Latest - Manchester United interim boss Michael Carrick dedicated the 2-0 victory over Villarreal to former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as United booked their place in the Champions League last 16.
Michael Carrick Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho gave Carrick a win in his first game in temporary charge two days after Solskjaer was sacked.
"It's not been an easy couple of days for anyone at the club and that result almost feels like it's for Ole," said Carrick, a Champions League winner with United as a player in 2008.
United will finish top of the group with the other spot to be decided when Villarreal and Atalanta meet in the final round of games.
Chelsea claimed a thumping 4-0 victory over Juventus thanks to goals from home-grown trio Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi and a fourth by Timo Werner to top their group and cruise into the knockout stage.
Both clubes had already qualified for the last 16.
Benfica held Barcelona to a scoreless draw at the Camp Nou, meaning the second team to qualify for the Round of 16 from Group E behind Bayern Munich will be decided in the final game of the group stage.
Barca play Bayern in Germany in their last game, while Benfica host winless Dinamo Kyiv.
-Reuters
Injury hits Indian cricket team
India, already missing a host of top names, suffered a big blow ahead of their opening test against New Zealand at home when batter KL Rahul was ruled out of the two-match series with a thigh injury.
KL Rahul Photo: PHOTOSPORT
India skipper Virat Kohli has decided to skip the first of the two tests and batter Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were given rest for the entire series.
Opener Rahul suffered a muscle strain on his left thigh, the Indian cricket board said in a statement.
"He will now undergo rehabilitation at NCA (National Cricket Academy) in preparation for the series against South Africa scheduled next month," the BCCI said.
The selectors added batter Suryakumar Yadav, who has played white-ball cricket for India but yet to make his test debut, to the squad as Rahul's replacement.
India are now left with just three batters with more than ten Tests' experience for the Kanpur game.
The first test begins at Kanpur on Thursday.
-Reuters
Plenty of runs in Alexandra
Northern Districts have made a good start to their first innings in the Plunket Shield game against Otago in Alexandra.
Heading into day three, Northern are 162/1 in reply to Otago's 342.
Jeet Raval made 89 for Northern, while Henry Cooper is unbeaten on 63.
Earlier Max Chu scored a century in Otago's innings, while Brett Randall took five wickets.
China fights back over Peng Shuai claims
China's foreign ministry said "certain people" should stop the "malicious hyping" and "politicization" of the issue of tennis star Peng Shuai, as foreign governments and organisations continue to raise questions around her wellbeing.
Photo: AFP
The whereabouts of Peng, a former doubles world number one, became a matter of international concern for nearly three weeks after she posted a message on social media alleging that China's former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli had sexually assaulted her.
She re-appeared over the weekend in Beijing and held a video call with International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach on Sunday but the Women's Tennis Association has said this did not address or alleviate concerns about her wellbeing.
Amnesty International's China researcher Alkan Akad also told Reuters the video call did little to ease fears over Peng's wellbeing and that the IOC was entering "dangerous waters".
An Amnesty International spokesperson said the organisation works "independently and impartially on the basis of facts, and we hold all states to the same standards."
"This is not a diplomatic matter," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press briefing on Tuesday, adding that Amnesty held "anti-China" views.
It comes as Beijing is preparing to host the Winter Olympics next February. Global rights groups and others have called for a boycott of the Games over China's human rights record.
-Reuters
Tasmania appalled by treatment of Tim Paine
The board of Cricket Tasmania has condemned the treatment of former Test captain Tim Paine by Cricket Australia, after his resignation due to a sexting scandal last week.
Tim Paine Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Paine stood down as captain after it was revealed he had been involved in a text-messaging exchange with a former female Cricket Tasmania employee in 2017.
Cricket Tasmania chairman Andrew Gaggin put out a statement saying anger amongst the Tasmanian cricket community at the treatment of Paine was "palpable".
He said Paine, a Tasmanian, had been instrumental in salvaging the reputation of the national team after the Cape Town sandpaper ball-tampering scandal in 2018.
"The treatment afforded to the Australian Test captain by Cricket Australia has been appalling and the worst since Bill Lawry over 50 years ago."
Lawry became the first Australian Test cricket captain to be dropped from a team midway through a series - finding out his fate after it was reported on the radio, rather than from team selectors.
A Cricket Australia investigation in 2018 cleared Paine of any breach of the code of conduct over the text message exchange.
Meanwhile Paine's image has been replaced on the digital version of the officially licensed Ashes video game by Pat Cummins.
Cricket Australia is set to name its new captain later this week.
-ABC
Rain hits in Sri Lanka
Rain washed out much of the play on the third day of the opening test between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Galle.
However the tourists managed to avoid the follow-on mark.
The West Indies are 224 for 9 in reply to Sri Lanka's first innings of 386.
Kyle Mayers scored 45 , while Rahkeem Cornwall was dismissed on what turned out to be the last ball of the day for 39.
Irish rugby legend passes
Former Ireland rugby captain and two-time British and Irish Lion Ray McLoughlin has died aged 82.
The Ballinasloe native passed away on Saturday following a long illness.
Prop McLoughlin won a then-record 40 caps for Ireland between 1962 and 1975, captaining the side eight times, and played for Connacht on 34 occasions.
In 1966, he was the first Connacht player to be selected by the Lions and also part of the victorious tour of New Zealand five years later.
His 34 appearances for Connacht made him one of the province's most-capped players of the amateur era.
"McLoughlin is regularly mentioned as one of Ireland's greatest-ever props and he leaves an immeasurable impact on rugby in the west of Ireland," Connacht Rugby said.
-BBC
France must improve football security
France must urgently step up security measures at its football stadiums, the country's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said following a meeting with Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu after the latest outbreak of fan violence.
Darmanin said French authorities would be examining areas such as imposing bans on supporters and stadiums, having more surveillance cameras around venues, and clarifying who would have the authority to cancel games in case of fan violence.
Darmanin's meeting came after Sunday's game between Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique Marseille was abandoned due to crowd violence.
The disciplinary commission of the French League said that Lyon would play their Ligue 1 home games behind closed doors until it rules on the incident on Dec. 8 after an investigation.
"We need to reach conclusions to make sure we can prevent such things happening again, so that football remains a popular event," Darmanin told reporters.
-Reuters
