Sports

Real Madrid are set to place an even greater emphasis on winning the Spanish league title after ending their quest for an elusive 10th European Cup last season.

Zenit St Petersburg and Porto both put a foot in the Champions League group stage with 1-0 away wins in the first leg of their respective playoff ties.

The 28-year-old striker, who signed for City from VfL Wolfsburg in 2011, penned the new deal to keep him at the club until 2018.

FIFA has rejected Barcelona's appeal against one-year transfer ban as punishment for repeatedly breaching transfer regulations in signing youth players.

Sturridge ensured Liverpool began the post-Luis Suarez era in victorious fashion, scoring a late goal to seal a 2-1 win over Southampton.

Suarez, who transferred from Liverpool after the World Cup, trained for the first time with Messi, Iniesta and his other new teammates.

The CAS has upheld Suarez's ban for biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup, but cleared him to train with Barcelona.

The study showed that players in the 2012/13 season produced 40 percent more passes with a greater success rate than in 2006/07.

Argentina named former Barca coach Gerardo Martino as the new manager of the national soccer team following Alejandro Sabella's decision to step aside.

Louis van Gaal has given England striker Wayne Rooney the role of team captain and made Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher his vice-captain.

The Indian Super League on Tuesday got a dash of South American flavour with Colombian defenders Suarez and Gonzalez confirming their participation in the tournament.

The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon when Maradona attended a children's show with his son and the boy's mother Veronica.

Southampton continued rebuilding their depleted squad when the club signed England goalkeeper Fraser Forster from Celtic on a four-year deal.

Vanishing spray will be used by referees in UEFA competitions this season after its successful introduction at the World Cup in Brazil.

Arsenal, chasing a 17th straight group-stage campaign, and two-time European champion Porto are the highest-ranked teams in the 20-team draw.

Second-half strikes from Rooney, Mata and Lingard earned United a morale boosting 3-1 win over Liverpool in Miami.