News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Southampton's 15 million pound ($19.19 million) purchase of Lazio centre back Wesley Hoedt brought the overall spend by England's 20 elite clubs to a record 1.184.9 billion pounds.
Coutinho has as many man-of-the match awards in this tournament as Neymar has different haircuts.
Managerless Tottenham Hotspur face a long trip to Ukraine for a meeting with former boss Juande Ramos after being drawn against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the last 32 of the Europa League.
The 30-year-old won the men's Olympic 17-lap 224.4 km course road race.
Manchester United, Sevilla and Celtic led a parade of clubs with continental pedigree to book the first places in this season's Europa League knockout stage.
Brazil have shown all the signs they can rule the world yet again in Russia but they must make their excellent preparations count in their World Cup Group E opener against a resilient Switzerland side on Sunday in Rostov.
Andros Townsend prospered in the glare of the spotlight as he netted his first Premier League goal in Tottenham Hotspur's 2-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday to continue what he called the best few weeks of his life.
Brazil coach Tite has recalled veteran central defender Thiago Silva to his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Venezuela.
Brazil forward Robinho ended his third spell at Santos on Tuesday with local media reporting he was set to join up with former Selecao coach Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Little more than a year has gone by since Tite took over as coach of a Brazil side still reeling from embarrassing exits in the World Cup and Copa America but in that short time he has transformed the team into favourites for Russia 2018.
Willian and Lionel Messi scored as Chelsea and Barcelona finished 1-1 after an absorbing first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Tuesday, while Bayern Munich, helped by two typical Thomas Mueller goals and two from Robert Lewandowski, romped to a 5-0 home win over Besiktas.
A second-string Spain celebrated coach Vicente del Bosque's two-year contract extension with a 2-1 away win over Equatorial Guinea in a friendly on Saturday that was marred by an injury to Xabi Alonso.
Denmark international Christian Eriksen showed that Tottenham Hotspur still have plenty to look forward to following the sale of Gareth Bale with a hugely impressive debut in their 2-0 win over Norwich City in the Premier League on Saturday.
Robert Lewandowski struck twice as champions Bayern Munich eased past Freiburg 3-1 on Saturday to secure a record 15th win in a row and the Pole became the first foreign player to score 33 goals in a Bundesliga season. Erling Haaland scored twice as Borussia Dortmund beat closest challengers RB Leipzig 2-0 away on Saturday to wrap up second place in the Bundesliga.
Tottenham Hotspur's American international forward Clint Dempsey has returned home to the United States to play Major League Soccer (MLS).
In the earlier match on the night, Ghana beat debutants Niger 2-0, face Mali in quarters
Barcelona abandoned their hopes of signing Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool after the Merseyside club demanded 200 million euros ($237.14 million) for the Brazil attacking midfielder, the Liga side's director Albert Soler said.
Liverpool laboured to a 2-0 win over Denmark's Midtjylland on Tuesday as a goal from Diogo Jota and a Mohamed Salah penalty secured a hard-fought Champions League Group D victory at Anfield.
Brazil roared in the World Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory over Mexico on Monday as Neymar shone with a goal and an assist that dumped the central Americans out at the last 16 stage for the seventh straight occasion.
Philippe Coutinho's versatility makes him a great acquisition for Barcelona, coach Ernesto Valverde said on Sunday as the Brazilian made his first public appearance at the Nou Camp following his 142-million-pound ($192.57-million) move from Liverpool.
Brazil star Neymar scored a stunning free-kick as he led the World Cup hosts to a 2-0 friendly win over South Korea in Seoul on Saturday.
Tottenham Hotspur reached agreement to sign Argentine forward Erik Lamela from AS Roma for a club record fee of 35 million euros ($46.29 million) on Friday and also welcomed Romanian defender Vlad Chiriches.
IMAGES from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
The football fans in Kochi will get a chance to witness a fascinating contest between Brazilian attacking flare and Spanish 'tiki-taka' possession football in what could be a final before the final of this tournament.
Atalanta forward German Denis took advantage of shocking defending by Napoli to score twice in a 3-0 win over Rafael Benitez's exasperatingly inconsistent team on Sunday.
Robinho came off the bench to head home the winner in Brazil's 2-1 victory over Chile on Tuesday, taking his personal tally to nine against their South American rivals and boosting his chances of playing at next year's World Cup finals.
The 28-year-old striker, who scored 30 goals in 46 appearances for Valencia last season, is part of a growing number of Spain internationals who are leaving their homeland to play in the English Premier League.
Lionel Messi scored his 12th league goal of the season but Barcelona had to rely on exceptional saves from Marc-Andre ter Stegen as they rode their luck to win 2-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and stay four points clear at the top of La Liga.
Tottenham Hotspur sacked coach Andre Villas-Boas on Monday, a day after the London club were thrashed 5-0 at home by Liverpool, the Premier League club said on their website (www.tottenhamhotspur.com).
Tottenham Hotspur stormed back from 2-0 down to beat Burnley 4-2 in their FA Cup third-round replay on Wednesday despite resting their top striker in the once-fabled competition.
Brazilian striker Neymar was named as the best player of the Confederations Cup after he helped Brazil seal a 3-0 win over world champions Spain in the final on Sunday, then said he would need minor throat surgery before his move to Barcelona.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele scored twice and produced a mesmerising display to fire his side to a 5-1 win over Villarreal on Wednesday which stretched the champions' unbeaten run this season to 36 games with two remaining.
A bizarre own goal briefly gave Serie A leaders Juventus the jitters, triggering memories of last week's dramatic collapse at Verona, before they recovered to beat lowly Chievo 3-1 on Sunday.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo struck his fifth international hat-trick, including a spectacular volleyed opener, to lead the European champions to a 5-1 win over the Faroe Islands in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday.
Two goals in three minutes from Napoli's Goran Pandev were not enough to secure victory as his side threw away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 at home to Udinese in an end-to-end Serie A thriller on Saturday.
The Frenchman has failed to bring in any of his top targets in the close season and said he is still in the market for some new talent before Monday's transfer deadline.