Louis van Gaal hosted a frank Q&A session in San Jose last night. Plenty of the questions Manchester United fans have been asking were tackled.

There was a time when the great philosophers wrestled with less crucial posers. Stuff like whether the world exists at all outside the mind.

Hubris. Now there’s a word I really like, with its hint of a serpent’s hiss at the end offset by the near certainty that the slithery one is in for a nasty surprise.

Manager Pep Guardiola says he opted to play the most offensive formation of his career as Bayern Munich put seven past hapless Shakhtar Donetsk to march to the Champions League quarter-finals.

Champions League Last 16 First Leg

Franck Ribéry was slapped with a scarf and abused by an idiotic pitch invader during last night’s cup match between Bayern FC and Hamburger SV.

Franck Ribery could face a suspension if he refuses to represent his country again, according to Uefa president Michel Platini.

France winger Franck Ribery has announced his retirement from international duty.

Franck Ribery has likened his World Cup absence to "a death in the soul".

Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery has been ruled out of France’s World Cup campaign, along with Lyon midfielder Clement Grenier.

Bayern Munich 0 Real Madrid 4 (Real Madrid win 5-0 on aggregate)

Now that the draw for the Champions League semi-finals has been made, I have no doubt we will see two very different match-ups when Real Madrid face Bayern Munich and Chelsea come up against Atletico Madrid.

Bayern Munich 3 Manchester United 1 (Bayern Munich win 4-2 on aggregate)

Bayern Munich 3 Manchester United 1 (Bayern Munich win 4-2 on aggregate)

David Moyes put his faith in the old legs of Ryan Giggs once more as Manchester United sought to achieve a positive result against holders Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at Old Trafford.

Bayern Munich 1 Arsenal 1 (Bayern win 3-1 on agg)

Bayern Munich 1 Arsenal 1 (Bayern win 3-1 on aggregate)

Top French footballers Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema have been cleared by a Paris court on charges of soliciting an underage prostitute.

Franck Ribery claims he deserved to win the FIFA Ballon d’Or ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo because the Real Madrid forward won nothing in 2013.

An emotional Cristiano Ronaldo had to fight back the tears last night after ending four years of Lionel Messi domination to win the Fifa Ballon d’Or and the right to be called the best player on the planet once again.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a sensitive soul. As Sepp Blatter discovered last October, it is unwise to make fun about how much an actor spends on his appearance.

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the 2013 FIFA Ballon d’Or at an awards ceremony in Zurich, ending Lionel Messi’s four-year reign as holder of the crown.

As we start another calendar year, we can look back on 2013 as 12 months which gave us so much to talk about in the world of football that it’s hard to know where to start.

DICTIONARY CORNER

Guangzhou Evergrande 0 Bayern Munich 3

Bayern Munich 2 Manchester City 3

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery will fight it out for the title of the world’s best player after FIFA announced its shortlist for the 2013 Ballon d’Or.

For a few minutes on Tuesday evening, it seemed that all Cristiano Ronaldo’s efforts against Sweden were in vain.

Paris does not possess a Last Chance Saloon.

Manchester City 1 Bayern Munich 3

Manchester City 1 Bayern Munich 3

Lionel Messi, Franck Ribery and Cristiano Ronaldo have been named on the three-man shortlist for UEFA’s Best Player in Europe award for the 2012/13 season.

Bayern Munich have won the 2012/13 Champions League after beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at Wembley.

Losing at home to a team battling relegation is not the ideal preparation for a Champions League final, but it’s been that sort of a season for Borussia Dortmund.

Barcelona 0 Bayern Munich 3

The heartbreaking way in which they lost last season’s Champions League final has helped Bayern Munich steel themselves for this campaign, according to manager Jupp Heynckes.

Bayern Munich 4 Barcelona 0

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes has not sought any advice from former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola ahead of his side’s Champions League semi-final tie against the Catalans tonight.

Bayern Munich warmed up for next week’s Champions League showdown with Barcelona by thumping Hannover 6-1 in the Bundesliga.

Paris St Germain director of football Leonardo insists the club have not made an offer for Cristiano Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney but said he could not rule out big buys this summer.

Juventus 0 Bayern Munich 2 (Bayern win 4-0 on aggregate)