La Liga champions Atletico Madrid remained in the race to retain their title with a comfortable 3-1 win over Levante on Saturday thanks to two goals from Antoine Griezmann.

With Fernando Torres watching on from the stands before his move back to his boyhood club is concluded on Monday, Griezmann was under pressure to continue his fine form after scoring a hat-trick as Atletico closed 2014 with a 4-1 win away to Athletic Bilbao two weeks ago.

Alan Pardew on Saturday was confirmed as Crystal Palace's new manager after being released from his contract at Newcastle United.

A statement on Palace's official website read: "Crystal Palace Football Club is pleased to announce the appointment of Alan Pardew as the club's new manager after signing a three-and-a-half-year contract."

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will join a team in the United States when he leaves Anfield at the end of the season, the Premier League club confirmed on Saturday.

Gerrard, 34, announced on Friday that he has decided to leave Liverpool after a 25-year association with the club that has seen him make 695 appearances and score 180 goals.

World number one Novak Djokovic withdrew from the final of the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi on Saturday handing Andy Murray his first title of the season.

Serb Djokovic had dismissed Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals of the exhibition event on Friday but the defending champion revealed on Saturday he was suffering from a fever.

Manchester City’s recent emergence as a genuine footballing power started with FA Cup success in 2011 and, if manager Manuel Pellegrini has his way, it will continue with another triumph at Wembley in May.

The current Premier League joint-leaders face an apparently easy third round home tie on Sunday against Championship club Sheffield Wednesday, whom they defeated 7-0 in the League Cup as recently as September.

La Liga leaders Real Madrid face one of their toughest tests since embarking on a 22-game winning streak back in September when they start 2015 with a trip to Valencia on Sunday.

Sunderland were handed an opportunity to relive arguably the greatest day in their 136-year history when they were paired with Leeds United in the FA Cup.

The Wearside club will be forever synonymous with a Wembley final victory as thrilling as it was unexpected over Don Revie's all-conquering Leeds side in 1973.

U.S. teen Mikaela Shiffrin and Slovenia's overall leader Tina Maze will be the focus in Sunday's World Cup women's slalom race in the Croatian capital.

The event is being staged at Sljeme, the mountain peak overlooking Zagreb, where Croatia's skiing stars -- the Kostelic siblings -- made their debuts.

Andy Murray set up a Mubadala World Tennis Championship semi-final clash with Rafael Nadal when he battled to a hard-earned 7-6 (7/1), 5-7, 6-4 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez on Thursday.

Murray, 27, needed five match points before he secured victory and will next look to clinch a double over Nadal in the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament having defeated the Spanish great in the final in 2009.

Harry Kane starred as Tottenham Hotspur crushed Chelsea 5-3 in a New Year's Day blockbuster to leave Jose Mourinho's side dead-level with Manchester City at the Premier League summit.

Kane, a 21-year-old Spurs youth-team graduate, scored twice and had a hand in two other goals as Mourinho conceded five goals for only the second time in his managerial career.