World Soccer

Manu Fernandez (AP) Champions Real Madrid remain four points clear of Barcelona at the top of the Primera Liga. A goal from Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy earned them a gritty 1-0 win away to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. Barcelona had to work hard to come from a goal down to beat Deportivo Coruna 2-1 at home and [...]

Paul Ellis (AFP) Arsenal suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season on Sunday to allow Manchester United and Chelsea to maintain the pressure at the top of the standings. The last two unbeaten records in the Premier League both disappeared in surprising circumstances over the weekend. Leaders Arsenal lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough and Liverpool were beaten [...]

Tottenham, Bordeaux, Bayer Leverkusen, Spartak Moscow and FC Zurich secured places in the next round of the UEFA Cup on Thursday. Tottenham drew 1-1 at Anderlecht to make sure it will be one of the three qualifiers from Group G. Tottenham, which beat Anderlecht in 1984 to win its second and most recent UEFA Cup title, needed [...]

Everton, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal, Hamburger SV and FC Basel all won to advance to the UEFA Cup’s round-of-32 on Wednesday. Everton became the first English club to advance past the group stage when Tim Cahill scored in the 85th minute for a 1-0 win over 10-man Zenit St. Petersburg. Atletico joined Panathinaikos in advancing from Group B [...]

Antonio Calanni (AP) Filippo Inzaghi became the top all-time scorer in European play as AC Milan defeated Celtic 1-0 on Tuesday. Inzaghi scored in the 70th minute at the San Siro for his 63rd goal in European play, moving him past former Bayern Munich forward Gerd Mueller.

Fabrice Coffrini (AFP/Getty Images) World Cup champion Italy was drawn Sunday into what appears to be the most difficult of the four first-round groups for next year’s European Championship and will face France, the Netherlands and Romania in the first round. Italy defeated France on penalty kicks in last year’s World Cup final, then played the French [...]

Javier Soriano (AFP) Leaders Real Madrid continued its 100% home record with a 3-1 victory over in-form Racing Santander on Saturday. A seventh successive La Liga triumph at the Bernabeu this season rarely looked in doubt after Real scored twice inside the opening 10 minutes through captain Raul and an own goal from Sergio Sanchez. Real finishes the [...]

Fernando Torres told Liverpool’s owners: Sack Rafa Benitez and we’ll walk. The £21.5million hitman insists Anfield stars will go if Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett axe the boss. The Spanish striker said: “He cannot leave. The fans have given their verdict and it was clear.”

Fabrizio Giovannozzi (AP) Roberto Mancini is sure the Scudetto race has been reduced to just two teams – Inter and Roma. Champions Inter Milan maintained their three-point advantage at the top of Serie A with a comfortable 2-0 win at fifth-placed Fiorentina on Sunday. Chilean Luis Jimenez opened the scoring on 10 minutes with an emphatic finish after [...]