Football

Mascherano was also fined nearly 800,000 euros (about $850,000) on Thursday and has been prevented from receiving any tax benefits for a year.

Pundits have been lining up to question Arsenal's mental toughness and their willingness to dig deep in big games, but Walcott says leadership figures in the dressing room have given the Premier League leaders a sense of self-belief.

The former Manchester United skipper moved to Inter in July 2014 and made 28 appearances last season but has been sidelined due to injury this season.

Real Madrid said on Wednesday that it has invited a young Palestinian boy who is the sole survivor of a West Bank arson attack last summer to visit the team and meet star player Cristiano Ronaldo.

Enrique, who was named the FIFA World Coach of the Year on Tuesday, says his team also has other players who deserve to be among greatest footballers.

Chelsea, four-times Cup winners since 2007, are waiting on a replay before knowing whether they face a trip to fourth tier Northampton Town or Championship side Milton Keynes Dons.

Lionel Messi is targeting an unprecedented fifth FIFA Ballon d'Or award in Zurich on Monday, with the Argentine heavily favoured to reclaim the prize from three-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

The former Real and France midfielder watched his new charges crush Deportivo La Coruna 5-0 in La Liga with Gareth Bale scoring a hat-trick and Karim Benzema adding a double.

Messi scored twice within the first 15 minutes at the Camp Nou, and added his third in the second half as Barcelona cruised to victory. Neymar closed the scoring late.

New Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane's attacking football may be welcomed by the players but he will need to deliver results he was unable to achieve when in charge of the club's reserve team.

Sanchez will miss Arsenal's FA Cup third round tie with Sunderland on Saturday as a precautionary measure, manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed.

Liverpool will be without Dejan Lovren, Kolo Toure and Philippe Coutinho for Friday's FA Cup third-round match at fourth-tier Exeter City.

Manager Roberto Martinez described Romelu Lukaku as the perfect striker for Everton after the Belgian bagged his 19th goal of the season to secure a 2-1 win over Manchester City on Wednesday.

Jordon Ibe came off the bench to drive home the winner as Liverpool took a big step towards reaching the League Cup final with a 1-0 victory at Stoke City in the first leg of their last-four tie on Tuesday.

Valcke's 90-day suspension over World Cup ticket selling accusations was set to end on Tuesday but investigators also recommended the ethics committee extend this by 45 days.

Chelsea displayed some of the swagger from last season's title-winning campaign in beating Crystal Palace 3-0 in the Premier League to continue their resurgence under caretaker manager Guus Hiddink on Sunday.