Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo gave a ringing endorsement of new coach Zinedine Zidane and handed a rebuke to his sacked predecessor Rafa Benitez after Sunday's 5-1 La Liga victory at home to Sporting Gijon. Real have comfortably won both their matches since Zidane took over this month, a 5-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna and Sunday's demolition of lowly Gijon, and Ronaldo said the players had a better relationship with the former Real and France great, who is known as 'Zizou', than with the unpopular Benitez. The former Valencia, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Napoli manager was discarded after less than half a season in the job after an indifferent run of results left Real trailing city rivals Atletico Madrid and champions Barcelona in La Liga. "To be honest, with some coaches you have more empathy than with others," Ronaldo told reporters after netting a double at the Bernabeu. "The truth is, don't ask me why, that the players have more empathy with Zizou," the Portugal forward added.
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Inter Milan's title challenge faltered when they were held 1-1 at Atalanta in Serie A on Saturday but goalkeeper Samir Handanovic at least saved them from suffering a defeat. The home side took the lead in the 17th minute when JeisonMurillo scored an own goal. Inter equalised in the 25th when Atalanta defender Rafael Toloi repeated the feat by slicing the ball past his own goalkeeper. The draw meant Inter missed the opportunity to replace Napoli as Serie A leaders, if only briefly. Instead, they are in second place on 40 points, one behind the leaders who were meeting Sassuolo later on Saturday.
Domenico Berardi converted a penalty in the fifth minute of injury time on Sunday to give Sassuolo a shock 1-0 win away to Serie A leaders Inter Milan, who dominated the match but were repeatedly foiled by the visitors' goalkeeper Andrea Consigli. Berardi sent Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic the wrong way to complete an extraordinary win for Sassuolo, who were beaten 7-0 in the same fixture last season, as Inter coach Roberto Mancini watched in disbelief.
Sacked Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez says it was "an honour and privilege" to lead the club he has always supported and has sent a "good luck" message to his successor, former France great Zinedine Zidane.
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Under-fire Rafa Benitez said Real Madrid needed to be more consistent and also accused his players of easing off in games ahead of Sunday's La Liga clash with his former club Valencia. The Spaniard is the most successful coach in Valencia's history. He led them to La Liga titles in 2002 and 2004, when he also won the UEFA Cup, and is sure of a warm welcome when he walks out at the Mestalla.
A confident Arturo Vidal said his knee cartilage surgery in Barcelona on Wednesday was a success, rekindling Chilean hopes that he may yet make it to the World Cup finals.
Fifth seeds Sania Mirza and Cara Black had things their way while beating the Taipei-South African pair Hao-Ching Chan and Chanelle Scheepers to enter the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open on Wednesday. The Indo-Zimbabwean pair won 6-4, 6-1 in little over an hour.
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Barcelona's Lionel Messi rescued a 1-1 draw at Villarreal with a sensational late free-kick on Sunday but could not prevent the champions finishing the weekend third in La Liga, five points behind leaders Real Madrid.
AS Roma were dumped out of the Italian Cup on penalties by second-tier Spezia after a 0-0 draw at home extended their winless streak to seven matches and heaped pressure on coach Rudi Garcia.
Alessandria became the first third tier club to reach the Italian Cup quarter-finals in more than 30 years as their giant-killing run continued with a 2-1 extra-time victory at Serie A strugglers Genoa on Tuesday.
Dipika Pallikal stumbled at the final hurdle against Egyptian teenager Nour El Sherbini in the title clash of the Women's Champion Fiberglass Texas Open on Monday.
The underdogs kept their noses in front as Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-2 to stay top of the Premier League and Atletico Madrid won 2-0 at Getafe to increase their lead in La Liga after Barcelona slipped up at lowly Granada. Read on to meet the players of the weekend...
Juventus refused to let up despite having already won Serie A and notched their 25th win in their last 26 league games by beating Carpi 2-0 on Sunday.
Coach Roberto Mancini has insisted that he never doubted his captain Mauro Icardi after the striker scored two goals in Inter Milan's 4-0 victory at Udinese in Serie A.
Spain goalkeeper Victor Valdes will miss the World Cup after being ruled out of action for seven months following knee surgery.
AS Roma stalwart Francesco Totti came off the bench with four minutes left and scored twice to give his Champions League-chasing side a dramatic 3-2 win over Torino in Serie A on Wednesday.
Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga was cut after a second consecutive defeat and LeicesterCity's improbable march towards the Premier League title showed no sign of slowing as they won a fifth straight match. Juventus stayed six points clear of Napoli after Italy's top two both won and Bayern Munich extended their Bundesliga lead to seven points. Here is a summary of results from football matches played across Europe over the weekend.
Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez has a full squad available, including forward Karim Benzema, for Saturday's La Liga Clasico at home to Barcelona.
Juventus slumped to another surprise defeat on Wednesday when the champions lost 1-0 at Sassuolo while AS Roma reclaimed top spot in Serie A with a 3-1 home victory over Udinese.
Ten-man Inter Milan replaced AS Roma atop Serie A, at least for 24 hours, after beating Bologna 1-0 away on Tuesday to end a run of four games without a win but coach Roberto Mancini, who was sent off at the end, wants more from his side.
Goals by Andrea Barzagli and Mario Lemina propelled Juventus to a 2-0 win at Atalanta Bergamo on Sunday and allowed them to restore their three-point advantage at the top of Serie A.
Rediff.com brings you a selection of images of fans taking to the field of play to make a point or gain attention.
Not much has thwarted the predatory instincts of Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller and Robert Lewandowski this season but even that dynamic duo will have their work cut out to pierce the rock-solid Juventus defence on Tuesday.
Champions Juventus lost for the third time in six Serie A matches this season after goals from Lorenzo Insigne and Gonzalo Higuain secured a 2-1 home win for Napoli on Saturday.
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Higuain had a disappointing Copa America tournament in July, scoring two goals during the competition and missing his spot kick as Argentina lost on penalties to Chile in the final.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez secured victory over nine-man Atletico Madrid in La Liga's top of the table clash, while Juventus won a 12th straight Serie A game to stay hot on the heels of leaders Napoli.
images from the UEFA Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
AC Milan surged into third place in Serie A with a 3-1 win at Chievo Verona on Sunday but their great city rivals Inter Milan were left in turmoil as their captain Mauro Icardi again came under fire from his own fans in the 2-1 defeat by Cagliari.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
Photos of the Champions League matches played on Tuesday.
Photos from matches played in the French Ligue 1 and Serie A matches played on Saturday
Former European champions Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic, who both suffered the indignity of being knocked of the Champions League qualifiers by underdogs this season, will meet in the Europa Leagueafter being drawn together in the group stage on Friday.
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Champions Juventus continued their resurgence by beating Hellas Verona 3-0 at home for an eighth successive Serie A victory as Inter Milan remained top after winning 1-0 at Empoli.
Real Madrid have sacked coach Rafa Benitez after less than half a season in charge and promoted their former France great Zinedine Zidane from the B team to replace him, president Florentino Perez said on Monday.
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