Barcelona striker David Villa is recovering well from a broken leg but the club will not rush him back into action before he is ready, captain Carles Puyol said.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
Chelsea's senior players should not be blamed for Andre Villas-Boas losing his job as the club's manager, skipper John Terry has said.
Aston Villa were relegated from the Premier League for the first time since it began in 1992 when they suffered their 24th loss of the season in a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Liverpool moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 demolition of Bournemouth that extended their unbeaten league run to 14 games on Sunday.
Manchester United and Aston Villa paid a heavy price for having men sent off on in the Premier League on Sunday with United losing a tight derby to Man City and Villa surrendering a lead in defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.
Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as champions Manchester City made a convincing start to their title defence with a 5-0 win over West Ham United.
Aston Villa will try to become the first side to score against Chelsea this season when they visit the champions on Saturday.
Arsenal's victory ended a run of three successive defeats in all competitions and put them level on 43 points with Aston Villa and champions Manchester City. Arsenal's goal difference is superior to Villa's but worse than City's.
Liverpool lost for the second time in three Premier League matches on Monday, slumping to a 3-1 home defeat by Aston Villa.
Aston Villa blew a chance to go eight points clear of Arsenal in the race for England's fourth Champions League berth Sunday after conceding two late goals against relegation-threatened Stoke City. The 2-2 draw, with Stoke cancelling out their hosts' 2-0 lead in the final three minutes, left fourth-placed Villa six points ahead of Arsenal and three adrift of second-placed Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League.
Bukayo Saka scored either side of halftime as Arsenal crushed second-bottom Burnley 5-0.
A brilliantly-worked goal by Ryan Christie and a Justin Kluivert penalty gave Bournemouth shock 2-0 Premier League win at home to 10-man Arsenal.
The race for Premier League places in next season's Europa League warmed up on Sunday when Aston Villa and Everton fought out a thrilling 3-3 draw and Fulham came from behind to win 3-1 at Manchester City.
Spanish goal hero David Villa has rallied behind Fernando Torres after his strike partner turned in another disappointing World Cup performance in the European champions' 1-0 win over Portugal on Tuesday, saying he doesn't agree with those who say that the Liverpool ace's performances have been below par.
The Villa, owned by United Breweries Holding, was mortgaged by KFA to SBI-led 17-bank consortium to obtain loans in 2010
Premier League sides Manchester United and Aston Villa reached the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday after seeing off lower league opponents Southampton and Gillingham.
Chelsea's on-loan Brazilian international Alexandre Pato scored on his debut to help push pathetic Aston Villa to the verge of inevitable relegation with a seventh successive Premier League defeat on Saturday. Pato, the former Milan starlet who has been kicking his heels since joining from Corinthians two months ago, came on as a 25th-minute substitute and was immediately involved in the move which led to Ruben Loftus-Cheek netting his first league goal.
Danny Welbeck, making his first appearance of the season as a late substitute, headed a stoppage-time winner to give Arsenal a 2-1 home win over league leaders Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
Zenit St. Petersburg, led by Portuguese coach Andre Villas-Boas, won the Russian Premier League title.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi brought back memories of outstanding performances by his Argentine compatriots Diego Maradona and Ricky Villa at Wembley with his match-winning display in the Champions League final on Saturday.
Frank Lampard broke Chelsea's all-time scoring record with two goals as the European champions all but secured a top-four finish in the Premier League with a 2-1 win in an incident-packed game at Aston Villa on Saturday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday night.
Frank Lampard passed the 150-goal milestone for Chelsea on Saturday with four goals in a 7-1 hammering of Aston Villa as Carlo Ancelotti's side roared back to the top of the English Premier League.
David Villa hit a spectacular volley to earn Spain a 1-0 win over world champions Italy in a friendly on Wednesday. The Valencia striker, who replaced Fernando Torres at halftime, fired the ball into the top corner past a helpless Gianluigi Buffon 13 minutes from time after Fabio Cannavaro had headed the ball clear of his area.
A hat-trick by David Villa helped Spain to a 4-1 win over Russia in their Euro 2008 opener on Tuesday.
Blackburn Rovers gave their new Indian owners an immediate return on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa that lifted the club five places in the English Premier League table.
Darren Bent scored on his debut four days after becoming Aston Villa's most expensive player to give his new side a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Premier League at Villa Park on Saturday.
David Villa struck just after halftime to lift champions Barcelona to a laboured 1-0 home win over his former club Sporting Gijon in La Liga on Wednesday.
Liverpool kicked off the new year three points clear atop the English Premier League standings with a 4-2 victory over Newcastle United.
Aston Villa beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to win a Premier League match for the first time since August while a late goal from Paul Dummett earned a 3-3 draw for Newcastle United against Manchester United on Tuesday.
David Villa struck twice and David Silva and Juan Mata also scored to give rampant Valencia a 4-2 win at Real Valladolid in La Liga on Sunday.
Wayne Rooney scored twice in a 4-1 victory in the English Premier League.
Roundup of the matches being held across major football leagues in Europe on Sunday
Embattled Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's immediate family members are living under 'close confinement' at a luxurious villa in Algeria, it has emerged.
Chelsea's title hopes suffered a blow when the Premier League leaders finished with nine men in a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday after Manchester City won 2-0 at Hull City to cut the gap at the top to six points.
Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa gained ground in the Premier League's increasingly tight battle for fourth place on Sunday as they beat Wigan Athletic and Burnley respectively.
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'If we play at the level of Liverpool or Tottenham we'll do it again.'
