Football

A first-half strike from Thongkhosiem Haokip proved to be the difference between the two sides in a hard fought encounter on a rainy evening at Balewadi.

Pirlo hopes this could be the season they finally re-establish themselves on the European stage as he dreams of winning the Champions League again before he retires.

Harry Kane rescued a Premier League point for Tottenham by scoring with the last kick of the game for a 2-2 draw against West Ham.

With the rise of German and Spanish teams - the English clubs have found it tough to find their mark in Champions League in last couple of years.

Gaal was rewarded for a bold change of tactics as his team came from behind to beat Preston North End 3-1 in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday.

Wenger paid tribute to Giroud, recognising how the Frenchman has improved and became a more complete striker in his three years in London.

Robin Singh (17th minute) and Thoi Singh (60th) were the goal-scorer for Bengaluru even as Shillong drew a blank in a match that earned Bengaluru three points.

Real kick off the weekend in the title race on Saturday afternoon after Sevilla open the weekend's affairs with a derby against struggling neighbors Cordoba.

Van Gaal came under fresh attack on Friday over his style of play at Manchester United and acknowledged he was still struggling to come up with a preferred system.

United team looked laboured and uninspired in a 3-1 Premier League win over Burnley on Wednesday.

Harmison has swapped sports to become the new manager of non-League club Ashington, who play in the ninth tier of the English football pyramid.

James Milner scored in the 90th minute as Manchester City grabbed a point to draw with Hull 1-1 and fall further behind EPL leader Chelsea.

Caballero said Barcelona are not the formidable force of recent seasons and the EPL side will face them without fear in their Champions League.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has repeated his call for clubs who breach European governing body UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules to be stripped of their titles and docked points.

Saturday's programme gets underway at lunchtime when Tottenham Hotspur, who are sixth, face arch-rivals Arsenal, who are one place and two points above them.

East Bengal will face Salgaocar FC on Saturday in a fifth round match of the I-League.