Former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against his 10-year ban from football, the tribunal said on Tuesday.

Napoli were left fuming after Juventus were awarded two penalties early in the second half on their way to a 3-1 win in the first leg of their Italian Cup semi-final on Tuesday.

Fiorentina squandered a two-goal lead at home for the second time in five days on Monday and were jeered off the field following a 2-2 draw with Torino which heaped the pressure on coach Paulo Sousa.

The Leicester City squad have found an unlikely ally in Juergen Klopp after the Liverpool manager said that the club's board were likely responsible for Claudio Ranieri's sacking and that the concept of 'player power' was often exaggerated.

Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo hauled Real Madrid back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Villarreal on Sunday and regain top spot in La Liga from Barcelona.

Sevilla captain Vicente Iborra came off the bench to lead his side to a second-half comeback at fierce local rivals Real Betis on Saturday, assisting and scoring in a 2-1 win to provisionally take Jorge Sampaoli's side joint-top of La Liga.

Romelu Lukaku became Everton's joint highest Premier League scorer on Saturday and the powerful striker is showing no signs of slowing down as he leads his team's bid to qualify for European competition.

Napoli's remote hopes of overhauling Serie A leaders Juventus were dealt a possibly fatal blow when they lost 2-0 at home to Atalanta on Saturday and the Turin side ploughed on by beating Empoli by the same score.

Real Madrid suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat at struggling Valencia on Wednesday as they missed the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of La Liga after losing for only the second time in the league this season.

Even before stepping onto the field for their third and final match, Bangladesh Premier League champions Abahani had been eliminated from the group stage of the Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup for the second successive time, leaving local hopes resting on holders Chittagong Abahani and Mohammedan SC.

Having helped Chelsea to win the Premier League as assistant to Carlo Ancelotti, Paul Clement will be looking to put a dent in their title hopes this season when he takes his resurgent Swansea City side to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Lionel Messi could not be happier than at Barcelona, and can crown his status as an all time great by winning the World Cup with Argentina, national coach Edgardo Bauza told AFP on Wednesday.

Jamie Vardy's first Champions League goal gave Leicester City a lifeline in their last 16 tie despite going down 2-1 to Sevilla in Wednesday's first leg.

Atletico Madrid beat hosts Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 in a topsy-turvy encounter to take a firm handle on their Champions League round-of-16 tie ahead of the return leg in Spain next month.

Jose Mourinho will likely ring the changes again as Manchester United look to wrap up their progress to the Europa League last 16 away to Saint-Etienne on Wednesday.

Leicester City have complained to the Football Association (FA) about "abuse, provocation and intimidation" aimed at their players, staff and fans during Saturday's FA Cup defeat by third-tier Millwall.

Neymar, Barcelona and Santos will stand trial on fraud and corruption charges over the transfer of the Brazilian forward after their appeals were turned down by Spain's High Court on Monday.

Lionel Messi's late penalty saw bedraggled Barcelona scrape a 2-1 victory over Leganes on Sunday at a divided Nou Camp as the La Liga champions looked as if they had still not recovered from their harrowing midweek defeat to Paris St Germain.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Sutton United's artificial pitch could cause his side problems and warned against complacency when they visit the National League team in the fifth round of the FA Cup later on Monday.

Barcelona needed a last minute Lionel Messi penalty to see off lowly Leganes 2-1 as a poor week for the Spanish champions continued on Sunday.