Sebastian Coe likened winning the IAAF presidency to the joyous birth of his four children. His opening steps in track and field's top job could easily be described as the equivalent of a month of sleepless nights running after fractious babies.

It has been nothing but a blunt and challenging introduction to the vagaries of top-level sport administration for Coe, working 18 hours a day in a firefight for track and field.

Real Madrid will be hoping a change of scenery provides an upturn in fortunes when they travel to Basque minnows Eibar's 6,000 capacity Ipurua on Sunday aiming to make amends for their 4-0 humiliation by Barcelona.

Club president Florentino Perez insisted he still has full confidence in coach Rafael Benitez despite both being targeted by the Madrid fans with calls to resign last weekend.

Napoli welcome leaders Inter Milan looking to regain top spot as Roma, fresh from another Champions League humiliation, and Fiorentina seek to keep pace with Serie A's current title favorites.

Sitting just two points off the pace alongside third-placed Fiorentina, Napoli's title belief has been strengthened by a string of impressive performances at home and in Europe.

In an age when youngsters are recruited by leading clubs before they have even mastered the art of shoelace-tying, Jamie Vardy's rise to prominence with Leicester City is an exceptional story.

Five years ago, Vardy was playing amateur football for Stocksbridge Park Steels in England's seventh tier and working part-time at a factory making medical splints.

Wayne Rooney says misfiring Manchester United should follow the example of record-chasing Jamie Vardy in their summit meeting with surprise Premier League leaders Leicester on Saturday.

Leicester striker Vardy will make history at the King Power Stadium if he scores for a Premier League record 11th successive match and his record bid couldn't come at a more uncomfortable time for the struggling Rooney and United's other out-of-form forwards.

Liverpool and Tottenham reached the Europa League last 32 on Thursday while Scottish interest in continental competition came to another sobering end when Celtic were knocked out.

Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool defeated Bordeaux 2-1 at Anfield having endured the worst possible start when injury-plagued England striker Daniel Sturridge's comeback from a knee injury stalled when he hurt his foot in training.

Nearly 50 luxury watches confiscated from football officials who had received them as "gifts" ahead of the World Cup in Brazil have been donated to charity, FIFA's ethics committee said Thursday.

The watches, estimated to be worth 25,000 Swiss francs ($24,400, 23,000 euros) apiece, were given to streetfootballworld, an international network of groups which uses football to help young people.

Manchester City were left facing the prospect of another unforgiving draw for the knockout phase of the Champions League after conceding their second successive defeat to Juventus in a 1-0 reverse on Wednesday.

A first-half strike from Mario Mandzukic saw Juventus, last season's beaten finalists, into the last 16 after Massimiliano Allegri's men produced a dominant display in Turin to drop City into second place in Group D at two points adrift.

Lewis Hamilton wants to bring Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg’s winning run to a halt and finish his triple-championship year on a high at this weekend’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The 30-year-old Briton, whose form and focus have drifted since he clinched his third drivers’ title triumph at last month’s United States Grand Prix, says he wants to thank his fans for their support with another triumph at the Yas Marina circuit.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal conceded he was "worried" about his team's goal-scoring problems after a goalless draw with PSV Eindhoven left their Champions League campaign in the balance.

Victory on Wednesday would have taken United into the last 16, but with Jesse Lingard blazing their best chance over the bar in the second half, they must now win away to Group B leaders Wolfsburg in their final match to be certain of a place in the knockout phase.