Cristiano Ronaldo hit a second-half hat-trick as Real Madrid opened their Champions League campaign with a 4-0 victory over 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk in last night’s Group A showdown at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

According to reports, Benfica winger Nicolas Gaitan is in negotiations for a possible move to the Premier League side this summer.

International Friendly

New Italy coach Antonio Conte says he will lay down the law, vowing to "show no mercy" as he looks to build a successful team.

EUROPA LEAGUE:

Tottenham 3 Dnipro 1 (Spurs win 3-2 on agg)

Benfica 1 Chelsea 2

Benfica 3 Newcastle 1

Celtic 0 Benfica 0

Chelsea 2 Benfica 1 (Chelsea win 3-1 on aggregate)

There can be little doubt that Frank Lampard was right when he said that Chelsea are no longer the force of old, but they still have the knack of winning games they don’t deserve to.

Benfica 0 Chelsea 1

It is apt that the venue where Chelsea will attempt to stave off the darkness that is threatening to envelope both their present and future is called The Stadium of Light.

Benfica produced a dynamic performance to overturn a first-leg deficit against Zenit St Petersburg and earn a place in the last eight of the Champions League last night.

Benfica 2 Zenit St Petersburg 0 (Benfica win 4-3 on aggregate)

MANCHESTER UNITED defender Chris Smalling admits he would not be where he is today without the two years he spent at Fulham. Smalling will show no mercy towards his old club tonight when United visit Craven Cottage hunting three more points in their quest to retain the Barclays Premier League title.

A DAY that began with an escalation in the spat with one of his most trusted central midfielders ended with Alex Ferguson reassured by the performance of another.

PHIL JONES will not beat himself up over the own goal that threatens Manchester United’s Champions League place.

Manchester United 2 Benfica 2

ALEX FERGUSON praised goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard’s performance in the 1-1 Champions League draw with Benfica as United came from behind to salvage a point.

Benfica 1 Man Utd 1

Carlos Tevez has been left out of Argentina’s squad for the friendly with Portugal on February 9 in Switzerland but national team boss Sergio Batista does not want the Manchester City striker to be worried by his omission.

LIONEL MESSI struck two goals as Barcelona moved top of Group D after squeezing past FC Copenhagen at the Nou Camp last night.