Borussia Dortmund needed every bit of its first-leg advantage to stave off a comeback attempt by Real Madrid on Tuesday and reach its first Champions League final since 1997.

Dortmund withstood a nervy finish to book a ticket to Wembley despite a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid, which fell one goal short of overturning the German team's dominant 4-1 win in the first leg.

Bayern Munich former President Franz Beckenbauer was forced to backtrack on Tuesday for suggesting that Barcelona were going to "provoke and use every trick possible" in Wednesday's Champions League semifinal second leg at the Camp Nou.

Barcelona have their backs to the wall after last week's 4-0 first leg rout in Munich, with Beckenbauer suggesting on Monday that Barca, "with their pride hurt", would resort to dubious tactics against Bayern.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson revealed on Tuesday that he is already plotting how to strengthen his squad during the close-season transfer window.

United secured the Premier League title last week, but with rivals Chelsea and Manchester City both expected to invest heavily in new players in a bid to bridge the gap next season, Ferguson says his side cannot afford to stand still in the transfer market.

Optimism was high among the Madrid press on Tuesday morning despite Real Madrid needing to overturn a 4-1 deficit in the second-leg of their Champions League semifinal against Borussia Dortmund.

Robert Lewandowski's four-goal haul in Dortmund last Wednesday has given the Spanish champions a huge mountain to climb, but memories of famous European comebacks throughout the years at the Bernabeu has keep the Los Blancos faithful believing.

Tokyo's governor Naoki Inose apologized on Tuesday for making critical comments about rival candidate Istanbul in the bidding for 2020 Olympics.

Inose, who is also chairman of the bid committee, was quoted in the New York Times last weekend suggesting that Istanbul is less developed and less equipped to host the games than the Japanese capital.

The Atlanta Hawks withstood an Indiana comeback over the final two quarters to even their first round playoff series with a 102-91 victory over the Pacers in Game 4 on Monday, while the Brooklyn Nets cut the Chicago Bulls' lead to 3-2 with a 110-91 win in their series.

The Houston Rockets avoided a series sweep to the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 105-103 win.

Aston Villa moved closer to avoiding relegation from the Premier League after Christian Benteke scored a second-half hat trick in a 6-1 thrashing of Sunderland on Monday.

The Belgian international scored in the 55th, 60th and 72nd minutes at Villa Park to tally 22 league goals and 27 in all competitions in his first season at the club.

Barcelona admit any chance the Catalans have of overturning a 4-0 first-leg defeat to Bayern Munich in their Champions League semi-final return on Wednesday depends very much on the fitness of Lionel Messi.

The World Player of the Year looked out of sorts in Munich last week as an energetic display from the hosts tore Barca to pieces, but Messi did come off the bench to score a wonderful individual goal and set-up a second for Alexis Sanchez in Barca's 2-2 draw with Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Inter Milan captain Javier Zanetti has insisted that his career is not over despite suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon at the weekend.

Zanetti suffered the injury 17 minutes into Inter's 1-0 defeat by Palermo, leaving the 39-year-old to be carried off the pitch on a stretcher.

Still to win any trophies with Tottenham, Gareth Bale collected the top two awards in English football on Sunday to cement his status as one of the sport's most talented players.

The Wales forward was voted player of the year and the young player of the year by his fellow professionals in English football.