The sides face off earlier than expected this time in the play-off round, with the first leg in Manchester on Tuesday.

Reigning champions Inter could cut the gap back to three points when they host Fiorentina on Monday.

Hansi Flick's Barca climbed within two points of Los Blancos and moved one behind Atletico to crank up the tension in the title race.

Ryan Hardie scored the only goal from the penalty spot as Arne Slot was made to pay for resting his star names as he suffered just a fourth defeat in 38 games as Liverpool boss.

Following an intense battle, Magura overcame the hosts 4-3 in tiebreaker to emerge champions in front of a jubilant crowd at the Khulna Divisional Sports Complex.

There apparently has not been any headway in the impasse in women's football despite a wholehearted effort from the president of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) to break the ice between the 18 senior players and the head coach of the women's national team.

The 36-year-old spent 16 years at Spanish giants Madrid, winning six La Liga titles and five Champions League trophies.

The Urbano Caldeira stadium erupted in celebration as jubilant and tearful fans lit up their mobile phones to give the striker, who left the club 12 years ago, a hero's welcome before kick-off.

Ancelotti rested several key starters ahead of Saturday's LaLiga derby against Atletico Madrid and next-week's Champions League playoff clash at Manchester City.

Newcastle, who have beaten Arsenal three times this season, will face Liverpool or Tottenham in the final at Wembley on March 16.

The Portuguese great appeared to trade an end-of-career payday for football obscurity when he moved to Riyadh's Al Nassr two years ago in a deal said to be worth $250 million.

“Over the past few days, I have received countless death and rape threats—words that have shattered me in ways I never imagined,” wrote Bangladesh women’s football team forward Matsushima Sumaya in a Facebook post that has reverberated across the nation today.

Al-Nassr’s Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo has never been shy of making grand statements about his greatness and has declared himself the best ever to play the game of football many times.

Chelsea's Axel Disasi had been linked with a move across London, but is instead set to join Aston Villa, who also added more firepower with the signing of Marco Asensio on loan from Paris Saint-Germain.

City's spending was the second-biggest outlay ever worldwide by a club in the January transfer window behind Chelsea's 274 million pounds in 2023, according to Transfermarkt.

Neymar has been one of the finest players in the world when at the top of his game, a forward with dazzling skill who "understands football as art", as his former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique once said.

City came back from a goal down to beat Belgian side Brugge on Wednesday in a nerve-jangling must-win league phase finale, to finish 22nd in the table - three places above elimination.

The new 36-team format provided plenty of tension, but all the fancied sides at least finished in the top 24 to stay in the competition.

Some senior women footballers today skipped the national team’s training session under reappointed English coach Peter Butler ahead of their upcoming FIFA friendly matches in February-March.

Balde was full of praise for Atalanta, who won last season's Europa League, but was left stumped by an Italian journalist's other question about their coach Gian Piero Gasperini's style of play at a press conference on Tuesday.