Roma remain in third place on 34 points, three behind second-placed Inter Milan and six adrift of leaders AC Milan, after their first defeat in their last five league games.
* Monaco survived a spirited second-half fightback to earn a 3-2 victory at Montpellier in Ligue 1 on Friday, with two goals from Wissam Ben Yedder helping the club to climb up to fourth place in the standings. The result handed Monaco their fourth win from their last five league games.
* Substitute Cedric Teuchert scored an 88th minute winner as Union Berlin stunned Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 on Friday to climb to fourth place in the Bundesliga. Teuchert, who had hit the woodwork early in the second half and missed another chance on the hour, scored on the break in the 88th to give his team a deserved win against lacklustre Leverkusen, now without a win in their last four games.
* Marco Andretti, the grandson of Formula One and Indy 500 champion Mario Andretti, announced on Friday that he will be stepping away from IndyCar racing and the Andretti Autosport team run by his father Michael.
* Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he understands the pressure on beleaguered Newcastle United counterpart Steve Bruce having been in a similar situation this season. Bruce took responsibility for the Premier League club's winless run of six games after a 1-0 loss to basement side Sheffield United left them 15th in the standings.
* New Paris St Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the weekend's game against Angers as he goes into self-isolation, the French Ligue 1 club said on Friday. Pochettino's assistants Jesus Perez and Miguel D'Agostino are set to take charge of the squad for Saturday's league encounter.
* Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho said he has not had "one second" of discussion about the possibility of Gareth Bale extending his loan spell beyond the end of the season. Welshman Bale's return to Tottenham on loan from Real Madrid was greeted with great excitement but his impact has been minimal and he has spent most of his time on the bench.
* Premier League leaders Manchester United may have found a rich vein of form in the last two months but none of it will matter when they face reigning champions Liverpool at Anfield, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Friday. Since a 1-0 loss to Arsenal in November, United have been unbeaten in 11 games and have dropped only four points to move to the top of the standings - three points above Liverpool.
* Manchester City have done well to claw their way back into the title race but manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday that his first order of business is to ensure Crystal Palace do not earn another result against his side at home. Palace have recorded a rare victory and a draw in the last two seasons on their trips to the Etihad Stadium and Guardiola said he was wary of their defensive resilience having held in-form Arsenal to a 0-0 draw on Thursday.
* Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said on Friday that he was not worried about whether the result of their top-of-the-table clash with Manchester United this weekend would have a say in the title race. Leaders United and champions Liverpool, the two most successful sides in the division, are separated by three points ahead of Sunday's match at Anfield where Klopp's side have not lost since April 2017.
* Former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney has called time on his playing career after being named as manager of Derby County, the Championship club said on Friday. The 35-year-old had been managing the club on an interim basis while continuing to play but will now concentrate on the role full-time.
* FC Barcelona has postponed its presidential election originally scheduled for Jan. 24 due to a spike in coronavirus cases in the region of Catalonia, the Catalan government said on Friday. The regional government, who met with Barca representatives on Friday, had extended restrictions a day earlier to fight the spread of the virus, preventing people from leaving their municipality unless for work, education or medical reasons.
* The postponed European Championship is unlikely to be held across the continent, as planned, and options could be for it to be staged in one country or one major city with enough stadium capacity, Switzerland's soccer chief Dominique Blanc said.
* Despite turning 40 this year, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is thinking about extending his stay at AC Milan beyond this season with talks planned over a new contract, the Swede said on Friday. Ibrahimovic joined Milan in December 2019, and signed a one-year extension last summer to carry on in Serie A for another season in 2020-21.
* Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has been named Premier League Player of the Month for December, the fourth time the Portuguese has won the award since signing for United last January.
* Auckland City have withdrawn from next month's Club World Cup due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine measures required by New Zealand's authorities, world football's governing body FIFA said on Friday. The 2020 edition of the tournament, which was originally scheduled for December, is now being held from Feb 1 to Feb 11 in Qatar and brings together continental champions from across the world.
* French veteran Stephane Peterhansel took a record-extending 14th Dakar Rally victory in Saudi Arabia on Friday and his eighth in the car category. The 55-year-old X-Raid Mini driver, nicknamed "Mr Dakar" for his unprecedented success, first won the endurance event on a motorcycle in 1991.
