Stopping the stars won't be enough to win World Cup
Holders Chelsea made light of their off-pitch problems to reach the Champions League quarter-finals by beating Lille 2-1 away on Wednesday to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory.
Virat Kohli was named as the ICC men's player of the month for October following following a series of star performances as India charged their way to the T20 World Cup semi-finals.
"We've once again shown the rest of the world that English football is healthy and we've got some players not only for now but for the future as well."
The home of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was burgled while he was steering his team to a vital Champions League win at Olympique Marseille.
Four-times champion Roger Federer was knocked out of the Masters Cup in Shanghai on Friday after a three-set defeat against Andy Murray.
Liverpool continued their revival with a 4-1 home win over Porto while Real Madrid lost 2-3 at Werder Bremen in Wednesday night's Champions League matches.
I want a room full of medals before retiring, says Chirag Shetty
Slovakia defender Milan Skriniar will be tasked with stopping Poland's Robert Lewandowski
Austria are the favourites in their Euro Group C opener against the Balkan nation
Germany complete comeback to beat Poland and lift United Cup
Juventus supporters coach Massimiliano Allegri has often been in his element when he is apparently on the back foot.
"They had a few biters, guys who are hot on your heels. Then you have to act quickly, and (we) could have dealt with that better. We should have done better in possession of the ball," said Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk.
Ambitious English county Somerset snapped up formidable Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardede on Thursday to partner explosive West Indian opener Chris Gayle for the domestic Twenty20 season. Jayawardene, the 38-year-old former test skipper, has scored 1,493 runs in 55 Twenty20 internationals and will feature in 12 of 14 domestic matches for the English county. "To have the top two run-scorers in the history of the World T20 walking out into the middle at Taunton is something that I hope the members and supporters will be looking forward to," Somerset director of cricket Matt Maynard said in a statement. Gayle, 36, who will play in the World Twenty20 semi-final against India later on Thursday, said in January, he would return for six Somerset matches this year after scoring 328 runs in three appearances for them last term.
The former European champions face the prospect of elimination from the Champions League should they lose to Villarreal.
The Netherlands and Sweden marched into the quarter-finals of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Arsene Wenger to decide on Arsenal future within two months
Inter Milan marched into the Champions League knockout stage after fortunate second-half goals from strikers Julio Cruz and Zlatan Ibrahimovic set up a 3-0 home win over Fenerbahce on Tuesday.
Sevilla claimed their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League and went top of Group H when they ended Arsenal's unbeaten run this season with a 3-1 comeback win on Tuesday.
Arsene Wenger remains confident his side can complete the double over Sevilla and finish top of Champions League Group.
Rafael Nadal blasted past Serb Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 to improve his record to 2-1 at the Masters Cup.
Manchester United routed Dynamo Kiev 4-0 while a goalless draw saw Arsenal through to the Champions League knockout stages.
Israel international Yossi Benayoun scored a hat-trick as the 2005 champions and runners-up last season overwhelmed Besiktas in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Arsenal and Manchester United will be looking to make it four wins out of four in the Champions League this week after playing out an enthralling 2-2 draw in the Premier League on Saturday.
India's campaign at the Sudirman Cup came to an end as they went down to Malaysia in the second Group C match.
Fernando Torres scored twice as Spain came back from a goal down to win 3-1 and snatch a place in the last 16.
Spain and Japan have six points and will play each other on Monday for top spot in the group
Maxwell also lauded the Afghan spinners for keeping things tight.
Both sides had already qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League and all that was at stake was first or second place in the group.
Racing Strasbourg, bottom of Ligue 1 and without a league win this season, secured their place in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup on Thursday with a 1-1 draw at AS Roma.
To emulate the West Indies of 1975 and Australia of 2003 and 2007, India must channel the same indomitable spirit in the final.
Celtic top the group with nine points, followed by United (9), Benfica (7) and FC Copenhagen (4).
A summary of Tuesday night's Champions League matches.
