Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko scored a hat-trick as leaders VfL Wolfsburg crushed Hanover 96 5-0 away on Saturday to close in on their first Bundesliga title with one match left. The league's leading striker Grafite added two more for Wolfsburg, who are top with 66 points, two ahead of Bayern Munich who were held to a 2-2 draw at Hoffenheim.
World number one Dinara Safina came from behind to win an epic contest with Venus Williams 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 on Friday and set up an all-Russian final at the Italian Open in Rome. Safina rallied from a set and 2-0 down to earn the right to face her compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, who barged past Belarussian Victoria Azarenka with a 6-2, 6-4 win.
Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld was relieved to see Bayern Munich restore normal service at the Allianz Arena with a 2-0 win over Karlsruhe on Saturday.
Formula One runner-up Lewis Hamilton gave McLaren's 2008 car his seal of approval after trying it out for the first time in Spain on Thursday.
Formula One champions Ferrari will reveal their 2008 cars in a low-key presentation in Maranello on Sunday.
Bayern Munich's domestic woes continued on Sunday when they were held 0-0 at Werder Bremen and slipped to fifth in the Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld is to leave the Bundesliga club at the end of the season when his contract expires, he told local media in Berlin on Wednesday.
Werder Bremen produced a rousing fightback at the San Siro to eliminate favourites AC Milan from the UEFA Cup on Thursday and heap further pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian shrugged off fresh speculation this week that he could be sacked in May but will face further calls for his head after Claudio Pizarro scored twice as Werder hit back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 and reach the last 16 on away goals after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate.
A late equaliser from Werder Bremen's Brazilian international Diego denied AC Milan victory in their UEFA Cup first knockout round first leg tie in Germany on Wednesday.
Hertha Berlin returned to the top of the Bundesliga for the first time in more than two years after Andriy Voronin struck twice to give them a 2-1 home win over Bayern Munich on Saturday.
Olympique Lyon and Fenerbahce filled the last two Champions League knockout places after wins over Rangers and CSKA Moscow.
Barcelona reached the knockout phase of the Champions League with a 2-2 draw at Olympique Lyon on Tuesday. The 2006 champions, who have 11 points from five matches, also secured top place in Group E after Rangers lost 3-2 way to bottom-placed VfB Stuttgart.
All eyes will be on Manchester City as the window opens, with Roberto Mancini expected to add more firepower to a squad who have emerged as genuine contenders for the Premier League title.
Olympique Lyon midfielder Jeremy Toulalan and striker Milan Baros have been left out of the squad to face VfB Stuttgart in a Champions League Group E match on Wednesday.
World number one Justine Henin struggled to a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova to earn a meeting with 19-year-old Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin, who ousted Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-0, 6-4.
The Belgian was joined by Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jelena Jankovic and Tatiana Golovin in the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Open.
World number one Justine Henin made a problem-free return to the court on Thursday, beating Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-1 in her first match since winning the US Open.
Serena Williams beat Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine 7-5, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals in Stuttgart.
Barcelona will field dynamic duo Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry in tandem for the first time in the Champions League against Olympique Lyon.
VfB Stuttgart squandered the chance to lift themselves further away from trouble when they conceded a late penalty to draw 1-1 at Mainz on Sunday.
Manchester United and AS Roma will meet in the Champions League group stages.
Bayern Munich beat Hanover 96 3-0 to make it three wins from their first three games.
Brazilian Ronaldinho struck deep into injury time to give favourites AC Milan a 1-0 UEFA Cup group stage win at home to Braga on Thursday while twice winners Sevilla suffered a 1-0 defeat at Standard Liege.
Newcomers Franck Ribery and Luca Toni were on target to help Bayern Munich to a brilliant 4-0 win at Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Udinese inflicted more misery on hapless Tottenham Hotspur with a 2-0 UEFA Cup group stage victory.
Bayern Munich went on a 70 million euro spending spree after their humiliating fourth-placed finish in the Bundesliga last season and are eager to avenge their failure to win silverware by grabbing all four titles this time.
Unheralded Igor Kunitsyn upset former world number one Marat Safin 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 in an all-Russian Kremlin Cup final to clinch his maiden title.
World number one Jelena Jankovic survived a scare before reaching the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 win over Vera Dushevina on Thursday. The Serb, who replaced Serena Williams at the top of the WTA rankings on Monday, was in danger of becoming the third high-profile player to bow out of the $2.3 million tournament.
Twice UEFA Cup winners Feyenoord and Tottenham Hotspur came through testing away ties on Thursday to progress to the group stage of the competition. Feyenoord overturned a 1-0 home defeat to win 2-1 against Swedish league leaders Kalmar and go through on away goals while a 1-1 draw for Spurs in Poland helped the Premier League strugglers eliminate Wisla Krakow 3-2 on aggregate in the first round.
David Ferrer outclassed his Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro in the Swedish Open final on Sunday, winning 6-1 6-2 to clinch his fourth career title.
Manchester City are in danger of an early exit from Europe after a shock 1-0 home defeat by Danish side Midtjylland in their UEFA Cup second qualifying round first-leg match on Thursday.
Quoting law enforcement officials, ABC news said US air marshals have been diverted to provide expanded protection of flights between Germany and the US.
Bayern Munich beat VfB Stuttgart 4-1 on Sunday to move 12 points clear in the Bundesliga with only one point required from their last four games to seal a 21st German title. Luca Toni scored his 36th goal in 42 matches in the eighth minute. Antonio da Silva equalised nine minutes later before Mark van Bommel fired in a superb low shot that curled around the wall off an indirect free kick in the 55th minute.
The Indo-Czech pair was upset by local duo of Andreas Beck and Sebastian Rieschick 4-6, 0-6 in second round of the Mercedes Cup
The top seeds were given a scare by Florian Mayer and Lars\nBurgsmuller in their opening match at the Mercedes Cup.\n
The result left Manchester United top of the EPL standings on 35 points, three ahead of Chelsea.
The world number one withdrew from the Zurich Open with a right shoulder injury.
The Russian overcame a groin injury to reach her first Kremlin Cup final beating Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova.
Compatriot Elena Dementieva added her name to the tournament's lengthy casualty list when she withdrew with a left thigh muscle injury.
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