandered the lead as they drew 2-2 at Schalke 04 in the Ruhr derby on Sunday, allowing leaders Bayern Munich to move closer to another Bundesliga title. A gem from Shinja Kagawa and an odd goal from Matthias Ginter put Dortmund ahead but the hosts hit back each time through Leroy Sane and a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar penalty. Bayern, who won 3-1 at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday, are seven points clear of Dortmund with only five matches left to play. Schalke are seventh with 45 points, behind Borussia Moenchengladbach, Bayer Leverkusen and Mainz on goal difference. Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel made eight changes to the line-up that drew 1-1 with Liverpool in the Europa League on Thursday as he rotated his side. There was little excitement in the first half where the best chances fell to Schalke as Sane struck the post from 20 metres and Junior Caicara fired a shot across the face of the goal, leaving Huntelaar waiting and furious in the middle. But the game dramatically came to life after the break.
Visitors Ajax had looked comfortable after former Southampton winger Tadic set up the first goal with a swerving cross before drilling home the second himself.
Treble winners Bayern Munich edged past Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 courtesy of a Mario Mandzukic volley on Saturday to equal their club record of 27 games without defeat as minnows Hoffenheim demolished Hamburg SV 5-1.
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Bayern Munich scraped past Hertha Berlin 1-0 courtesy of an Arjen Robben goal to stretch their lead at the top of the table to 10 points and extend their unbeaten Bundesliga run to 16 games over two seasons.
Ajax were joined by Young Boys, who stunned Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 away for a 3-2 aggregate win over the Croatians, and AEK Athens who scraped a 1-1 home draw with FC Vidi after a 2-1 win in the first leg in Hungary.
Former European champions Red Star Belgrade, Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic all made it comfortably through to the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday after surviving away legs.
Schalke 04 halted the Chelsea juggernaut when they drew 1-1 in their Champions League Group G opener at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, handing a wake-up call to the London club who had won their first four games of the season.
Unstoppable Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick, taking his tally to 10 goals in five Bundesliga games, as the defending champions thumped hapless Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 on Saturday.
It was the first time the US had beaten the Dutch whose defeat continued a run of mediocre results since they came third at last year's World Cup. It will also heap the pressure on them ahead of next week's vital Euro 2016 qualifier away to Latvia.
Schalke 04 are hoping their freshly-found discipline under new coach Roberto Di Matteo, coupled with his Champions League pedigree will help them beat Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday for their first win in the competition this season.
Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto urged referee Ravshan Irmatov to keep a close eye on Dutchman Arjen Robben in Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against the Netherlands.
Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored twice as Borussia Dortmund thrashed Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0 on Saturday to launch their season with a bang on coach Thomas Tuchel's Bundesliga debut with the club.
Bayer Leverkusen beat a second-string Bayern Munich 2-0 on Saturday to move up to third in the Bundesliga and get back on course for an automatic Champions League spot with three matches left in the season.
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