The Court of Cassation, the highest-ranked court in the French justice system, assembled on Monday afternoon with 19 magistrates to try and settle a case which first emerged four years ago.

Lionel Messi missed out on top spot after injuries, Cristiano Ronaldo closed in on a remarkable international feat and Raheem Sterling was deadly - who have 2019's most prolific strikers been?

French winger Ousmane Dembele is out for six months and will play no part at the European Championships this summer after Barcelona revealed his condition following surgery. 

SPECIAL REPORT BY DANIEL MATTHEWS IN LYON: To many in France, the 32-year-old is a footballing pariah. At Real Madrid, however, Benzema is approaching immortality.

INTERVIEW BY JOE BERNSTEIN: Everton's Djibril Sidibe is thrilled to be on the most prized WhatsApp group in sport. He was a member of France's 2018 World Cup winning squad

As fans across Europe gear up for another summer of agony and ecstasy while wearing their country's shirts proudly, here are five of the best kits in Euros history to get you going.

As far as bizarre injury treatments go, Marseille striker Dario Benedetto's remedy for a head injury sustained against Amiens is right up there. The Argentine was bizarrely given a swimming cap.

Karim Benzema has taken a swipe at Olivier Giroud, implying the Chelsea striker who replaced him in the France national team is an inferior player.  The 32-year-old has not played for Les Blues since 2015.

Benzema used an unflattering motor racing analogy to describe the perceived difference in quality between himself and Chelsea striker Giroud, who replaced him in the France team.

Benzema took a swipe at Giroud as the 'go-kart' to his 'Formula One' to describe what he believes is a difference in quality between himself and Giroud, who replaced him in the France team.

It's rare that a prequel matches its progenitor, but Better Call Saul has gradually, at times achingly slo-o-o-wly, proved the equal of parent show Breaking Bad .

If armies march on their stomachs, the same is true of the politicians who send them into war. Winston Churchill wouldn't have been half the man he was without the food made for him by his resident cook.

Herbert von Karajan, who died in 1989, shifted 200 million albums - an astonishing figure for a classical musician.

Fans can exhale - the final instalment of Mantel's trilogy is a cracker: powerful, propulsive and amply worth the eight-year wait. Despite topping 900 pages, it spans just four years.

Rami Malek is now best known for his Oscar-winning performance as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, but he first found fame via this Golden Globe-winning series.

There are several good reasons for seeing this spirited revival of Anthony Minghella's 2005 Madam Butterfly , and one totally compelling one: the Welsh soprano Natalya Romaniw.

Based on the book Twelve Patients: Life And Death At Bellevue Hospital, this medical drama stars Ryan Eggold as the new medical director at one of America's oldest public hospitals.

Set in rural Tennessee in the period after the Civil War, A Thousand Moons is a strange and beautiful story, narrated by a young Native American girl who has been adopted by two Irishmen.

A revival of Josie Rourke's Olivier-winning production of the Hollywood musical, featuring the stage debut of Nicola Roberts.

The Oscar-winning writer was responsible for five 007 classics: Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man With The Golden Gun, Surrender from Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough

For a man who has sold 45 million records and performed to stadiums full of fans since the age of 17, Ronan Keating is surprisingly anxious about his new album, Twenty Twenty

Every week on this fun new podcast by Susannah Constantine (of Trinny fame), a guest digs into his or her relationship with their wardrobe.

It's 1953 and Thomas Wazhushk leaves Turtle Mountain Reservation and travels to Washington, striving to defeat legislation that would abolish native tribes and relocate Native Americans.

Amazingly, this is the first exhibition of Aubrey Beardsley's work at the Tate since 1923.

Hats off to Deutsche Grammophon. Not only is it the producer of the finest complete Beethoven set in this, his 250th anniversary year.

Not all dark beers are boozy. Boxcar makes a brilliant Dark Mild (3.6%), or for a drop that's as booze-free as a pixie's giggle, try Harviestoun's Wheesht Alcohol Free Dark Ale (0.0%)

Anton Du Beke, 53, is happily married to businesswoman Hannah Summers and they have two-year-old twins, George and Henrietta. He is so happy, he says, that he is often moved to tears

For the first time in over 400 years, the Renaissance master's Poesie will be on show together as the centrepiece of the National Gallery's new exhibition.

We live in seismic times for the women's movement.

Not content with writing terrestrial TV's big show of the week with Belgravia, Julian Fellowes is also behind this six-part drama series charting the origins of football.

'Is it true that you guys never take off your helmets?' a prisoner asks his captor, the eponymous Mandalorian in the first episode of this eight-episode Star Wars spin-off.

Think you know all about the Beatles? Wait till you read this mesmerising biography of Britain's greatest band - by Britain's greatest critic...

John Carey is a welcoming host, full of enthusiasm, and the opposite of crusty. He can throw sparkling light on a poet's method in a handful of words

Just when you thought life couldn't get any worse, along comes the new Ken Loach movie. Sorry We Missed You (15, ★★★) tells of Ricky (Kris Hitchen), a labourer with plans to set up on his own.

Igor Stravinsky, not a great one for dishing out prizes to his colleagues, declared that Poulenc had the greatest melodic gift of any 20th-century composer.

This radiant, immersive novel is anchored in its author's fascination with Hamlet . It begins one summer's day in 1596, when 11-year-old Judith comes down with a fever in Stratford-upon-Avon.

To a teenage girl from England, in mourning for her dead mother, the Greek island of Hydra seems like an earthly paradise.

The first child born in an NHS hospital arrived a minute after midnight on July 5, 1948. She was named Aneira after Aneurin Bevan, the architect of the health service.

It's set in Sweden and is based on books by a Swedish author, but can this version of Wallander really be described as Scandi-noir?

At 60, Eve Laing is a famous artist in crisis. She's working on what she believes is a masterpiece, but her marriage has ended in divorce.

Georges Bizet was 17, and a student working on a piano reduction of Charles Gounod's symphonies, when he wrote his own solitary Symphony.

Bob Geldof said he would never be interviewed by me because, as he put it in his typical fruity language: 'You're too f****** good a journalist and will get me to say stuff I don't want to say!'

Broadcast across four nights a few weeks ago, this domestic drama can now be binge-watched in its entirety. An all-star cast bring to life an intriguing story involving love and jealousy.

Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert discusses losing the love of her life and rediscovering joy through writing her new book City Of Girls

Now aged 93 ('well past my sell-by date'), Jan Morris has taken to keeping a diary, or something like a diary, but more public, as it is clearly written for publication

Connoisseurs of short stories that pack an emotional punch will find plenty to admire in this fine new collection. The leitmotif is desperation but Kennedy is mistress of many moods.

International hitwoman Villanelle and MI6 operative Eve did not exactly part on the best of terms at the end of last series, and things are not going particularly well at the start of Series Three.

The classic reds to pair with lamb are Rioja, southern French reds, Chianti or Bordeaux. With Easter next weekend and roast lamb set to sizzle, rummage beyond the usual suspects.

Sometimes hype is just that; hype. But occasionally it's true.

Honor Blackman, my favourite Bond girl as sassy Pussy Galore, died, aged 94, at her home in Lewes, East Sussex, three miles from my village of Newick