Germany coach Joachim Loew admits the world champions must improve in key areas if they are to back up their Brazil 2014 triumph with the Euro 2016 title next July in France.

"We all know that we have a few things to do," was Loew's appraisal after securing qualification for France with a 2-1 win in a poor performance at home to Georgia in October.

The sex-tape blackmail scandal in which Karim Benzema has become mired has cast a shadow over France's preparations for the European Championship that they will host next summer.

The announcement by French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet on Thursday that Real Madrid striker Benzema was suspended indefinitely from the France set-up has left national coach Didier Deschamps to focus on other options in attack in the build-up to the opening game on June 10.

Kevin Durant posted a triple double as the Oklahoma City Thunder won their eighth game in the last 10 with a 107-94 victory over the Atlanta Hawks Thursday.

Forward Durant shot eight-of-14 from the field en route to 25 points, and added 10 assists and 12 rebounds in front of a crowd of 18,200 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Well-traveled coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has become an unlikely figurehead for China's soaring football ambitions as he takes Guangzhou Evergrande into the Club World Cup this week.

Just a year after leading Brazil's ill-fated World Cup campaign on home soil, the mustachioed "Big Phil" is thriving with the megabucks club after helping them secure their second Asian title in three years.

International midfielder Arnold Peralta was killed in a drive-by shooting in a car park of a shopping mall in his native Honduras on Thursday, police said.

The 26-year-old, who previously played for Scottish giants Rangers and was in the Honduras squad for the London Olympics in 2012, was assassinated in his home city of La Ceiba, police spokesman Commissioner Leonel Sauceda told AFP.

Unfancied Normandy club Caen can go second in Ligue 1 on Friday when they visit Rennes while runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain put their undefeated record on the line at home to Lyon on Sunday.

Few would have expected Caen, whose best top-flight finish was fifth in 1992, to be challenging for Champions League places but while PSG have been, as expected, the dominant force, the battle for European spots is now the main point of interest in France.

Bayern Munich host Ingolstadt in the first Bundesliga derby between the clubs on Saturday full of respect for their Bavarian neighbors, but determined to bounce back from their shock defeat at Moenchengladbach.

Pep Guardiola's Bayern crashed to their first German league defeat of the season last Saturday when they were humbled 3-1 by third-placed Gladbach.

European champions Barcelona will have to do without the injured Neymar for their final La Liga game before Christmas at home to Deportivo La Coruna before jetting off to the Club World Cup in Japan.

The Brazilian star's absence due to a groin problem is a huge miss as he has been Barca's player of the season given Lionel Messi's recent two-month layoff due to a knee ligament injury, scoring 14 goals in just 13 league appearances.

In desperate need of a lift following their Champions League elimination in mid-week, Manchester United visit Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday in the grip of a selection crisis.

Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has been hit with a three-game ban and United manager Louis van Gaal could also be without up to six senior defenders for the trip to the south coast.

Japan's Olympic figure skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu scored to new heights, posting another world record score in the short program at the ISU Grand Prix Final on Thursday.

Fresh from his record scores at the NHK Trophy, Hanyu achieved 110.95 points in the short program to better his 106.33 from Nagano two weeks ago which had eclipsed his own previous high of 101.45 set at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.