Giampiero Ventura, a 68-year-old who has never won a major title, was named on Tuesday as the next Italy coach to replace Antonio Conte after Euro 2016.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Midfielder Riccardo Montolivo missed out on his second straight major tournament due to injury on Tuesday while Daniele De Rossi was included in Italy's 23-man squad for next month's European Championship in France.
Italy manager Antonio Conte named his provisional squad for the European Championship on Monday, and his selection was notable as much for the player he left off as for those he chose.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and defender Andrea Barzagli have extended their contracts with the Italian champions until 2018, they said on Wednesday. Italy captain Buffon, 38, and international team mate Barzagli, 35, have helped Juve win five straight Serie A titles, having made 35 and 30 appearances respectively this season. "I hope that my fantastic story with this club will go on and bring even further success," Buffon told a news conference. "I'm immensely proud in the faith Juventus have placed in me once more." Barzagli added: "Even at this age, I still have room to improve and this is the best place for me to do so."
Francesco Totti came off the bench to make his 600th league appearance for AS Roma as they beat in-form Chievo 3-0 at home on Sunday to climb to second place in Serie A.
Gran Torino tells a simple story, without many frills, and while the end feels almost like Eastwood is apologising for the trend he began in 1971 with Dirty Harry, it feels right. It feels like Eastwood -- who has heartbreakingly stated that this may be his last film as an actor -- has a piece to say, and he says it simply, even ending by raspily singing the closing credits.
Second-placed Napoli comfortably overcame the absence of suspended top scorer Gonzalo Higuain to brush aside bottom-of-the-table Verona 3-0 in Serie A on Sunday. Napoli stayed points six behind leaders Juventus, who won 2-1 at AC Milan on Saturday, with six matches each to play, and remain outsiders to win their first title since 1990 despite the win. Higuain, who has led Napoli's challenge with 30 goals, will miss the next three games as he completes a four-match ban for his sending-off and furious reaction in last week's 3-1 defeat at Udinese. Fiorentina's recent dismal run continued when they lost to their smaller Tuscan neighbours Empoli for the first time since 1997, leaving them fifth in the table. Juventus have 76 points from 32 games with Napoli on 70, AS Roma on 63, Inter Milan on 58 and Fiorentina on 56. Napoli hit the post twice and had a goal disallowed before Manolo Gabbiandini headed them in front in the 33rd minute, his fifth goal in only seven starts this season, after Verona goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini parried Jose Callejon's shot.
A round-up of the top-flight football matches played across Italy and Germany on Sunday
Mario Mandzukic scored a trademark first-half header as Juventus defeated Empoli 1-0 on Saturday to provisionally extend their lead at the top of Serie A to six points.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Football news from Ligue 1, Bundesliga and La liga.
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.
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.
Bayern Munich clinched the Bundesliga title in record time by beating Hertha Berlin 3-1 on Tuesday thanks to goals from Toni Kroos, Mario Goetze and Franck Ribery with seven games left in the campaign.
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his Madeira homecoming with an early strike but Sweden wrecked the party by hitting back from two down to win 3-2.
Daniel Sturridge led Liverpool to a great win over Swansea while Gareth Bale helped Real Madrid to go top of the La Liga table, after shock defeats of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, with a 3-0 win over Elche at the weekend. Chelsea clung to top place in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Everton, while Bayern Munich opened a 19-point lead in the Bundesliga with their 14th successive league win while closest rivals Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund lost. Rediff.com brings you a glance of the footballers of the weekend.
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.
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.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
Inter Milan's Serie A title hopes suffered a setback as they conceded a stoppage-time equaliser and were held 1-1 at home by relegation-threatened Carpi and leaders Napoli swept to a 4-2 win at Sampdoria.
Napoli thrashed Frosinone 5-1 away to go top of Serie A on Sunday after previous leaders Inter Milan were sunk by a Domenico Berardi penalty in the fifth minute of injury time in a 1-0 home defeat against modest Sassuolo.
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.
Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson once said he would not sell Real Madrid "a virus" let alone Cristiano Ronaldo but, as even he found out, when the Spanish giants come knocking they usually get what they want.
Inter Milan's lead at the top of Serie A was cut when they lost 2-1 at home to Lazio on Sunday while AS Roma beat Genoa 2-0 to record their first win in eight games and ease the pressure on under-fire coach Rudi Garcia.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Chelsea have signed Stoke City's Bosnian international goalkeeper Asmir Begovic on a four-year contract, the Premier League champions confirmed on Monday.
Juventus won 2-0 at Lazio on Friday to extend their winning run in Serie A to five matches thanks to an early own goal from Santiago Gentiletti and a glorious Paulo Dybala effort.
Inter Milan went on a rare scoring spree to thrash Serie A newcomers Frosinone 4-0 and go clear at the top on Sunday, the first time Roberto Mancini's team have won a league match by more than one goal this season.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Photos from the football matches played in the Serie A, Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 on Sunday
AS Roma's Daniele De Rossi celebrated his 500th appearance for the club with a goal in their 3-1 win over Empoli at the Olympic Stadium as they moved up to second place in Serie A on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
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