Europe League

Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, which clashed in an Istanbul derby over the weekend, appear on the European stage again on Nov. 25 when the former hosts Marseille in Istanbul and the latter visits Olympiacos in the Europa League.

Nov. 21's derby pitted the two teams against each other, with the visiting side Fenerbahçe claiming a 2-1 victory with a late goal.

Chelsea recorded a loss of nearly 100 million ($132 million, 118 million euros) for the year ending June 30, according to financial results published by the Premier League club on Dec. 31.

Istanbul clubs Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe, struggling in the Turkish league, will seek some comp3ensation when they both play Belgian teams in the Europe League on Nov. 8.

Greek authorities say two Chelsea fans were injured in an attack by suspected local fans ahead of a Europe League match at PAOK Thessaloniki.

Police say the two Englishmen were beaten by three assailants in central Thessaloniki shortly before dawn Thursday. An ambulance crew provided first aid but the men declined to be taken to the hospital.

Hundreds of people attended the military funeral in Cluj-Napoca on Monday of well-known anti-Communist dissident Doina Cornea, in the foyer of the University House near the headquarters of the Babes-Bolyai University, where she used to teach years ago.

More than 400 people, including former Romanian President Emil Constantinescu and poet Ana Blandiana, attended the event.

Panathinaikos and PAOK scored victories on Thursday and advanced to the play-offs of the Europe League, while Panionios fell to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Athens.

Panathinaikos was clearly the better team in Baku and beat Qabala 2-1 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate to emphatically avenge its elimination from the same competition two years ago.

Panathinaikos and PAOK secured positive results in their first-leg games for the third qualifying round of the Europe League on Thursday, while Panionios suffered a reverse it can overcome in the return game.

Turkish league leader Beşiktaş visits Olympique Lyon on April 13 for the first leg of their Europe League quarter final tie without injured Portugal international Ricardo Quaresma, while striker Vincent Aboubakar is suspended.

Fenerbahçe will be searching for a much-needed victory when it hosts Russian club Krasnodar in the second leg of a Europa League round of 32 clash.

Having lost last week's game in Russia 1-0, the home side will need at least a two-goal victory on Feb. 22 to advance to the next round and give its angry fans something to cheer about.

In a moving gesture, Brazil football icon Ronaldinho has offered to come out of retirement to play for Chapecoense as the club struggles to rebuild in the wake of the tragic plane crash in Colombia on Monday that killed the majority of its team and coaches.