A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Two late moments of Lionel Messi magic and a goal from Neymar helped Barcelona break the resistance of Bayern Munich in a pulsating 3-0 victory in their Champions League semi-final first leg at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.
La Liga players dominate this year's Best Player in Europe shortlist, announced by the continent's governing body UEFA on Monday, with seven of the top 10 contenders for the prestigious award currently plying their trade in Spain.
Moffi penalty gives Lorient 1-0 win over Monaco.
Players from European champions Barcelona made up nearly half of UEFA's Team of the Year which was revealed on Friday, while Cristiano Ronaldo made the lineup for a record 10th time. Eight players from La Liga were included in the final XI, voted for by 7.2 million UEFA.com users from a 40-strong shortlist. Lionel Messi, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Neymar were the Barcelona players included, while Real Madrid provided Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and James Rodriguez.
Paris St Germain suffered their first defeat of the season when they were beaten 2-0 at Stade Rennais on Sunday to drop their first Ligue 1 points of the season.
Atletico Madrid reached the Champions League final on away goals on Tuesday after a 2-1 defeat at Bayern Munich, in which both sides missed a penalty, with the exhilarating tie finishing 2-2 on aggregate.
Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski was named The Best FIFA Men's Player 2020 on Thursday, beating off competition from last year's winner Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Two goals from Antoine Griezmann helped hosts France overcome world champions Germany 2-0 on Thursday to reach the final of Euro 2016, a first competitive victory over their old rivals in 58 years. Twice winners France will face Portugal in Sunday's final in Paris after defending stoutly against a Germany side who dominated possession but conceded a needless first-half penalty before being picked off on the break in the second period.
Substitute Jamie Vardy scored with a stunning flick, his first international goal, and Eric Dier headed a last-gasp winner as England hit back from two goals down to beat old rivals Germany 3-2 in a friendly on Saturday. Germany appeared to be heading for a routine win when they led 2-0 through Toni Kroos and Mario Gomez, his first goal since Euro 2012, after an hour. But Harry Kane changed the course of the game with an opportunist goal before Vardy produced a moment of brilliance just three minutes after coming on as a substitute. Nathaniel Clyne crossed from the right and the Leicester City striker stuck his foot out behind his standing leg to flick the ball between Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and his near post. Then Dier rose above the Germany defence to score with a thumping downward header from Jordan Henderson's corner in the 91st minute.
In what was a thrilling match of end to end action, Germany powered past Ukraine by a 1-0 margin in their Euro 2016 Group C campaign-opening match in Lille on Sunday.
La Liga champions Barcelona fell to their first opening day defeat of the season in 11 years when they were beaten 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao thanks to a sensational late overhead kick from veteran striker Aritz Aduriz.
A round-up of Saturday's qualifying matches for the Euro 2020 Finals.
Bayern Munich's stellar season has been capped off with being crowned champions of Europe.
A breathtaking individual goal from Saul Niguez put Atletico Madrid in the box seat in their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich with a 1-0 victory in a tense first leg on Wednesday.
Defending world champions Germany crashed out of the World Cup after a shock 2-0 loss to South Korea on Wednesday, courtesy of two stoppage-time goals.
Unai Emery's Villarreal were much improved in the second half and had spurned numerous chances before Moreno's leveller.
Memphis Depay scored one goal and put in an exhilarating all-round display as the Netherlands outclassed Germany 3-0 in their UEFA Nations League clash.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer won the Golden Glove award for being the best goalkeeper of the World Cup. Argentina captain Lionel Messi had never scored at the world finals prior to Brazil 2014, a record he em
Eden Hazard finally scored his first goal for Real Madrid as his side beat second-placed Granada 4-2 in a highly entertaining game at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday to go four points clear at the top of La Liga.
Bayern Munich thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 5-1, while Barcelona came from behind to beat Valencia 3-1 in LaLiga at Camp Nou on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
In-form Borussia Moenchengladbach struck three times in 14 minutes in the second half to floor champions Bayern Munich 3-1 on Saturday and inflict their first Bundesliga defeat of the season.
Scotland's Clarke names uncapped trio in Euro squad.
Leon Goretzka's 86th minute goal gave Bayern Munich a 2-1 victory over visitors Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday, meaning they need to win just one of their last three matches to secure the Bundesliga title.
Undefeated Bayern Munich stumbled to a 0-0 draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday that ended a four-game winning streak in the league but they remain four points clear at the top.
Champions Bayern Munich scored a goal late in each half to beat promoted Union Berlin 2-0 on their return to the Bundesliga on Sunday after more than two months out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and protect their four-point lead at the top. League top scorer Robert Lewandowski converted a 40th minute spot kick and Benjamin Pavard headed in a corner in the 80th in an empty stadium, to keep the Bavarians in the driving seat for a record-extending eighth successive league title.
Professional athletes could be particularly vulnerable to falling seriously ill with the new coronavirus, the head of a global union representing them said on Thursday. Brendan Schwab, the executive director of the World Players' Association, added that some players are being asked to sign away rights that would normally give them legal and financial protection should they fall ill.
Ronaldo helped Real Madrid to a second consecutive Champions League title and finished as the tournament's top scorer with 12 goals earlier this year.
Images from Wednesday's action in the Champions League.
Liverpool thrashed Atalanta 5-0, Real Madrid boosted their chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stages with a 3-2 home victory over Inter Milan and Bayern Munich came from behind to crush RB Salzburg 6-2.
One goal determined the outcome of the Champions League final on Sunday but there could be no doubt that Bayern Munich deserve to be crowned European champions for the sixth time. With a 1-0 victory over Paris St Germain courtesy of Kingsley Coman's header, Bayern have achieved what no team have managed in Europe's elite club competition -- win every game.
Germany defence must get better despite opening win.
Germany coach Joachim Loew has named four talented youngsters, including three uncapped players, in his preliminary 27-man squad for Euro 2016.
Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League following a 3-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on Wednesday, failing to make it past the group stage of the competition for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Chelsea's Spanish striker Diego Costa was named along with usual suspects Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 23- man FIFA Ballon D'Or short-list released on Tuesday.
Bayern Munich summoned up all their famous resilience to oust Real Madrid in a nerve-jangling Champions League penalty shootout on Wednesday, denying Jose Mourinho's expensively-assembled side a tilt at a 10th European crown and setting up a final showdown against Chelsea next month.
Chelsea stunned Bayern Munich to win the Champions League for the first time after a penalty shootout in the Allianz Arena after a tension-soaked final had ended 1-1 after extra time on Saturday.
A look at how the Chelsea and Bayern Munich teams compare tactically and where the game might be won or lost ahead of the Champions League final at the Allianz Arena.
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