Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets has criticised their tactical and physical frailties after a 4-0 thrashing at Paris St Germain in the last 16 left them on the brink of their earliest Champions League exit in a decade.
Britain's Lewis Hamilton became Formula One world champion for the second time after winning the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday.
Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappe starred in PSG's win as they topped group A after thrashing Galatasaray 5-0. Juventus, who have already qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League, pumped in two goals to oust Leverkusen from the tournament, while Gabriel Jesus netted a hat-trick in Manchester City's 4-1 thumping of Dinamo Zagreb. Here are Images from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday
This week's collection of unbelievably unusual images from across the world.
Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg stormed to pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix in a mixed Saturday qualifying session for Mercedes, with world champion Lewis Hamilton left at the back of the grid after engine trouble prevented him setting a time.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday ahead of Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg as the Silver Arrows continued to underline their dominance.
"It was clear to me they were picking on me because of the colour of my skin," the victim, identified by Le Parisien as Souleymane, 33, said.
'I was actually with Serena last week in LA ... she came out to Mexico (for the race) which for me was a real honour to have someone of her power, someone who has achieved so much' 'Venus talks a lot about wisdom and about her growth and about the process of being a sportsman or sportswoman so generally from both of them, I take a lot of inspiration and admire them both hugely'
Paris St Germain coach Laurent Blanc criticised the new generation of footballers after defender Serge Aurier was suspended indefinitely by the French champions for insulting the former national team manager.
Portugal are ready to move up a gear when they face Croatia in their mouth-watering last-16 clash in Lens on Saturday, coach Fernando Santos said.
Euro 2016 upstarts Hungary have steadily improved during the group stage of the tournament and played their best football in Wednesday's pulsating 3-3 draw against Portugal, coach Bernd Storck said.
The thousands of Welsh supporters who have brought their nation's famed singing, not to mention plenty of plastic dragons, to a major tournament after a wait of more half a century are steeling themselves to hit the heights -- or rock bottom -- on Monday.
Croatia captain Darijo Srna still feels the pain of losing on penalties to Turkey at the 2008 European Championship, but refused to talk of revenge ahead of another meeting between the teams at Euro 2016 on Sunday. Croatia exorcised some of their demons by beating Turkey 3-0 on aggregate in a playoff to reach Euro 2012. But Sunday will be the first time the sides have met at a major tournament since that quarter-final in Vienna eight years ago when Semih Senturk's 122nd-minute strike cancelled out Ivan Klasnic's opener three minutes earlier to send the tie to penalties.
Voters in France have comprehensively snubbed the country's political establishment, sending far-right populist Marine Le Pen and political novice Emmanuel Macron through to the second round of the country's presidential election.
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Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez has been relying on second-string players to get the club through a mini injury crisis but should have several of his heavyweights back when Paris St Germain visit in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Barcelona's amazing 6-1 victory over Paris St Germain on Wednesday that sent them through to the Champions League quarter-finals will forever stay in the memories of supporters, coach Luis Enrique said.
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.
The four-time world champion's fifth win of the season for Mercedes left him on 213 points to 189 for Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who finished second, and relishing the prospect of a stress-free family holiday.
Neymar made his return to the pitch after a three-month injury lay-off as Paris St Germain celebrated their eighth Ligue 1 title with a 3-1 win against Monaco at the Parc des Princes on Sunday.
France striker Antoine Griezmann had looked slightly below par in their opening games at Euro 2016 and the host nation's fans feared he might be exhausted after a gruelling season. On Sunday, however, the speedy forward reassured them by scoring twice in quick succession to help Les Bleus tame Ireland 2-1 on Lyon's Parc OL pitch and advance to the quarter-finals.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos hauled off Ricardo Quaresma after the winger failed to follow his tactical instructions as they struggled to make their domination count in a 0-0 draw with Austria at Euro 2016 on Saturday.
Romania coach Anghel Iordanescu must decide whether veteran left back Razvan Rat can repel the danger of Xherdan Shaqiri in what could be the defining confrontation of his team's Euro 2016 clash with Switzerland on Wednesday.
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Mercedes had won eight of the nine previous races and their non-executive chairman Niki Lauda had stirred things up when he blamed Ferrari rather than his team's dominance for making the sport seem boring.
Uruguay crushed Ecuador 4-0 in their Copa America opener on Sunday with help from an early sending off that deflated their opponents and assured the 15-times champions the simplest of starts to their campaign.
Bayern Munich put upstarts RB Leipzig firmly in their place by sweeping to an emphatic 3-0 home win, with all the goals coming in the first half, in a disappointingly one-sided top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash on Wednesday.
Bastia forward Brandao has been sentenced to one month in prison for headbutting Paris St Germain midfielder Thiago Motta, a French tribunal said on Thursday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was again the chief tormentor as French champions Paris St Germain won 3-0 at Bastia to stay eight points clear at top of the Ligue 1 on Saturday.
The pole, Vettel's 47th, ended a run of 18 in a row for world champions Mercedes who had Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton right behind the two red cars in third and fourth places.
The Swedish striker has been in superb form this year for Paris St Germain, scoring eight goals in this season's Champions League - as many as Real Madrid's Ronaldo - to help the French side ease into the last 16.
Angel Di Maria delivered a near-perfect performance, scoring two and setting up another as runaway leaders Paris St Germain beat 10-man Olympique de Marseille 3-1 at home on Sunday.
Hosts France came from behind to beat 10-man Ireland 2-1 and reach the Euro 2016 quarter-finals after two second-half strikes from forward Antoine Griezmann at Parc OL on Sunday. A tactical switch from coach Didier Deschamps at the break revitalised the French, who struggled to find their feet early on after conceding a Robbie Brady penalty in the second minute, the fastest goal in the 2016 tournament.
Paris St Germain substitute Edinson Cavani, criticised by French media lacking composure in front of goal, responded in style to earn a 2-1 home win over Chelsea in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday.
Ivan Rakitic outshone Barcelona team mate Arda Turan as Croatia ran out 1-0 winners against Turkey at Euro 2016 on Sunday, a victory that was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.
The win lifted Hamburg, who needed a relegation playoff to stay up last season, to seventh on six points.
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The glass was half full for Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene after Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, even if Kimi Raikkonen filled it almost to the brim before sloshing the contents around.
Lewis Hamilton lapped in a league of his own on Saturday to seize pole position for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix with Mercedes team mate and championship favourite Nico Rosberg joining him on the front row.
Eric Choupo-Moting scored his third Ligue 1 goal of the season on Sunday but the Paris St Germain forward's incredible miss later in the game was the moment that will be remembered from his performance in Sunday's 2-2 draw against Racing Strasbourg.