Jerome Boateng has provided a boost to Germany's World Cup squad by stepping up his return to training following a hamstring injury.

Bayern Munich are through to the Champions League semi-finals for the seventh time in nine years after a 0-0 draw in their quarter-final second leg with Sevilla.

Bayern Munich coasted into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 3-1 win over Besiktas in Istanbul to complete an 8-1 aggregate win.

Bayern Munich look assured of a Champions League quarter-final spot for a seventh straight season after thrashing 10-man Besiktas 5-0 in Germany.

Celtic discovered Bayern Munich are still very much a European force as the Hoops suffered a 3-0 defeat in their Champions League clash at the Allianz Arena.

Tottenham striker Harry Kane has been named on a 30-man shortlist to win the 2017 Ballon d'Or.

Captain Manuel Neuer has been left out of the Germany squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Czech Republic and Norway.

Germany coach Joachim Low felt the 7-0 thrashing of minnows San Marino was a good test for his young squad before they head off to the Confederations Cup in Russia.

Ousmane Dembele scored the winner as Borussia Dortmund booked their place in a fourth successive DFB-Pokal final with a thrilling 3-2 victory over holders Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti has admitted star striker Robert Lewandowski remains a major doubt for tonight’s Champions League quarter-final first-leg clash with Real Madrid.

Arsene Wenger saw Arsenal humiliated again as their 10 men crashed out of the Champions League after another five-goal mauling at the hands of Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich 5 - 1 Arsenal

For the past 20 years, Bayern Munich has enjoyed a near-monopoly of the Bundesliga title.

Bayern Munich bounced back from defeat to Borussia Dortmund a week ago with a 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen which cemented second place in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Jonny Evans insists Northern Ireland have belief they can attain a positive result against Germany tonight, even if a “perfect” performance may be required in Hanover.

Bastian Schweinsteiger will lead Germany onto the field for tonight’s Euro 2016 semi-final against France after being passed fit to play.

Thomas Muller says Germany are not afraid of France ahead of tomorrow night’s Euro 2016 semi-final in Marseille.

Five things we learned last night

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has classed Borussia Dortmund as one of the best teams in Europe ahead of their Europa League last-16 clash tonight.

One of the many charms of Jurgen Klopp is that unlike the person he could be succeeding at Anfield, he has the capacity to prompt people to chuckle with him rather than at him.

Jurgen Klopp tells a story about playing a hypothetical game of tennis against a three-year-old girl. It would be no fun, he said, if he smashed the ball at her and won easily while she stood and watched. He’d rather play table-tennis against someone his own age and lose.

Seamus Coleman last night reported for international duty despite his Everton manager Robert Martinez all but ruling the full-back out of Ireland’s Euro qualifier against Germany on Thursday.

Scotland 2 Germany 3: Scotland would probably have settled for two goals against the world champions before this Euro 2016 Group D qualifier kicked off but, crucially, the three they conceded leaves them behind Ireland in the playoff hunt.

Premier League

Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels has denied making any promise to join Manchester United.

Football stars apologising to fans is not something you see every day.

”You have to prove yourself. A player of £95million has to prove himself also.”

Victor Valdes: United boss Van Gaal expects his new arrival to battle hard for a place in the first team.

The Premier League transfer window opens on Saturday morning and closes at 11pm on February 2.

Werder Bremen piled the misery on Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund with a 2-1 Bundesliga win at the Weserstadion today.

Borussia Dortmund’s players swapped their boots for beer taps when pouring pints for fans at the club’s Christmas party on Tuesday night.

Germany 1 Republic of Ireland 1

German football is like the German economy. Both are normally so strong that an upset can be magnified into a potential crisis, writes David Shonfield.

Poland 2 Germany 0

Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Karim Bellarabi is the only uncapped player in Germany’s squad for their upcoming Euro qualifiers against Ireland and Poland.

Louis van Gaal thinks he may have bamboozled his players with too much information in the opening two months of his reign as Manchester United manager.

Scotland put up a spirited show in their first Euro 2016 qualifying match, going down 2-1 to world champions Germany.