Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva will miss the rest of the season after he damaged knee ligaments in his team's League Cup quarterfinal win over Chelsea.

The Brazil international was hurt in a seemingly innocuous challenge in Tuesday's 2-0 win.

While Real Madrid and Barcelona are already eyeing their upcoming matchup, the Spanish giants first have to get past a pair of awkward opponents this weekend.

League leader Madrid is waiting on the fitness of Cristiano Ronaldo as it prepares to put its 13-game winning run on the line at Sporting Gijon on Saturday, when Barcelona welcomes early season revelation Levante to the Camp Nou.

Manchester City's owner has praised manager Roberto Mancini for following the "right path" toward achieving the club's main objective, winning the Premier League title.

In rare public comments, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan told Dubai-based Sport360 daily newspaper that the club's main goal for the season is still within reach, despite City's slim chances of remaining in the Champions League.

Prince William, his wife Catherine and his brother Prince Harry will promote British athletes in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics, their office announced on Thursday.

The trio said they were "honored" to become ambassadors for Team GB and ParalympicsGB, and will play an active role encouraging the public to support the teams.

Players from Barcelona and Real Madrid made up almost half of the 55-man shortlist revealed by FIFA on Thursday for the FIFA FIFPro World XI 2011, which will be announced on January 9.

Barcelona have 11 players in the list and Real 10.

Ukraine has finally opened all the stadiums that will host Euro 2012 matches but there remain fears that the biggest event the country has hosted since independence will be mired in organizational problems.

After repeated delays Ukraine in the last weeks opened a reconstructed stadium in the capital Kiev for the football extravaganza and a completely new venue in Lviv to go with already ready facilities in Kharkiv and Donetsk.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson apologized to United fans after his side were beaten 2-1 by Championship side Crystal Palace in the League Cup quarter finals on Wednesday.

Ferguson was upset with the manner of his side’s defeat, which also saw the Da Silva twins and Dimitar Berbatov forced off with injuries.

Europe's top football nations gather in Kiev on Friday to discover their fate when the draw takes place for Euro 2012 with all eyes looking out for the cliched 'Group of Death'.

The draw takes place at the National Palace of Arts in the Ukrainian capital with a host of previous European champions set to help out to decide which teams will play where and when with the tournament set to kick-off on June 8.

Tennis number one Novak Djokovic made his movie debut in Bulgaria this week with a brief appearance in Sylvester Stallone's mega-star production "Expendables 2", Nu Boyana film studios said.

"Djokovic has a small but not insignificant part in 'Expendables 2', where he plays himself," Dimitar Dereliev from Nu Boyana told AFP.

England's Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is set to increase the circulation of a booklet offering guidance on coping with depression to 50,000 former players following Gary Speed's death.

Although no evidence has yet been produced that former Wales manager Speed, found hanged in his home last weekend, was suffering from depression, the PFA have decided now would be a good time to reissue the 36-page booklet.