Teenager Curtis Jones grabbed a 58th-minute winner as an injury-hit Liverpool qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Ajax Amsterdam at Anfield on Tuesday.
It took a great escape in injury time to get there after being two goals down to Japan, but Belgium can now view their quarter-final against Brazil free of the weight of expectation.
David Ferrer toppled Philipp Kohlschreiber in a thrilling five-hour marathon decider as Spain roared back from 2-1 down in their Davis Cup tie against Germany to reach the semi-finals on Sunday.
Marcus Rashford's penalty and a deflected strike from Mason Mount helped England come from a goal down to overcome top-ranked Belgium 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday and climb above them in their UEFA Nations League group.
David Goffin put the visitors ahead by beating Lucas Pouille in the opening singles before Jo-Wilfried Tsonga levelled for 1-1 when he defeated Steve Darcis in the second singles on Friday.
IMAGES from football matches played in the Spain, Germany and Portugal on Wednesday.
Belgium rediscovered their most blistering form to batter group E rivals Ireland 3-0 thanks to a brace from Romelu Lukaku and an Axel Witsel header on Saturday.
Liverpool survived a late spell of Everton pressure to stretch their record unbeaten run in Merseyside derbies to 17 games
Jordan Ayew scored for Lorient against his former side Olympique de Marseille as the Ligue 1 leaders were held to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.
Belgium paid the price for failing to take their chances against France
Belgium passed a test of character with a display of true grit that bodes well for a World Cup quarter-final against Brazil, coach Roberto Martinez said after they came from 2-0 behind to beat Japan 3-2 in injury time.
Novak Djokovic's muted celebrations after ending Rafa Nadal's reign as claycourt king were partly out of respect for his Spanish victim but mainly due to the fact the his French Open mission is far from accomplished.
The new-look Davis Cup, masterminded by Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique, has the potential to rival golf's Ryder Cup as a sporting spectacle, the tennis competition's organisers say.
Belgium hammered the final nail into Egypt's halting World Cup warm-up campaign with an assured 3-0 win in Brussels on Wednesday that settled some nerves among the fancied hosts.
Barcelona are in the middle of an injury crisis as they head to Valencia for Saturday's La Liga game looking to keep up with pacemaking pair Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Without injured goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen and right back Sergi Roberto for the last two games, Barca will also be missing defenders Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique after both were hurt in Wednesday's 4-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League. Pique sprained his right ankle while Alba injured his left hamstring and both are out until November.
It takes a brave, or foolish, pundit to look beyond Rafael Nadal for this year's men's champion, such is the Spaniard's power which has exerted a stranglehold over all claycourt opponents.
After a six-match unbeaten start to his reign as Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp came down to earth with a bump as his side lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.
IMAGES from soccer matches played in the EPL, La Liga and Serie A on Tuesday.
Benoit Paire made a remarkable Davis Cup debut for France, outplaying Pablo Carreno-Busta 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 in the opening rubber of the World Group semi-final tie against Spain at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Friday.
IMAGES from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
King's Cup holders Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in their quarter-final first leg to end a nine-and-a-half year barren spell at home of the Basque side while Atletico Madrid crushed Eibar on Thursday.
Real Madrid survived an early Atletico Madrid onslaught to reach the Champions League final 4-2 on aggregate on Wednesday and set up a mouth-watering clash against Juventus.
Luka Modric pulled one back for Zinedine Zidane's shellshocked side with a brilliant strike from distance early in the second half before substitute Vinicius Jr reduced the deficit to one goal.
Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert made sure of that with a gripping doubles win that keeps France's hopes against Croatia alive in the last final to be staged in the event's traditional format.
Atletico Madrid put last week's painful defeat by Real Madrid behind them with a 3-0 win over Osasuna on Sunday that included two goals in the space of a minute and allowed them to return to the top four in La Liga.
Belgium fought back from two goals down to beat Japan 3-2 with an added-time goal from substitute Nacer Chadli on Monday to set up a World Cup quarter-final with Brazil.
Romelu Lukaku's 50th league goal for Everton put them on the way to a deserved 2-0 victory over West Ham United on Sunday, ending a run of four league games without a win. It kept the Merseysiders sixth in the Premier League and West Ham in the bottom five.
India's top singles players, led by Somdev Devvarman, easily advanced to the second round of ATP Pune Challenger on Tuesday, but rising star Ramkumar Ramanathan made a shock first-round exit. Third seed Somdev proved too good for local wild card Arjun Kadhe, scoring a 6-1, 6-3 victory in 60 minutes. Seventh seed Yuki Bhambri disposed of the challenge of Chinese Taipei's Liang-Chi Huang 6-3, 6-0.
Atletico Madrid's players will not allow praise to go to their heads even though they are level on points with Barcelona at the top of La Liga, coach Diego Simeone has said.
If Atletico Madrid's 2013 King's Cup triumph was a shock and their 2013-14 La Liga title a surprise, few would raise an eyebrow if Diego Simeone's ruthlessly efficient side were to win another major trophy.
Real Madrid's stuttering run continued as they were held 1-1 at home by La Liga minnows Eibar on Sunday, drawing a fourth consecutive game in all competitions for the first time in more than a decade.
India's big hope Yuki Bhambri crashed out of the US Open men's singles qualifiers with a three-set defeat to Japanese Go Soeda while Prajnesh Gunneswaran also suffered a tame defeat in New York.
Simeone's side leapfrogged Real Sociedad into fourth on 42 points, while Sevilla stayed third in the standings on 46 after beating Las Palmas 1-0, also on Sunday, thanks to a late strike from substitute Joaquin Correa
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday
Goals from Curtis Davies and Robert Koren earned HullCity a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 replay win at home to Brighton and Hove Albion on Monday.
Atletico aim for Champions League revenge against Real at fourth attempt.
Everton striker Romelu Lukaku struck a late equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw against a solid CrystalPalace side in an absorbing Premier League match at Goodison Park on Monday.
Everton's Romelu Lukaku ended his longest goal drought in English football with an 11-minute hat-trick to power the visitors to an emphatic 3-0 win over Sunderland on Monday and third place in the Premier League table.
Lionel Messi's double strike helped Barcelona scrape a 3-2 victory over Real Sociedad on Saturday to keep the pressure on La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who needed a brace from Isco to beat Sporting Gijon by the same scoreline.
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