Images from Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Records tumbled in the transfer window as Premier League spending totalled 1.165 billion pounds ($1.54 billion), financial analyst Deloitte's Sports Business Group said on Thursday. The outlay represents a 34 percent rise on the previous highest in all windows of 870 million pounds set 12 months ago and means the overall spend by clubs in 2016-17 already represents a record for a single Premier League season.
Pep Guardiola will return to the Nou Camp in the Champions League group stage after his new club Manchester City were drawn against his former Barcelona team on Thursday. The two sides were drawn in Group C alongside Borussia Moenchengladbach and former European champions Celtic in one of the toughest of the eight sections. Spanish coach Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Barca, faced the Catalans when he was in charge of Bayern Munich two seasons ago and suffered a 5-3 defeat in the semi-finals.
'There is no advantage. I always prefer to play in front of supporters even away from home because that's what football is all about, but that's the situation we face'
Heavyweights Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Lazio took big steps towards reaching the Europa League semi-finals after convincing home first-leg victories and RB Leipzig also stayed on course with a 1-0 win over Olympique de Marseille on Thursday.
European champions Real Madrid will face former champions Liverpool, FC Basel and debutants Ludogorets of Bulgaria following the draw for the group stage of the Champions league on Thursday.
Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo will play the full 90 minutes against boyhood club Sporting Lisbon as he steps up his return from injury in the Champions League on Wednesday, coach Zinedine Zidane said.
European heavyweights Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris St Germain all maintained their leads and Benfica toppled Sporting Lisbon.
Bengaluru FC captain Sunil Chhetri feels that his club making it to the summit clash of the AFC Cup heralds a beginning in the revival of Indian football. Bengaluru take on Iraq's Al Quwa Al Jawiya in Saturday's final at the Qatar SC Stadium in Doha. "Bengaluru reaching the AFC Cup final in the host country of the 2022 World Cup, and hopefully winning it, has signaled the beginning of the revival of Indian football as an Asian power," said Chhetri who is also the India captain.
The Real Madrid forward said he is not yet fully recovered and appeared resigned to not starting what should have been a dream final.
Cristiano Ronaldo has announced he will invest over USD 40 million in hotels bearing his CR7 moniker in his native Portugal, Madrid and New York.
Arturo Vidal and Douglas Costa struck as Bayern Munich disposed of Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0 on Saturday to claim their first win in three Bundesliga matches and power three points clear at the top.
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's ground-breaking journey through uncharted territory reached the most important milestone as he became the first Indian footballer to play for the first team in the top-flight Europa League.
Schalke 04 are hoping their freshly-found discipline under new coach Roberto Di Matteo, coupled with his Champions League pedigree will help them beat Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday for their first win in the competition this season.
Jose Mourinho's job could be on the line when Chelsea host Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday and Alex Ferguson has urged the Londoners not to jettison their manager even if the result goes against them.
Alvaro Morata again proved decisive from the bench by striking a late winner against Athletic Bilbao and firing a lacklustre Real Madrid to the top of La Liga on Sunday. The Spain international has been afforded limited opportunities in his first season back at Real following two years with Juventus, struggling to usurp first choice forwards Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Morata has made just four league starts, but has scored four times in all competitions.
Gareth Bale marked his return to action after a long injury layoff by sealing a 2-0 victory for Real Madrid over Espanyol on Saturday to provisionally stretch Zinedine Zidane's side's lead at the top of La Liga to three points.
Victor Moses has become the third player to join Liverpool on Monday, with the forward signing on a season-long loan from Chelsea, the Premier League club confirmed.
Real Madrid edged past Sporting Lisbon 2-1, while Juventus came from behind to secure a 3-1 win at Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund crushed Legia Warsaw 8-4 to set a record for the most goals scored in a Champions League match.
Argentina's injured captain Lionel Messi has been named in a squad missing the suspended Javier Mascherano and Gonzalo Higuain for next month's World Cup qualifier against South America's bottom side Paraguay.
As Jose Mourinho returns to his Portuguese footballing roots, the Chelsea manager may have to decide which back-up marksman he trusts most to shoot down his old employers at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Manchester City failed in an audacious transfer deadline day move for Leicester City midfielder Riyadh Mahrez, British media reported on Wednesday.
Arsenal conceded five goals for the first time at their Emirates Stadium as they suffered their worst home defeat for 19 years.
Real Madrid's 5-0 thrashing of Granada on Saturday equalled a Spanish record of 39 games unbeaten in all competitions. Reuters Sport takes a look at the factors behind their run.
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United ended their one-year Champions League hiatus in emphatic style when Wayne Rooney struck a hat-trick in a 4-0 destruction of Club Bruges that sent the three-times winners through 7-1 on aggregate on Wednesday.
On a night of close finishes in all five first-leg playoff games, the 21-year-old Dutch winger opened his United account with a memorable performance in the famous number seven shirt previously worn by George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham.
National football team goalkeeper Subrata Paul is set to become the first Indian player to join a first division side in Europe as he has been offered a six-month contract by Danish top tier club FC Vestsjaelland.
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Real Madrid brushed off the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale to beat Espanyol 2-0 away and maintain their 100 per cent start to the league season while matching the La Liga record of 16 consecutive victories.
Kevin De Bruyne, Kelechi Iheanacho, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan gave Man City a 4-0 win over Bournemouth before Nolito was sent off.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Juergen Klopp got a taste of the problems at Liverpool as his first home game as manager ended in a frustrating 1-1 draw against Rubin Kazan who played more than 50 minutes with 10 men in the Europa League on Thursday.
Napoli began their Europa League group stage campaign in scintillating fashion.
Last-minute starter Adrian Ramos scored a first-half header to give Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 victory over Sporting on Wednesday and earn a spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League with two Group F matches to spare.
The Champions League group stages took on a less predictable look after Thursday's draw, helped by UEFA's decision to tweak the seeding system.
Chelsea re-signed David Luiz and Premier League champions Leicester City broke their transfer record for striker Islam Slimani as English clubs exceeded the one billion pounds barrier when the curtain fell on transfer deadline day.
Lionel Messi fittingly sealed Barcelona's 26th La Liga title on Saturday by coming off the bench to score the goal in a 1-0 win over Levante in front of a jubilant Nou Camp crowd, who celebrated a remarkable eighth league crown in 11 years.
Factbox on the Real Madrid and Portugal forward who was voted FIFA Player of the Year on Monday.
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