English soccer club Chelsea issued a public apology to former striker Gary Johnson on Saturday for the sexual abuse he suffered as a young player and said it had been wrong to insist on a confidentiality clause when paying him compensation.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger foresees Alexis Sanchez staying in the striking role that brought him a hat-trick in the 5-1 victory over West Ham as long as the Chilean is scoring goals.

Robert Lewandowski strikes twice and Arjen Robben nets with a rare diving header as champions Bayern Munich come from a goal down to win 3-1 at Mainz 05 to reclaim top spot in the Bundesliga.

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick thinks he has seen signs in recent performances that the club might finally be set to move on from the Alex Ferguson era.

Chapecoense's opponents in the last game of the Brazilian league season said they would not play the match out of respect for the stricken club who lost most of their players in a plane crash.

Real Madrid can open a nine-point lead over bitter rivals Barcelona at the top of La Liga by winning Saturday's 'Clasico' at the Nou Camp.

Despite being former midfield heroes for the clubs they now manage, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique and his Real Madrid counterpart Zinedine Zidane are afforded little credit for their achievements in management.

Uttar Baridhara survived a wave of attacks to hold Team BJMC to a goalless draw in their JB Bangladesh Premier League encounter at Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj yesterday.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho lauded his players' "beautiful football" after they overwhelmed West Ham United 4-1 to set up a League Cup semifinal date with Hull City.

Jose Mourinho said it hurt him to have to leave players out of his side after Manchester United swept aside West Ham United 4-1 to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup on Wednesday.

Arsene Wenger said Arsenal's lack of urgency early in the match and not his team selection was to blame for the London club's 2-0 League Cup quarter-final loss to Southampton.

Malaysia's national soccer team has cancelled two friendly under-22 matches with Myanmar, in protest against the Southeast Asian nation's bloody crackdown on ethnic Rohingya Muslims, a team spokesman said on Thursday.

Edinson Cavani scored his 100th goal in all competitions for Paris St Germain in their 2-0 Ligue 1 victory over Angers on Wednesday, but the Uruguay international still cannot escape the shadow cast by his predecessor Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Barcelona were held 1-1 by lowly Hercules in their King's Cup last 32 first-leg match on Wednesday while Mariano scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid romped to a 6-1 second-leg victory over third-tier Cultural Leonesa and a 13-2 aggregate triumph.

Thousands of Brazilians who had been expecting to spend Wednesday night cheering their beloved Chapecoense football team in its hour of glory were instead gathering at the home stadium to mourn dead players.

Anthony Martial and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice each to help Manchester United ease into the League Cup semifinals with a 4-1 home victory over West Ham United on Wednesday as Arsenal suffered a 2-0 home defeat by Southampton.

Nice returned to the top of Ligue 1 as Younes Belhanda's early goal downed Guingamp 1-0 away on Wednesday, while Paris St Germain moved above AS Monaco into second with a 2-0 home win over Angers.

Saturday's blockbuster La Liga clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid will be preceded by a minute's silence for the 71 people killed in a plane crash that decimated the Brazilian football team Chapecoense.

Thousands of grieving fans in green and white filled the Chapecoense stadium in remote southern Brazil on Tuesday, singing their team's praises and chanting one by one the names of players who lost their lives in a plane crash a day earlier.

Gareth Southgate will lead England towards the 2018 World Cup and 2020 European Championship after being appointed permanent manager of the national team by the FA on Wednesday.