* Lionel Messi was short of fitness and Barcelona lacked spark as a goalless draw away to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday (Feb 10) offered fresh hope to their rivals in the title race.
* Mauricio Pochettino saluted Tottenham's fighting spirit as they kept alive their bid to gate-crash the Premier League title race with a 3-1 win over Leicester on Sunday (Feb 10). The north Londoners are five points off the top of the table as they try to catch pace-setters Liverpool and Manchester City.
* US ski star Lindsey Vonn brought her illustrious career to a close with a hard-fought bronze at Sunday's world downhill which was won by defending champion Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia. Vonn is the most successful women skier of all time with a record 20 World Cup titles to her name and 82 victories on the circuit.
* Nantes paid a final tribute to former striker Emiliano Sala in a 4-2 home defeat against Nimes in Ligue 1 on Sunday, three days after the Argentine was confirmed dead in a plane crash.
* Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4 6-2 to win the Open Sud de France in Montpellier and claim his first ATP title since 2017 on Sunday.
* Jonny May ran in a first-half hat-trick of tries as England thrashed France 44-8 at Twickenham on Sunday (Feb 10) to make it two wins from two this year's Six Nations.
* Celine Boutier ended a long drought for French players on the LPGA Tour when she won the Vic Open in Australia on Sunday. With her two-shot victory, Boutier became the first woman from France to win on the global circuit since Patricia Meunier-Lebouc in 2003.
* Japan's Kei Nishikori insisted on Sunday (Feb 10) he is back to '100 percent' as he returns to action after a right knee injury forced a painful exit at the Australian Open last month.
* Romania reached the Fed Cup semi-finals for the first time on Sunday (Feb 10) with a 3-2 win over defending champions Czech Republic as Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu stunned Wimbledon and French Open winners Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in a marathon doubles decider.
