As the superlatives rained down on treble-winning Bayern Munich on Sunday, it was difficult to see where the all-conquering Bavarians could find room for new signing Mario Goetze and, if speculation turns out to be true, Robert Lewandowski.
Real Madrid and Barcelona were made to work hard before grinding out wins in La Liga at the weekend while Inter Milan scored a surprise derby victory over AC Milan in Serie A.
Real Madrid defender Pepe was included in Portugal's preliminary 24-man squad for the World Cup on Monday, proving his recovery from a long-term knee injury. Brazil-born Pepe, who cost Real Madrid 30 million euros ($40.25 million) from Porto in 2007, damaged knee ligaments in December and has not played since.
Dismal domestic and Champions League campaigns have left Liverpool seeking Europa League salvation but they must first overturn a 1-0 semi-final first-leg deficit against Atletico Madrid on Thursday.
In a startling revelation, Pakistan hockey team's sacked manager Asif Bajwa has claimed that the team deliberately lost its World Cup qualifying league match against Poland to avoid hosts France in the final last year.
Playmaker Lucho Gonzalez produced a dazzling display to steer Olympique Marseille to a 4-1 home win over Nice that took the Ligue 1 leaders two points clear on Sunday.
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Cristiano Ronaldo took a leaf out of Lionel Messi's book when he reached a personal landmark and led Real Madrid into the Champions League knockout stages by scoring both goals in a 2-0 win at Olympique Lyon on Wednesday.
Newcastle United maintained their unbeaten start to the season Saturday, sending Wigan Athletic to the bottom of the Premier League with a 1-0 victory at St James' Park thanks to a late winner from Frenchman Yohan Cabaye.
Girondins Bordeaux saw their lead at the top of Ligue 1 cut to three points after going down 4-2 at Stade Rennes on Saturday.
Marouane Chamakh struck late to give Ligue 1 leaders Girondins Bordeaux a 1-0 win at Olympique Lyon on Sunday that put their title rivals eight points behind.
Big-spending Manchester City maintained their perfect start to the English Premier League season with a 3-2 win at Bolton Wanderers, while Arsenal capped a week to forget with a 2-0 home defeat by Liverpool.
Satinder Kumar and Raghu Prasad are the two Indian umpires who would officiate in the 12-nation Hero Honda FIH Hockey World Cup to be held at New Delhi's National Stadium in February-March 2010.
The Pakistani hockey team booked a place at next year's World Cup in India by winning a qualifying tournament in France at the weekend.
Lionel Messi fired Barcelona into the last 16 of the Champions League with two goals in their 3-0 victory at Spartak Moscow on Tuesday but holders Chelsea are walking a tightrope after a crushing defeat by Juventus.
Apart from hosts India, Canada (winners of the third Pan American Cup), Korea (eighth Asia Cup winners), South Africa (winners of the Africa Cup of Nations, 2009), Australia (winners of the sixth Oceania Cup) have qualified for the event.
Two headers by Marouane Chamakh led champions Girondins Bordeaux to a 3-2 win at Sochaux in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt headed a late goal to send the five-times European champions into the last 16 of the Europa League with a 1-0 victory over a defiant Sparta Prague at Anfield on Thursday.
Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyon lost 2-0 to Lille at the Stade de France on Saturday and saw their advantage at the top cut to just one point.
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Giggs suffered the injury in an aerial collision with Lille defender Tavlaridis on Tuesday.
Patrick Mueller's decision to leave Olympique Lyon without permission to play for his national team last week was rewarded on Wednesday with a place in Switzerland's 23-man squad for Euro 2008.
Australian fast bowling great Dennis Lillee on Wednesday joined Delhi Daredevils, the Delhi Indian Premier League team owned by GMR Sports. "It feels great to be a part of GMR Sports and Delhi Daredevils. I've known many of the young players in the Delhi Daredevils squad and am naturally delighted to be part of this team," he said.
Fans dived in the sea at the Vieux Port as Olympique Marseille ended an 18-year wait for the French title when late goals by Mamadou Niang and Lucho Gonzalez secured a 3-1 home win over Stade Rennes on Wednesday.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson will call on a rested Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney to fire his side into the Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of Olympique Lyon on Tuesday. The tie with French champions Lyon is evenly poised, albeit with United having an away goal in the bank after a late Carlos Tevez strike secured United a 1-1 draw in Lyon last week.
David Ngog saved Liverpool the blushes as they beat Unirea Urziceni of Romania 1-0 to register their first win at the Europa League campaign on Thursday.
Manchester City humbled their neighbours United by beating them 6-1 and Levante still lead in Spain where European champions Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw by Sevilla.
Manchester's two-pronged assault on the Champions League finally sprang to life on Tuesday when United won their first match of the campaign by beating Romanians Otelul Galati 2-0 away and City left it until stoppage time to beat Villarreal 2-1.
Bobby Zamora and Bjorn Helge Riise twice combined to set Fulham on their way to a 3-2 win at snowy Basel on Wednesday, sealing the London club's berth in the final 32 of the Europa League. Hertha Berlin, in last place in the Bundesliga, scraped through thanks to a 1-0 win at home to Group D winners Sporting and Panathinaikos of Greece secured second place in Group F when Djibril Cisse scored two in a 3-0 win over Dinamo Bucharest.
Olympique Marseille and Paris St Germain supporters clashed on Sunday after their Ligue 1 game was postponed and the whole PSG team quarantined when three players were diagnosed with H1N1 flu.
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Shakhtar Donetsk led the way for the Champions League underdogs as they beat holders Chelsea 2-1 while former European champions Barcelona and Manchester United came from behind to maintain perfect starts on Tuesday.
Manchester United beat Lille 1-0 for a 2-0 aggregate win, while Bayern rallied from a 3-2 defeat to beat Real 2-1 and qualify on the away goals rule.
AC Milan played out a goalless draw at Celtic after failing to capitalise on their dominance in Tuesday's Champions League first knockout round
An inspired second half goal from Edison Mendez was enough to give PSV Eindhoven a slender 1-0 win over Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League first knockout round match
Skipper Raul struck twice as Real Madrid got the better of old foes Bayern Munich with a 3-2 win at the Bernabeu in the first leg of their Champions League first knockout round tie on Tuesday.
Old rivals Real Madrid will play Bayern Munich for the 17th time in European competition in the Champions League first knockout round.
Porto and Lille completed the line-up for the final 16 of the Champions League as the group phase of the competition ended.
The result left Manchester United top of the EPL standings on 35 points, three ahead of Chelsea.
Substitute Fredy Guarin gave former European champions Porto a late 2-1 Europa League win at Sevilla on Thursday while their old rivals Benfica beat VfB Stuttgart by the same score.
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