Gareth Bale scored on his return to the Real Madrid starting line-up for the first time in a month as the European champions beat Rayo Vallecano 5-1 on Saturday.

Barcelona remain just two points behind the league leaders thanks to two assists from Luis Suarez as they came from behind to snap a two-game losing streak in La Liga with a 2-1 win at Almeria.

England manager Roy Hodgson has tipped Wayne Rooney to surpass Peter Shilton as his country's most capped footballer ahead of the striker's 100th international appearance against Slovenia next weekend.

The Manchester United forward will become the ninth player to reach the milestone after Shilton, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Bobby Moore, Ashley Cole, Bobby Charlton, Frank Lampard and Billy Wright.

Bayern Munich boss and ex-East Germany international Matthias Sammer says the fall of the Berlin Wall, 25 years ago on Sunday, meant he could realize his dream of Bundesliga football.

The opening of borders in Germany's capital on November 9 1989 heralded the collapse of the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Manager Louis van Gaal believes Manchester United's chances of finishing in the Premier League top four remain in their own hands after they returned to winning ways against Crystal Palace.

United recorded a victory for the first time in four attempts, but they made hard work of their 1-0 triumph against a spirited but limited Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The Golden State Warriors held off the Houston Rockets 98-87 to emerge from Saturday's action as the only unbeaten team remaining in the NBA.

Stephen Curry scored 14 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Warriors in a battle of “unbeatens”.

Sergey Kovalev punished 49-year-old ring legend Bernard Hopkins over 12 rounds on Saturday, unifying three light heavyweight world titles with a lopsided unanimous decision.

Hopkins, the ageless "alien," was brought to earth with a thud when Kovalev knocked him down in the first round.

The son of Mexico and Real Madrid football legend Hugo Sanchez was found dead from apparent gas poisoning on Saturday along with another man in a Mexico City apartment.

The body of 30-year-old Hugo Sanchez Portugal was found by his wife when she arrived in the apartment in the morning, Mexico City public security chief Jesus Rodriguez Almeida told reporters.

Ethiopian athlete Fikadu Girma won on Sunday the 2014 Banque du Liban Beirut international marathon.

He won the 42.195 kilometer race in 2:12.28.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said Friday a decision on whether to bid for the 2024 summer Olympic Games, which President Francois Hollande eagerly supports, would not be made before January.

Keen to breathe some enthusiasm and confidence into a country gripped by a gloom-inducing, job-sucking economic crisis, Hollande said Thursday he was in favor of bidding for the global sporting event, describing it as important for a "capital of culture".

Memories of Germany's World Cup triumph will be rekindled on Monday when 'Die Mannschaft' (The Team) hits cinemas and Joachim Loew's squad receive the country's highest sports award.

After the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Sunday, Germany's capital is preparing to relive the football-mad nation's Brazil 2014 triumph.