Jose Mourinho made winning titles a habit for Chelsea's players when he first arrived in 2004 and three months into his second stint at Stamford Bridge he is urging them to rediscover it.
Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba was named African Footballer of the Year on Thursday, beating Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o and Ghana's Michael Essien for the 2009 award.
Chelsea heaped more Christmas misery on Liverpool with a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge and Olivier Giroud ended a seven-game scoring drought to help Arsenal win 1-0 at Newcastle United and return to the top of the Premier League on Sunday.
Images of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Samuel Eto'o are still festooned on posters all over South Africa -- but sadly for them that's their only involvement as the World Cup reaches its final stages.
Live updates from the matches at the football World Cup in South Africa.
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Serie A top spot is AS Roma's for the taking this weekend after leaders Inter Milan were held to an exciting 2-2 draw at Fiorentina on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho enjoyed a triumphant return to Stamford Bridge with Inter Milan who secured a 1-0 win at his former side Chelsea on Tuesday that sent the Italians into the Champions League quarter-finals.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola named injury concerns Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta in his starting team to play Manchester United in the Champions League final on Wednesday. United central defender Rio Ferdinand was also included in the starting lineup after shaking off a calf injury.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic ignored the predictable boos on his first return to Inter Milan on Wednesday without answering the sceptics who still doubt his ability to finally make a mark in Europe.
Serie A champions Inter Milan humiliated 10-man AC Milan 4-0 to emphatically earn the derby spoils on Saturday.
New Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto'o said on Tuesday it would be an honour to play for Jose Mourinho after denying he had criticised the Portuguese coach's style of football.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be the happiest man alive once he has completed his move to Barcelona from Inter Milan, the Swedish striker said on Sunday.
Midfielder Dejan Stankovic netted with a remarkable volley from the halfway line to help Inter Milan triumph 5-0 at Genoa to surge clear at the top of Serie A on Saturday.
AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti has targeted Didier Drogba, Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o or Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor as potential signings.
Italian Cup winners Lazio stunned Serie A champions Inter Milan with two goals in two minutes early in the second half to win the Super Cup 2-1 in Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium on Saturday.
Italian Cup winners Lazio stunned Serie A champions Inter Milan with two goals in two minutes early in the second half to win the Super Cup 2-1 in Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium on Saturday. Brazilian midfielder Matuzalem opened the scoring against the run of play in the 61st minute and Inter had barely recovered from the shock before Lazio skipper Tommaso Rocchi chipped Inter keeper Julio Cesar to double the lead.
Barcelona won the European Cup for the third time with a classy 2-0 victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Wednesday. Striker Samuel Eto'o struck the opener on 10 minutes when his low shot beat United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar at his near post and Lionel Messi sealed the win on 70 minutes when he headed home Xavi's cross.
Samuel Eto'o scored just before the break to give Barcelona a 1-0 win at Real Valladolid that briefly put them nine points clear in the Primera Liga on Saturday before Real Madrid reduced the lead to six points again with a 1-0 win at Malaga.
Two goals in the first five minutes helped Inter Milan ease to the top of Serie A with a 3-1 win over Napoli on Wednesday.
Barcelona went six points clear at the top of the Spanish Primera Liga with a 3-0 win away to Sevilla on Saturday after second-placed Real Madrid lost 3-1 at Getafe. Barca moved on to 32 points from 13 games, six ahead of Real. Third-placed Villarreal, with 25 points, visit bottom club Recreativo Huelva on Sunday.
Barcelona trounced visitors Atletico Madrid 6-1 at the Nou Camp on Saturday to move into second place behind Villarreal in the Primera Liga. Villarreal have 16 points from six games after coming from behind to beat Real Betis 2-1 while Barca are on 13 after a scoring spree led by a double from Samuel Eto'o.
Barcelona's hopes of wresting the league title from Real Madrid suffered another blow on Saturday when they twice surrendered the lead to draw 2-2 at relegation-threatened Recreativo Huelva. The draw left Barca six points behind leaders Real Madrid with six games to play but the champions could extend that to nine if they beat struggling Real Murcia at the Bernabeu on Sunday.
Barcelona earned their first Primera Liga win of the season with a 6-1 rout away to promoted Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
Barcelona's Brazilian midfielder was granted dual nationality by Spain.
Barcelona's Brazil forward Ronaldinho was granted dual nationality by Spain on Monday, the Primera Liga club said.
Italian side Napoli has moved into second place in their Champions League Group F on Wednesday with a 3-2 win over French side Marseille at Sao Paolo.
A hat-trick from Giovani dos Santos helped Barcelona to a 5-3 victory away to relegated Real Murcia.
Barcelona surrendered a two-goal lead to slump to a shock 3-2 defeat at Real Betis in the La Liga.
Valencia stunned Barcelona 3-2 at the Mestalla to reach the King's Cup final 4-3 on aggregate on Thursday. Barca, who had scrambled an injury-time equaliser to draw 1-1 in the first leg, were hit by a Ruben Baraja piledriver and a breakaway goal from Juan Mata before the break in an intense encounter they dominated throughout.
Barcelona lost more ground in the title race on Sunday with a 0-0 draw at Osasuna while Sevilla showed they are the Primera Liga's form team with a 4-1 stroll past regional rivals Recreativo Huelva.
Thierry Henry scored the winner on his Barcelona debut on Thursday when the Spanish side beat Dundee United 1-0 in a pre-season friendly at Tannadice.
Seydou Keita grabbed a second-half equaliser for Barcelona as the leaders were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Getafe in the Spanish Primera Liga on Sunday. Barca have 29 points from 12 games, three points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid and four in front of Villarreal, who both played on Saturday.
The Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker pipped Samuel Eto'o for the honour.
Mexican teenager Giovani dos Santos struck again to give a fatigued Barcelona a 1-0 win over Japan's Yokohama F-Marinos in the second game of their Asian tour on Tuesday.
African XI drew 3-3 with a Rest of the World team.
A Rest of the World XI will take on an Africa XI in Cape Town's Newlands Stadium on July 18.
Rediff.com brings a preview of the main matches coming up this weekend in the English Premier League.
Two goals from Eidur Gudjohnsen helped put Barcelona back to the top of the Primera Liga as they overcame Real Mallorca 4-1.
Leaders Barcelona edged closer to their third consecutive league title with a 2-0 away win over struggling Real Sociedad in the Primera Liga on Saturday.
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