Spain coach Vicente del Bosque says disappointing recent friendly results have helped improve relations between Barcelona and Real Madrid players.

The world champions followed a 1-0 loss to England by salvaging a 2-2 draw at Costa Rica, with Spain appearing affected by another trans-Atlantic flight.

Amid rumors that AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani is meeting with Carlos Tevez's agent to discuss a possible move for the unhappy Manchester City striker, the Italian club is refusing to comment.

Italian TV station Sky Sports says Kia Joorabchian is in Milan to meet with Galliani on Thursday

The Formula One season comes to an end at the Brazilian Grand Prix with drivers raving about the rule changes that were aimed at encouraging passing and improving racing.

Although Sebastian Vettel dominated the season and easily won the title with four races to spare, there was plenty of excitement on the track throughout the year, with a significant increase in passing in nearly all races.

His body already aching after a season of almost unceasing success, Novak Djokovic ran into a brick wall in David Ferrer.

The fifth-seeded Spaniard's relentless hitting proved too much for Djokovic on Wednesday as Ferrer won 6-3, 6-1 to qualify for the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals.

Barcelona clinched top spot in Group H by beating AC Milan 3-2 on Wednesday despite twice losing the lead in a pulsating Champions League match and allowing Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score against his former club.

Xavi Hernandez ran onto Lionel Messi's perfect pass into the area to slot in the winning goal in the 63rd minute, sealing the group win with one game remaining.

Robin van Persie guided Arsenal through to the next round of the Champions League on Wednesday, scoring his 20th and 21st goals of the season in a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund dominated the opening exchanges and had Arsenal under pressure even after injuries to Sven Bender and Mario Goetze midway through the first half robbed the German champions of arguably their two key players.

Manuel Friedrich sent Bayer Leverkusen into the knockout round of the Champions League with an injury-time header Wednesday that secured a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Chelsea and left the London club in real danger of missing out on the next stage.

Friedrich — a defender — managed to beat Alex to the ball and score with a header from a corner that went in off the underside of the crossbar in the 91st minute.

Formula One team Renault has confirmed Robert Kubica will miss at least the early part of the 2012 season as he struggles to recover from serious injuries sustained in a rally crash this year.

Renault had been hoping Kubica would be fit to resume his role as the team's No. 1 driver from the start of 2012 but said Wednesday that he will not be ready to do so.

Real Madrid made light work of Dinamo Zagreb winning 6-2 to make it five straight wins in Group D of the Champions League on a rainy night in the Spanish capital.

The Spaniards proved their strength in depth by resting key players in Iker Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe and sharing the goals around with Karim Benzema and Jose Callejon scoring twice and Gonzalo Higuain and Mesut Ozil also on the scoresheet.

France winger Franck Ribery scored twice as Bayern Munich booked their place in the Champions League's knock-out phase with a 3-1 win over Villarreal on Tuesday.

After Napoli beat Manchester City 2-1 to go second in the table, Bayern are now five points clear at the top and will win Group A regardless of their last game away to the Premier League leaders.