France fullback Eric Abidal wants to stay at Barcelona for two more seasons and is looking to wrap up a deal at a meeting with club officials on Thursday.
Manchester United salvaged a point with a 90th minute header from Ashley Young to claim a 3-3 home draw with Basel in their Champions League Group C match on Tuesday after the Swiss champions came from 2-0 down to lead 3-2.
Defender Andrea Ranocchia and forward Mattia Destro were left out of Italy's 23-man Euro 2012 squad on Tuesday but centre back Leonardo Bonucci was included despite the match-fixing crisis engulfing the country.
Arsenal recruited Lille's 24-year-old Ivory Coast forward Gervinho Monday as they bid to boost their firepower this season and end a trophy drought stretching back to 2005.
Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas's three-year wait to rejoin Barcelona is all set to end, as the Spanish club have increased their bid for Fabregas to 32 million pounds.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic maintained his perfect tournament record and advanced to his fifth China Open final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Andy Murray on Saturday.
A Didier Drogba double helped the Ivory Coast become the second side to progress from the African Nations Cup preliminaries to next year's finals after a 6-2 win in Benin on Sunday.
Lionel Messi fired Barcelona into the last 16 of the Champions League with two goals in their 3-0 victory at Spartak Moscow on Tuesday but holders Chelsea are walking a tightrope after a crushing defeat by Juventus.
Olympique Marseille became the first team to retain the French League Cup when a late Taye Taiwo goal gave them a 1-0 win over Montpellier in a scrappy final at the Stade de France on Saturday.
Real Madrid and Barcelona were made to work hard before grinding out wins in La Liga at the weekend while Inter Milan scored a surprise derby victory over AC Milan in Serie A.
France left back Patrice Evra was omitted from the squad for next week's friendly against Brazil despite having served a five-match ban for his infamous World Cup walkout.
Champions Olympique Marseille lost ground in the Ligue 1 title race after being held to a 0-0 draw at struggling Monaco on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo took a leaf out of Lionel Messi's book when he reached a personal landmark and led Real Madrid into the Champions League knockout stages by scoring both goals in a 2-0 win at Olympique Lyon on Wednesday.
Newcastle United maintained their unbeaten start to the season Saturday, sending Wigan Athletic to the bottom of the Premier League with a 1-0 victory at St James' Park thanks to a late winner from Frenchman Yohan Cabaye.
Roger Federer's straight sets victory over Richard Gasquet in the Davis Cup final against France on Sunday not only made Switzerland only the 14th nation to win tennis's prestigious trophy, but also completed the final piece in the Swiss's puzzle.
Asian Games gold medallist Pakistan and South Korea were on Friday handed wildcard entries for next year's Champions Trophy hockey tournament, scheduled to be held in India.
Olympique Marseille opened a one-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 after they were held to a goalless home draw by Stade Rennes in a rescheduled game on Wednesday.
Big-spending Manchester City maintained their perfect start to the English Premier League season with a 3-2 win at Bolton Wanderers, while Arsenal capped a week to forget with a 2-0 home defeat by Liverpool.
Olympique Lyon's miserable start to the Ligue 1 season continued with a 2-0 defeat at Girondins Bordeaux on Sunday.
Shakhtar Donetsk led the way for the Champions League underdogs as they beat holders Chelsea 2-1 while former European champions Barcelona and Manchester United came from behind to maintain perfect starts on Tuesday.
Real Madrid defender Pepe was included in Portugal's preliminary 24-man squad for the World Cup on Monday, proving his recovery from a long-term knee injury. Brazil-born Pepe, who cost Real Madrid 30 million euros ($40.25 million) from Porto in 2007, damaged knee ligaments in December and has not played since.
Dismal domestic and Champions League campaigns have left Liverpool seeking Europa League salvation but they must first overturn a 1-0 semi-final first-leg deficit against Atletico Madrid on Thursday.
In a startling revelation, Pakistan hockey team's sacked manager Asif Bajwa has claimed that the team deliberately lost its World Cup qualifying league match against Poland to avoid hosts France in the final last year.
Playmaker Lucho Gonzalez produced a dazzling display to steer Olympique Marseille to a 4-1 home win over Nice that took the Ligue 1 leaders two points clear on Sunday.
Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt headed a late goal to send the five-times European champions into the last 16 of the Europa League with a 1-0 victory over a defiant Sparta Prague at Anfield on Thursday.
Girondins Bordeaux saw their lead at the top of Ligue 1 cut to three points after going down 4-2 at Stade Rennes on Saturday.
Manchester City humbled their neighbours United by beating them 6-1 and Levante still lead in Spain where European champions Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw by Sevilla.
Manchester's two-pronged assault on the Champions League finally sprang to life on Tuesday when United won their first match of the campaign by beating Romanians Otelul Galati 2-0 away and City left it until stoppage time to beat Villarreal 2-1.
Ruthless Bayern Munich scored five goals in the first 35 minutes on the way to a 7-1 demolition of AS Roma on Tuesday which bore an uncanny resemblance to Germany's win over Brazil by the same score in the World Cup semi-final.
Marouane Chamakh struck late to give Ligue 1 leaders Girondins Bordeaux a 1-0 win at Olympique Lyon on Sunday that put their title rivals eight points behind.
Satinder Kumar and Raghu Prasad are the two Indian umpires who would officiate in the 12-nation Hero Honda FIH Hockey World Cup to be held at New Delhi's National Stadium in February-March 2010.
The Pakistani hockey team booked a place at next year's World Cup in India by winning a qualifying tournament in France at the weekend.
Apart from hosts India, Canada (winners of the third Pan American Cup), Korea (eighth Asia Cup winners), South Africa (winners of the Africa Cup of Nations, 2009), Australia (winners of the sixth Oceania Cup) have qualified for the event.
Two headers by Marouane Chamakh led champions Girondins Bordeaux to a 3-2 win at Sochaux in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Fans dived in the sea at the Vieux Port as Olympique Marseille ended an 18-year wait for the French title when late goals by Mamadou Niang and Lucho Gonzalez secured a 3-1 home win over Stade Rennes on Wednesday.
Substitute Fredy Guarin gave former European champions Porto a late 2-1 Europa League win at Sevilla on Thursday while their old rivals Benfica beat VfB Stuttgart by the same score.
Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyon lost 2-0 to Lille at the Stade de France on Saturday and saw their advantage at the top cut to just one point.
David Ngog saved Liverpool the blushes as they beat Unirea Urziceni of Romania 1-0 to register their first win at the Europa League campaign on Thursday.
Bobby Zamora and Bjorn Helge Riise twice combined to set Fulham on their way to a 3-2 win at snowy Basel on Wednesday, sealing the London club's berth in the final 32 of the Europa League. Hertha Berlin, in last place in the Bundesliga, scraped through thanks to a 1-0 win at home to Group D winners Sporting and Panathinaikos of Greece secured second place in Group F when Djibril Cisse scored two in a 3-0 win over Dinamo Bucharest.
Olympique Marseille and Paris St Germain supporters clashed on Sunday after their Ligue 1 game was postponed and the whole PSG team quarantined when three players were diagnosed with H1N1 flu.
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