Juventus cemented a 29th title triumph on Sunday after another near flawless campaign, but for coach Antonio Conte hoisting the club back among the giants of European football will continue to be hampered by a cash-strapped Serie A.

It was following Juve's quarterfinal humbling by Bayern Munich in Europe's premier club competition last month that Conte lashed out.

Lionel Messi came off the bench to move Barcelona within two points of clinching the La Liga title with a 4-2 win over Real Betis at Camp Nou on Sunday.

Dorlan Pabon and Ruben Perez had twice given the visitors the lead in the first-half either side of Alexis Sanchez's equaliser.

Barcelona were able to welcome back Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets to training on Saturday morning after they missed the 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in midweek, but Victor Valdes has been ruled out of Sunday's match with Real Betis due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

"Leo Messi and Sergio Busquets, who weren't able to train at the same rhythm as their teammates in the last few sessions, have trained normally," said a statement on the club's website.

Alex Ferguson could miss the start of next season as he is to undergo a hip operation, sources at Manchester United have confirmed.

The 71-year-old manager is booked in for surgery immediately after the club return from a three-week pre-season tour at the end of July.

Julian Draxler scored late for Schalke to win 1-0 at Borussia Moenchengladbach and consolidate fourth place in the Bundesliga on Friday.

The 19-year-old German international struck with eight minutes remaining after receiving a pass from Raffael that went through the legs of a defender to seal Schalke's first win in Moenchengladbach since 2006.

Former Chelsea and Portugal playmaker Deco is facing a 30-day automatic suspension after his "B'' sample confirmed a positive test for a diuretic.

Deco tested positive for furosemide, a diuretic which can help hide performance-enhancing substances. The test came after Fluminense's 2-0 win over Boavista on March 30.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, trying to get back to the NBA finals for the second straight year, moved into the second round of the playoffs Friday with a 103-94 victory over the Houston Rockets.

The Thunder wrapped up a 4-2 triumph in their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series and booked a second-round clash with the Memphis Grizzlies, who avenged their first-round loss to the Los Angeles Clippers last year with a 118-105 victory that lifted them to a 4-2 series win over Chris Paul and the Clippers.

The New York Knicks turned back a furious late charge by the Boston Celtics on Friday, holding on for an 88-80 victory to reach the second round of the NBA playoffs.

The victory gave the Knicks a four-games-to-two triumph in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series.

Australia's Brad Drewett, the president of the ATP, died on Friday at the age of 54 following a battle against motor neurone disease, the governing body of men's tennis announced.

"The ATP is deeply saddened to announce that Brad Drewett passed away at his home in Sydney, Australia, earlier today," said an ATP statement.

Jenson Button made clear this week that he has cleared the air with his McLaren teammate Sergio Perez and will not have any concerns about racing against him again in next week's Spanish Grand Prix.

The 2009 world champion said also that he was surprised at how exaggerated the tension between the two McLaren drivers was made to look -- and reiterated that he had not intended to broadcast his immediate emotions of their clashes during last month's Bahrain Grand Prix.