A round-up of Saturday's action in La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A.
It was a fun year. I did a lot of fun things. I got Australia back in the world group of the Davis Cup, won a couple of titles, so it's been a good year so hopefully I can back it up in 2017
"US citizens should exercise caution at holiday festivals, events, and outdoor markets," the State Department said in the travel warning.
Images from Champion League matches played across Europe on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football fie
Red Star, who won the European Cup in 1991 and reached the latter stages the following season, finished second in Group H behind Arsenal who crushed BATE Borisov 6-0.
Blacklisted fan bypasses Russia's World Cup security system
Centre forward Eder, who scored the winning goal in the Euro 2016 final against France, was among 10 players from that squad omitted from Santos's list. Other unlucky players included midfielders Andre Gomes and Renato Sanches, forward Nani and defender Eliseu.
The victory, Chelsea's 28th of the season, put the long-time league leaders 10 points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have only three games left to play.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa haunted Arsenal again by firing his side to a 1-0 win in Thursday's Europa League semi-final second leg to send the Spaniards into the final and deny Arsene Wenger a dream end to his long reign as Arsenal coach.
Champions Paris St Germain provisionally moved back to the top of Ligue 1 as Adam Lang's own goal, Edinson Cavani's penalty and a second-half header from Lucas Moura downed promoted Dijon 3-0 at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.
Mario Balotelli has revealed that joining the Anfield club was the worst decision he has ever made.
Balotelli made his debut for his hometown club after completing a four-match suspension that he was handed at Olympique de Marseille last season, while the visitors were without Cristiano Ronaldo as he recovers from injury.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The pugnacious 61-year-old conservative, who was deeply unpopular by the end of his five years as president, had made no secret of his ambition to reconquer the top office.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Arsenal led a list of nine clubs who grabbed a second win in as many games in the Europa League group phase as France striker Olivier Giroud scored his 100th goal for the club in a 4-2 win at BATE Borisov on Thursday.
The meeting had resumed for a day on Sunday, after being suspended a day earlier due to a failed coup bid in Turkey which claimed over 260 lives.
Dimitri Payet is worth not a penny less that 50 million pounds ($65.3 million), West Ham United co-chairman David Gold has said, but even that might not be enough to prise the France midfielder away from the London club.
Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches has been named as the Young Player of the Tournament at UEFA Euro 2016. The award winner - open to all players born on or after 1 January 1994 - was chosen by the UEFA's technical observers, which included legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Didier Deschamps, who captained France to both World Cup and European triumphs, shared some of his sports psychology secrets on Saturday on the eve of his French side's Euro 2016 final against Portugal.
Following his heroics against world champions Germany in the semifinal at Marseille, France forward Antoine Griezmann has emerged as a clear favourite to bag the Golden Boot award at the 2016 European Championship. Griezmann fired a brace past Germany to take his tournament tally to an astounding six goals. Such has been his dominance that the French magician leads Portugal hero Cristiano Ronaldo (3 goals) by a double margin in the tournament's goal's tally.
Former Argentina boss Marcelo Bielsa resigned as manager of Lazio after just two days in charge, the Italian Serie A club said in a statement on Friday.
France may have ousted rivals Germany for the first time in 58 years but it will mean nothing if they lose Sunday's Euro 2016 final against a Portugal team that have had more recovery time, said Didier Deschamps.
In the history of football there has been no more devastating nullification of supposed home advantage than Germany's 7-1 humbling of Brazil in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals, so playing France in Marseille holds no fears for the world champions. That astonishing result in Belo Horizonte, particularly the opening 30-minute five-goal blitz that left the world aghast, underlined Germany's unique mental strength and belief in their own ability whatever the opposition or circumstances.
Coach Didier Deschamps believes his players are ready to write a new page in the history of French football at Euro 2016 on Thursday when the hosts attempt to beat Germany for the first time for 58 years in a competitive match. The French go into the semi-final against the world champions in Marseille as underdogs. Even though they have twice won the European championship, they have not beaten their German neighbours outside of friendlies since the 1958 World Cup.
UEFA believes the 24-team format introduced for the first time at Euro 2016 is a success and will boost soccer in some of the continent's smaller nations, tournament director Martin Kallen said on Tuesday.
Rediff.com presents a flashback of those moments at Euro 2016 that personify pure ecstasy...
The host nation's bulging euphoria over France's Euro 2016 semi-final qualification is added motivation for Germany as they prepare to face them on Thursday, coach Joachim Loew said on Monday. The Germans, who will need to shuffle their lineup due to injuries to Sami Khedira and Mario Gomez and the suspension of defender Mats Hummels, are preparing to face a team brimming with confidence. "Such games are just great," Loew, who led Germany to the 2014 World Cup title in Brazil, told reporters.
Russia was among 14 countries which signed a convention between the Council of Europe and European soccer body UEFA on Sunday aimed at stopping a repeat of fan violence which has marred Euro 2016.
Germany coach Joachim Loew and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer praised the team's less experienced players for stepping up to convert in their dramatic penalty shootout against Italy, firing the world champions into the Euro 2016 final four.
Portugal entered the Euro 2016 quarter-final after defeating Poland 5-3 on penalties in Marseille on Thursday.
Portuguese coach Fernando Santos said his hardest task will be keeping his 'kids' grounded after they advanced to the semi-finals with a win over Poland on Thursday.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos turned to teenager Renato Sanches in a bid to bring some fluency to the midfield in their Euro 2016 quarter-final against Poland on Thursday and was handsomely rewarded for the decision.
Talismanic Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo struggled against Croatia producing just one shot on goal, but coach Fernando Santos defended his "amazing" captain.
'I think it's a 50-50 match. My players know that. They (Poland) are here on their own merit' 'There will be a strong strategic component to this game, because if you concede four goals nobody can ensure you can score five'
The suggestion that Spain need to change their playing style is already meeting resistance even though another disappointing performance at a major soccer tournament suggests that tiki-taka has run its course. In many countries, a defeat as comprehensive as the one Spain suffered against Italy in Euro 2016 on Monday, when they were outplayed and lucky to lose only 2-0, would have led to calls to knock everything down and start again. In Spain, however, where many are proud of having such a distinctive style of play, there are plenty of voices calling for the team to continue trying to pass the ball all the way into the goal.
'If the coach considers it, I am ready to play the next game'
French Football Federation (FFF) president Noel Le Graet told the country's top clubs on Wednesday to make the quality of their pitches an absolute priority, describing one ground at Euro 2016 as "a failure".
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances