Frenchman Romain Bardet timed his final effort perfectly to win the 12th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, setting up a thrilling second half of the three-week race as defending champion Chris Froome showed a rare sign of weakness.
Fabio Dos Passos' goal gave the formwer champions full points in the National Football League match.
Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff and Tim Puetz pulled off a shock 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(4), 7-5 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez to give Germany a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup quarter-final on Saturday.
Fabio Capello signed a contract with the Russian Football Union (RFU) to become Russia's new coach on Thursday.
Tottenham have reportedly agreed to a Gareth Bale transfer to Real Madrid in exchange for a world-record fee of over 80 million pounds plus having Luka Modric back from the Spanish club.
World number one Novak Djokovic extended his winning run in Asia when he strolled into the last-16 of the Shanghai Masters.
Brescia left Mario Balotelli on the bench after coach Fabio Grosso said the maverick striker had not put in enough effort in training during the week.
Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti said his team would walk off the pitch if there was a repeat, leading to a debate as to whether teams should take the law into their own hands.
Pope Francis obligingly posed for a "selfie" with a group of youngsters visiting the Vatican.
British pair Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot defeated Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil in four sets in Ottawa to give Britain a 2-1 lead ahead of Sunday's reverse singles.
Immobile strikes in Lazio's win, in contention for golden boot. IMAGES from the Serie A matches played on Wednesday.
Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas won their respective singles matches before Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev teamed up in the doubles to beat Jack Sock and Denis Shapovalov
Eighteen time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has climbed up to the fourth spot in the latest ATP rankings after lifting his third Miami Open title by beating long-time rival Rafael Nadal.
A total of 24 teams will play in the knockout Qualifiers on February 1 and 2 to decide which 12 teams will play the year-end Finals.
Jerzy Janowicz ripped off his shirt after stunning Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin del Potro visited the Pope and Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka pulled out through injury at the Italian Open on Wednesday.
Fifth seed Roger Federer was dumped out of the Shanghai Open, losing to Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the third round on Thursday.
Benzema to stand trial in sex tape case, says lawyer.
Former Real youth player Joselu pulled a goal back for Alaves in the 59th minute, powering in a header from a free kick, but Benzema rounded off the victory for second-placed Real with an exquisite solo run and goal in the 70th minute.
India's Leander Paes and Canada's Daniel Nestor have lost to Andreas Seppi and Fabio Fognini of Italy 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 in their semi-final of the ATP China Open tournament in Beijing.
Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal will lock horns with World No 1 Novak Djokovic for third time in the Monte Carlo Masters final after both sailed through their semi-finals with relative ease on Saturday.
India's challenge ended in the men's doubles at the Australian Open with the defeat of Mahesh Bhupathi and Daniel Nestor even as Sania Mirza and Bob Bryan progressed to the mixed doubles quarter-finals, in Melbourne, on Monday. Fifth seeded Bhupathi and Canadian partner Nestor were sent packing 3-6, 6-4, 3-6 by the unseeded Italian combo of Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini in the second round.
Juventus moved a step closer to a second successive Serie A title after winning 2-1 in a pulsating "derby of Italy" at Inter Milan on Saturday, while Edinson Cavani came off the bench to inspire Napoli to a thrilling 5-3 win at Torino.
Borussia Dortmund entertain Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday with the Germans eager to take advantage of their injury-hit Spanish opponents by grabbing top spot in Group D.
Juventus extended their lead at the top of Serie A to 12 points after winning a pulsating 'derby of Italy' with Inter Milan 2-1 on Saturday.
Liverpool may have to make do with one recognised striker until the January transfer window after learning that Fabio Borini had fractured his foot training with Italy's under 21 side.
A look at the main Tour de France contenders ahead of Saturday's first stage, a 14-km individual time trial in Duesseldorf:
Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and third seed Andy Murray both had to work much harder than expected to book their places in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday.
Rafael Nadal advanced to the final of the Mexican Open early on Saturday morning, beating fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 7-5 6-4 in a clay-court slugfest.
The world's biggest superstars landed in Paris and enjoyed a game of soccer.
Brighton & Hove Albion scored three times in the second half to fight back from two goals down and beat Manchester City
Bengaluru FC were crowned as I-League football champions for the second time in three years as they blanked Salgaocar 2-0 in their penultimate league match, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
Leander Paes and Purav Raja, who are trying to establish as a pair on the ATP World Tour, progressed to the quarterfinals of the St Petersburg Open with a straight-set win over Fabio Fognini and James Cerretani.
Roared on by a capacity crowd in the Palexpo Arena, Federer dismantled the world number 17 Fognini 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in just under two hours.
Real Madrid survived red cards for Fabio Coentrao and Angel Di Maria, and an injury to Iker Casillas, to draw 1-1 in Valencia, and qualify for the King's Cup semi-finals 3-1 on aggregate on Wednesday.
Italian Fabio Capello's turbulent reign as England manager ended on Wednesday when he resigned after meeting FA chairman David Bernstein and general secretary Alex Horne at Wembley stadium.
Rafael Nadal struggled to finish off Fabio Fognini at the Barcelona Open on Friday but eventually quelled one of his most troublesome opponents 6-2, 7-6(1) to reach the semi-finals.
India's Leander Paes and Purav Raja sailed into the men's doubles second round in the duo's first outing at a Grand Slam but Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of their respective events in the US Open.
Spanish prosecutors have brought tax fraud charges against three former Real Madrid players, Xabi Alonso, Ricardo Carvalho and Angel di Maria and opened investigations into two other players, a prosecution source confirmed on Wednesday.
After demolishing their first-round opponents, defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic and six-times winner Roger Federer return on Wednesday to face players from the opposite end of the tennis spectrum.
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