FIFA deepened its ties to Saudi Arabia by confirming a sponsorship on Thursday with the kingdom's state oil firm Aramco which made a profit of $121 billion last year.

The deal was expected and became inevitable once Saudi Arabia was all but sealed last October as the 2034 host of the men's World Cup.

There could be a surprising team from each of Europe's "big five" leagues when the new-look Champions League debuts next season.

Aston Villa, Bologna, Brest, Girona and Stuttgart are all, remarkably, on course to qualify for Europe's elite competition going into the final few rounds of their national league.

French President Emmanuel Macron showed off his sporting prowess again Wednesday, this time as Paris gears up to hold the Summer Olympics.

Macron, a well-known football fan, donned a jersey for a charity match alongside football legends and celebrity players at a club in Yvelines, west of Paris. The event, which raises money for a children's health charity chaired by first lady Brigitte Macron, featured a lineup including former World Cup winners Laurent Blanc and Didier Deschamps.

Coach Xavi Hernández will stay with Barcelona for another year after all, agreeing to finish his contract to 2025 in a reversal of his decision to quit at the end of the season, two people with knowledge of the agreement said Wednesday.

The two people spoke anonymously to The Associated Press because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the deal.

Paris Saint-Germain will have to wait at least a few more days to try to clinch the French league title.

Kylian Mbappé scored twice and provided an assist in a 4-1 win over Lorient on Wednesday, but there were no celebrations because second-place Monaco beat Lille 1-0 later in the evening.

Jurgen Klopp's hopes of a dream send-off were left in tatters after a 2-0 loss at Everton dealt a major blow to Liverpool's Premier League title bid on Wednesday.

Goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Goodison Park meant Klopp tasted a bitter defeat in his last Merseyside derby before standing down at the end of the season.

Ahead of a summer when three of the biggest jobs in world football are up for grabs, Unai Emery became the latest top coach to decide to stay put.

Arsenal earned its biggest win ever over Chelsea as Kai Havertz scored twice against his former team in a 5-0 rout on Tuesday that solidified the Gunners' place atop the Premier League standings.

Ben White also got a second-half double against a dismal Chelsea team that collapsed after the break and saw most of the away fans leave Emirates Stadium well before the final whistle.

Carlos Alcaraz is back from injury to try to win a third consecutive Madrid Open this week, with Rafael Nadal also in Monday's draw but top-ranked Novak Djokovic missing.

Alcaraz will be competing in his first European clay-court event of the season after skipping Monte Carlo and Barcelona because of a right arm injury. The 20-year-old Spaniard begins his title defense against Alexander Shevchenko or Arthur Rinderknech.

Winning the derby ended up being the cherry on top of a special night for Inter Milan.

Holding off AC Milan 2-1 on Monday clinched for Inter the Serie A title that had been sign-posted for weeks, and earned a coveted second star on its jersey for winning a 20th Italian league title, breaking a tie with its fierce city rival.