Soccer

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has given his clearest indication yet that he is unlikely to buy an expensive replacement when keeper Edwin van der Sar eventually retires. Van der Sar, who turns 40 next year, is due to decide in the next few weeks whether he intends to continue playing beyond next summer, when his current contract expires, or give way to someone else. Ferguson has been strongly linked with CSKA Moscow's Igor Akinfeev, who was excellent against the reigning... Read Full Story

Barcelona's dream of retaining the Champions League trophy for the first time is on the line on Tuesday when they face a must-win Group F match against unbeaten Inter Milan and defeat could see the holders crash out of the competition. Barcelona have been undone in their past two matches taking a point from six against Russian champions Rubin Kazan and have a decisive week in their season with the Inter game followed by 'El Clasico' at Camp Nou against Real Madrid on Sunday. If Barcelona... Read Full Story

Real Madrid may be out of the King's Cup but they have made their best league start in 17 years and go into next Sunday's 'El Clasico' at Barcelona with a one-point advantage over the reigning champions. Real defeated Racing Santander 1-0 on Saturday to wrestle top spot from unbeaten Barca - who drew 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao - and their haul of 28 points from a possible 33 represents their best start since the 1991-92 season. Last season Real were nine points behind Barca going into the first... Read Full Story

Just two weeks away from the eagerly-anticipated top-of-the-table 'derby of Italy' between Inter Milan and Juventus a new racism row is brewing. The corresponding fixture last season at Turin's Olympic stadium saw sections of Juve fans racially abusing Inter's Italian striker of Ghanaian origin Mario Balotelli. The teenager had annoyed the crowd with some typically impetuous actions on the pitch but Juventus's failure to take active measures to put a halt to the chants saw them penalised and... Read Full Story

Real Salt Lake stunned the star-studded Los Angeles Galaxy to win the Major League Soccer championship 5-4 on penalties here Sunday after the teams finished extra time at 1-1. Robbie Russell scored in the seventh round of penalty kicks to seal the win after Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando made two saves in the shootout and the Galaxy's MLS Most Valuable Player Landon Donovan missed over the crossbar. After Rimando smothered Edson Buddle's shot, Russell beat the Galaxy's substitute... Read Full Story

Robbie Russell scored in the seventh round of penalty kicks and underdog, overlooked Real Salt Lake beat the star-studded Los Angeles Galaxy 5-4 on penalties for its first Major League Soccer championship. Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando made two saves during penalties, and league MVP Landon Donovan missed badly over the crossbar giving RSL a chance in the extra rounds. After Rimando smothered Edson Buddle's shot, Russell beat backup Los Angeles keeper Josh Saunders into the lower... Read Full Story

Inter Milan got back to winning ways in Serie A on Saturday with a convincing 3-1 win over Bologna at the Dall'Ara stadium extending their lead at the top to eight points ahead of Sunday's games. The Italian champions' 10th win from 13 games this season will undoubtedly instill confidence ahead of their important Champions League match at Barcelona on Tuesday. Diego Milito scored his eighth goal of the campaign to give Inter the lead midway through the first half, and despite an immediate... Read Full Story

Birmingham climbed away from the Premier League relegation zone on Saturday as Lee Bowyer's goal clinched a 1-0 win over Fulham at St Andrews. Alex McLeish's side are now four points above the bottom three after ending Fulham's five-game unbeaten run. The Blues were fortunate to survive a second half barrage from Fulham but McLeish won't care about that after his team extended their unbeaten run to four matches. Fulham had the first chance when Bobby Zamora cut in from the right before... Read Full Story

Inter Milan and Juventus, the top two teams in Serie A, are desperately trying to avoid talking up their looming table-topping clash. Leaders Inter have a five-point gap to second-placed Juventus but already thoughts in both Milan and Turin are turning to the 'Derby of Italy', which should be an early 'title decider' in two weeks' time. First things first, though, both teams have relatively straight-forward matches to negotiate, as well as European commitments before that game comes around... Read Full Story

Real Madrid warmed up for next Sunday's 'El Clasico' against Barcelona with a 1-0 home win over Racing Santander on Saturday to move top of the table, two points clear of champions Barcelona. Argentine Gonzalo Higuain's goal after 22 minutes sealed a nervy Real victory that hardly appeased a Santiago Bernabeu crowd seething at the embarrassing Kings Cup exit to third division Alcorcon in the last home match. Champions Barcelona can reclaim top spot with victory at Athletic Bilbao later on... Read Full Story