According to John Rankin, chairman of the Scotland Professional Footballers Association (PFA), illegal betting permeates the Scottish game at all levels. He lumps in managers, referees, directors and chairmen along with players as culprits.

It seemed like eons ago that Swiss police showed up (the first time) at 6 a.m. at the five-star Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich and hauled away FIFA officials only protected from public view by bed sheets held up by hotel employees in suit coats with tails. If you thought the probe into soccer corruption was dormant, think again.

Borussia Dortmund has played second fiddle to Bayern Munich on and off the field so often in recent years that one victory was cause for major celebration. Its 3-2 win on Wednesday in the German Cup semifinals was special.

For Borussia Dortmund, the Bundesliga title is beyond reach and it's out of the UEFA Champions League, leaving the German Cup as the last chance for BVB and its American teenager Christian Pulisic to lift a title this season. Its German Cup semifinal opponent Bayern Munich on Wednesday also has extra incentive.

Despite its dramatic 3-2 home loss to Barcelona that handed La Liga lead back to the Catalan club on the tiebreaker (head-to-head), Real Madrid remains in the driver's seat to win the Spanish league title. But Real Madrid won't have much time to refocus as it is back in La Liga action on Wednesday at Deportivo Coruna.

A better crop of young players, says Everton manager Ronald Koeman, is why he's giving them considerable time as the club holds its place in the upper tier of the Premier League.

As an engineer and a computer scientist, I am comfortable with numbers. I believe that the numbers do not lie, but they do not necessarily tell all the truth.

We've been watching a superstar grow up before our eyes the last couple of months as 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe has led Monaco to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League.

Madrid looks like the capital of the soccer universe as Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have reached the UEFA Champions League semis for the third time in four seasons. On Sunday, Real Madrid hosts El Clasico, a chance for Barcelona to save its season.

Real Madrid's 4-2 overtime win over Bayern Munich that sent the defending champions into the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League will be remembered for a series of controversial decisions by Hungarian Viktor Kassai: a second yellow card to Bayern's Arturo Vidal in the 84th minute and both overtime goals by Cristiano Ronaldo.

For the second time in four days, scenes of chaos dominated the pre-game images at matches involving French club Lyon. On Thursday, it was fans of Turkish club Besiktas throwing projectiles from the upper deck of Parc OL at Lyon fans below. On Sunday, it was Bastia fans chasing Lyon players into the tunnel leading to the locker room.

Among the many headaches plaguing Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is the disgruntlement of striker Alexis Sanchez, who is upset about the team's lack of silverware and knows his next contract -- his current deal expires in June of next year -- is a prime opportunity to cash in.

The Borussia Dortmund-Monaco match in the UEFA Champions League was played 24 hours after an explosion went off as the Dortmund team bus left the hotel where players had spent the afternoon.

How hard was it for Borussia Dortmund players to face Monaco less than 24 hours after the Dortmund team bus was rocked by three explosions (three devices packed with metal pins) as it left the team hotel to the Dortmund stadium eight miles away?

The Borussia Dortmund-Monaco match in the UEFA Champions League was postponed on Tuesday after the Dortmund team bus was the apparent target of an explosive attack. According to reports, three explosions went off after the bus exited its team hotel, L'Arrivee Hotel and Spa, in Hoechsten, about eight miles from Signal Iduna Park, site of the match that will be played on Wednesday.