Manchester City have dominated English football in recent years under Pep Guardiola, although they finished second to Liverpool in the Premier League this season, but have yet to add Europe's most coveted prize to their trophy cabinet.
Bayern Munich may be missing some of their biggest names when they travel to Porto for the first leg of their Champions League last eight on Wednesday but the Germans are confident they have enough firepower to defend their favourites tag.
Manchester City reached their fourth straight League Cup final as second-half goals from John Stones and Fernandinho gave Pep Guardiola's side a 2-0 win over Manchester United in Wednesday's semi-final at Old Trafford.
After the reigning English Premier League champions suffered a shocking 0-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth on Saturday, will Jose Mourinho continue to lead the defending champions for the second half of the season? Here's a look the men who could take over at Stamford Bridge.
Guardiola expects this season's Premier League title race to be more open than last season's
Rafael Nadal has issued a rallying cry and called on Spanish athletes to help raise 11 million euros ($12.07 million) to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. Spain is one of the most badly affected countries in the world with over 56,000 cases and the parliament voted to extend the coronavirus lockdown to at least April 12 after the death toll rose to over 4,000 by Thursday.
Manchester City have won many admirers in their 'wonder season' but need more trophies to be considered the best Premier League team ever, ex-Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs has said.
A preview of the line-up action in the English Premier League
Kevin de Bruyne's first-half penalty and a superb strike by Raheem Sterling after the break earned holders Manchester City a comfortable 2-0 away win at Newcastle United in the weekend's last FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday.
They say never go back, but United fans had been longing for Ronaldo to rejoin their side for many years, more in forlorn hope than anything else.
Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is doubtful for their Super Cup game against Chelsea on Friday in Prague after straining his ankle in a 1-1 Bundesliga draw at Freiburg on Tuesday.
German international Ilkay Gundogan scored twice and was at the heart of City's hugely impressive display as Pep Guardiola's side delivered the kind of football that took them to title wins in 2018 and 2019.
Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has joined Serie A side Torino on loan until the end of the season, the player's agent confirmed on Tuesday. The 29-year-old has been out of favour at Manchester City since the arrival of new manager Pep Guardiola and dropped to number three in the pecking order behind 17 million pound ($22.23 million) signing Claudio Bravo and Willy Caballero.
Should Manchester United win their next two games, the gap will be cut to four points and while only a collapse of astonishing proportions would deny Manchester City the title.
UEFA had banned City from European competition for two years after ruling they had breached Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations but City won an appeal last month to have that verdict and sanction overturned.
Four players tested positive for coronavirus in the latest batch of tests conducted by the English Premier League and announced on Wednesday. Russian Premier League club Lokomotiv Moscow said on Thursday that four of its players had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Images from Saturday's action in the Premier League.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
'Soul might not win trophies. But, unlike trophies, soul actually matters,' says Shougat Dasgupta.
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola says there is no way of stopping Barcelona's Lionel Messi in his present form ahead of their Champions League semi-final clash on Wednesday.
Images from Saturday's action in the Premier League.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Bayern Munich have all but secured their third consecutive Bundesliga title and victory over Hertha Berlin could see them clinch it as early as this weekend.
The 55-year-old Ernesto Valverde, who led Barcelona to successive La Liga titles in 2018 and 2019, came under fire this season for the team's dip in performance levels even though they top the league standings at the halfway point of the campaign.
Champions Bayern Munich opened up an eight-point lead in the Bundesliga at the start of the German season's one-month winter break by beating Hanover 96 1-0 on Saturday amid mounting speculation over the future of coach Pep Guardiola.
ManchesterCity manager Pep Guardiola has expressed doubts over whether Manchester United can challenge for the Premier League title but believes they have a realistic chance of finishing in the top four.
Defeat left United in sixth spot, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, who they face this weekend.
'It's not easy to handle a team at a big, big club... always demanding to win competitions and every manager needs time. I have the feeling United started to play the way he wants'
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester City and Everton players took to the field wearing Ukrainian flags before their Premier League game on Saturday while there were anti-war messages at stadiums elsewhere following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus failed to find the net in over 700 minutes on the pitch in a run of 10 games between October and November for club and country, as City struggled to keep pace in the Premier League title race and dropped to third. Jesus is City's second-choice striker behind Sergio Aguero and he had admitted to being frustrated earlier this season when Pep Guardiola benched him in favour of the Argentine.
Says Real Madrid weaker without the Portuguese
Given the improvements at Chelsea and Arsenal, it will still be a significant achievement for United to secure a top four finish and in the Champions League, a decent run in the knockout stages would also be a sign of progress.
City are 18 points clear of second-placed Liverpool after beating Chelsea 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday and need just four wins from their final nine games to be sure of the title.
Having left it late to earn a 3-2 win in the first leg, City took a while to hit their stride at The Etihad on Tuesday but when they did Guardiola's team produced a magnificent attacking display that will ring alarm bells around Europe.
Images from the UEFA Champions League group matches played on Tuesday night
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
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