New Chelsea signing Loic Remy grabbed the only goal as France squeezed past 2010 world champions Spain 1-0 in a friendly at the Stade de France.
A subdued Fernando Torres helped Atletico Madrid to a 2-0 win over local rivals Real in the first leg of their King's Cup last-16 tie on Wednesday in his first start since his return to his boyhood club.
A factbox on Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi
As the mercurial Messi rings in his 28th birthday, Rediff.com brings you all the exciting moments from the ace footballer's life.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Vice President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday left Lima for the first ever bilateral visit to Cuba by a top Indian leader after a "landmark" tour of Peru during which four agreements were signed.
Vice-President Hamid Ansari embarks on an important Latin American visit, heralding that resource-rich continent's importance to India.
Real Madrid and Barcelona pulled two points clear in La Liga when Cristiano Ronaldo set a club scoring record in Real's 3-0 stroll against Levante and Neymar hit four as Barca beat Rayo Vallecano 5-2 on Saturday.
An impudent individual goal from Philippe Coutinho steered Liverpool comfortably into the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday after a 1-1 draw at bitter rivals Manchester United completed a 3-1 aggregate win.
Liverpool handed their fiercest rivals a painful lesson on Thursday with a dominant 2-0 win over Manchester United in the first leg of a Europa League last-16 clash.
Ajay Jayaram got off to a rousing start in the men's singles at the World Badminton Championships, shocking higher-ranked Wing Ki Wong of Hong Kong, in Guangzhou, China, on Monday. The 25-year-old Indian, ranked No 24, beat the world No 12 22-20, 17-21, 21-15 in 64 minutes, at the Tianhe Indoor stadium.
Manchester City made it five wins out of five in the Premier League and Cristiano Ronaldo scored five goals for Real Madrid but Chelsea and Juventus continued to struggle at the weekend as the Champions League looms.
Manchester United are almost certain to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League after they beat Benfica 2-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday to make it a perfect four wins in Group A.
Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera shares his impressions from the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India's landmark artistic extravaganza.
Real Madrid closed to within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona after demolishing nine-man Rayo Vallecano 10-2 while Atletico Madrid missed a chance to seize top spot outright by losing 1-0 at Malaga.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Lionel Messi came off the bench to inspire Barcelona to a 3-1 win over a dogged Leganes side on Sunday, creating one goal and scoring another to keep the Catalans five points clear at the top of La Liga.
Atletico Madrid's La Liga title challenge took a nosedive when they slumped to a shock 3-0 defeat at Osasuna on Sunday, leaving Real Madrid three points clear at the top.
Today is World Environment Day; apt then we look at what contribution some of the best-looking people we feature on our pages make to it!
Paris St Germain made light of the absent Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a sub-standard start to the season to claim a 3-2 Champions League victory over Barcelona on Tuesday.
Rediff.com lists those sportsmen who have been accused of 'sleeping with the enemy'
Cristiano Ronaldo finally became the highest scorer in Real Madrid's history while Bayern Munich set a record for the greatest number of successive wins at the start of a season in the Bundesliga this weekend.
Neymar scored the opener to continue his rich vein of form as 10-man Barcelona won a one-sided La Liga derby against Espanyol.
A risk-taker, she'll always be remembered for her unforgettable style and daring fashion choices as a First Lady.
An under-strength Barcelona got their Champions League campaign off to a solid if unspectacular start when Gerard Pique's header secured a laboured 1-0 win at home to APOEL in their Group F opener on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Following this stunning turn-around of fortunes for Barcelona, here is a flashback of some of the best come-from-behind wins recorded in Europe's premier club competition.
Alexis Sanchez had equalised for the visitors, scoring on the rebound after Manuel Neuer saved his 30th-minute penalty but the Gunners suffered when captain Laurent Koscielny limped off injured to leave the defence exposed.
RB Leipzig continued their remarkable first season in the Bundesliga when they brushed aside Mainz 05 3-1, their fifth win in a row, to go level on points with leaders Bayern Munich on Sunday.
England beat Nigeria 2-1 in a friendly on Saturday that provided some clues as to how coach Gareth Southgate will line up his still experimental side when the World Cup gets underway in two weeks' time.
Holders Real Madrid breezed into the last 16 of the Champions League with two games to spare when a Karim Benzema strike secured a 1-0 win in their Group B match at home to a toothless Liverpool on Tuesday.
Manchester City's all-conquering season reached new peaks as Sergio Aguero became the club's all-time top scorer with a decisive goal in a thrilling 4-2 victory at Napoli that put them into the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday.
Ganesh Satish slammed an unbeaten 117 and shared 216 runs with opener Lokesh Rahul (94 batting) as Karnataka took control of their Ranji Trophy summit clash against Maharashtra on the second day in Hyderabad.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Liverpool added another fairytale comeback to the history books as they fought back from 3-1 down against Borussia Dortmund to reach the Europa League semi-finals after Dejan Lovren's towering stoppage-time header secured a 4-3 win on Thursday.
New Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp made it three wins from his last three matches with a 1-0 success at Rubin Kazan in Russia that left them second in Group B, two points behind Swiss club Sion on Thursday.
Having absorbed the body blow of losing striker Radamel Falcao in the close season, Atletico Madrid have emerged as genuine contenders to break the title stranglehold of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Barcelona followed up last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Real Madrid with another reverse on Saturday, squandering a host of chances to lose 1-0 at home to Celta Vigo and handing the lead in La Liga to their arch rivals.
Clashes between Real Madrid and Barcelona are rarely short on drama and Saturday's La Liga 'Clasico' may have more than its usual share with Luis Suarez poised to return from a biting ban and Barca teammate Lionel Messi on the brink of equalling the top-flight scoring record.
The Champions League Group F match between Barcelona and Ajax was a cracker of a contest.