Chelsea's French defender Kurt Zouma will be out for six months after surgery on a knee injury suffered at the weekend, the Premier League champions said on Monday.

Photos from the La Liga matches played on Sunday

Antoine Griezmann scored twice off the bench as Atletico Madrid sealed a place in the King's Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 win at home to Rayo Vallecano on Thursday while Valencia also advanced with victory by the same scoreline at Granada.

Jose Mourinho's Chelsea turned from domestic whipping boys back to European stalwarts on Wednesday, beating his former club Porto 2-0 to top Champions League Group G.

A weekend of surprise results across Europe's big leagues saw Bayern Munich's unbeaten run come to an end, Napoli knocked off top spot in Serie A and Manchester City toppled in the Premier League where Leicester City are the new leaders.

Rajneesh Gupta glances at the history of this fascinating 21st century cricketing rivalry.

'It was a spectacular crime, wasn't it? Sepp is on the same scale. He's up there with Lance.' Director Stephen Frears, in an exclusive interview with Rediff.com

It was a day that saw brilliant centuries by South Africa's captain AB de Villiers and India's Rohit Sharma in the first One-Day International on Sunday. But some brilliant death bowling by the visitors saw them edge Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men by five wickets. Here are the statistical highlights from the match played at the GreenPark stadium in Kanpur.

Kurt Zouma and Eden Hazard scored the goals the goals in a match that saw Diego Costa play central character.

Bringing you all the news from the summer transfer window and other snippets from the soccer world...

Despite a splurge of summer spending of more than 500 million pounds and counting, it was a free transfer from France who provided one of the standout moments of the Premier League's big kickoff.

Joe Root again put Australia's bowlers to the sword and together with Ian Bell gave England the platform on Friday to push for victory in the first Ashes Test after setting the tourists 412 to win with two days remaining.

Mitchell Johnson will not mind being the man England fans love to mock in the Ashes so long as he is taking wickets but the friendly abuse might start to get under his skin if the Australian paceman continues to fire blanks.

To say Joe Root has been galvanised since being dropped for the fifth Ashes Test that completed England's dismal 5-0 rout in Australia in the early days of last year would be an understatement.

Joe Root plundered a superb century to defy Australia as England recovered from a poor start to post 343 for seven on the first day of the first Ashes Test on Wednesday.

Ben Stokes took two wickets in two balls to inspire England to victory over New Zealand in the first Test at Lord's.

Alastair Cook and Ian Bell survived a torrid final hour to guide England to 74 for two at the close on the third day of the first Test against New Zealand on Saturday.

Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor mastered a lifeless England attack to lift New Zealand to 303 for two at the close on the second day of the first Test at Lord's on Friday.

Ben Stokes provided the gloss and Joe Root the glue as England recovered from a terrible start to reach 354 for seven at the close on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's on Thursday.

England captain Alastair Cook scored his first Test century in almost two years but lost his wicket in the final over of the day as the tourists ended the first day of the third Test against the West Indies on 240 for seven.

A devastating spell from seam bowler James Anderson set England up for a nine-wicket triumph in the second test against West Indies on Saturday as the tourists went 1-0 up in the three-match series.

Captain Cook also hits form, strikes 125-run opening partnership with Trott -- England's first century opening stand since March 2013.

A patient 94 not out from Marlon Samuels helped West Indies recover against England to end the first day of the second Test on 188 for five in Grenada on Tuesday.

Chelsea moved within touching distance of a first Premier League title in five years with a 1-0 win over Manchester United while Lionel Messi reached a landmark with his 400th career goal for La Liga leaders Barcelona.

Jason Holder struck his maiden first-class century to lead the West Indies to a draw in the first Test in Antigua on Friday after James Anderson had become England's leading Test wicket-taker.

Set an improbable 438 for victory after England declared their second innings at 333 for 7, the West Indies were 98 for 2 at close on Day 4 of the first Test.

A fine innings of 143 from Ian Bell helped England to recover from a terrible start and finish the first day of the first Test against West Indies on 341 for five in Antigua on Monday.

Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara has been named as the Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2015 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

Roberto Firmino's goal gave Brazil a 1-0 victory over Chile in a feisty friendly at the Emirates Stadium in London on Sunday, their eighth successive win since last year's disappointing World Cup campaign.

Mitchell Starc was the Player of the Tournament, but he ranks only 5th on Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings list, revealing how this World Cup was so much in the batsmen's favour.

A B de Villiers still heads Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.

A B de Villiers may have made some big mistakes in the semi-final: Choosing to bat first in spite of the rain threat, batting too low at No 5, not hogging the strike after David Miller departed, fielding badly, asking Dale Steyn to bowl the last over ... but he is still best placed to be adjudged the most valuable player of the 2015 World Cup.

Although A B de Villiers is still the front-runner for the MVP crown of the 2015 World Cup, a new and serious challenger has suddenly appeared out of the blue -- New Zealand opener Martin Guptill.

Harry Kane's magical season continued on Saturday as he celebrated his first senior England call-up with his first Premier League hat-trick.

It looks highly unlikely if anyone will catch the South African captain in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.

Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji figure out who are the most valuable players after the league phase of the World Cup intheir latest update.

After four centuries on the trot with a strike rate of nearly 120, Sri Lanka's run machine Kumar Sangakkara (MVPI: 686) has raced to the top of the most valuable player standing at the ICC World Cup.

Thiago Silva's extra-time header sent Paris St Germain into the Champions League quarter-finals on away goals.

Chelsea are brimming with confidence and, fortified by a seven-day break, go into Wednesday's Champions League last-16 return match as favourites to knock Paris St Germain out for the second season in a row.