The first significant rugby tournament of 2021 started back on February 6: that's the Six Nations Championship, Europe's top national team competition. England, France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy will face each other until March 20 searching for the cup.

Despite the pandemic and after several postponements, the group stage's fifth and final round of the 2020 Rugby Europe Championship is coming this Sunday, February 7, when Portugal face Spain in a decisive clash.

Cristiano Ronaldo, indisputably one of the best football players ever, scored his 760th goals in official matches in early 2021. This makes him the top scorer in football history - although the title is disputed by some.

Europe is going through the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and Portugal faces incredible difficulties, having entered, in January 2021, new and severe confinement. Several other European countries are in lockdown again as well, even though the vaccines give us a renewed sense of hope for eradicating this health crisis this year. Nevertheless, this time around sports isn't stopping.

The COVID-19 pandemic arrived as an unstoppable avalanche across the planet and affected sectors that previously seemed untouchable, such as the Olympic Games, for all its global symbolic weight. The decision to postpone the competition had enormous financial costs. Japan, the host country, is betting strongly on preventive measures to make it possible to have the event in 2021 as a symbol of hope.

The pandemic has changed society and sport as well, be it amateur or professional sports. Globally, almost all activity stopped, with most competitions suspended or canceled - including the Olympic Games -, posing significant challenges to the sporting world.