Barcelona, Real Madrid and Malaga will look to set themselves up for a place in the Champions League semifinals with impressive performances in their quarterfinal first legs this week.

The last time the Spanish had three sides in the last four was in the 1999/2000 season.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima stunned Japanese football by winning their first J-League title last year but two defeats in two games have plunged them into a fight for survival in the AFC Champions League this week.

Sanfrecce have had a bumpy ride since sealing the Japanese title, finishing fifth at December's Club World Cup and winning the domestic Super Cup, but then getting off to a slow start in this year's J-League, where they are currently fifth.

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has said that Iker Casillas will not even be on the bench for the Champions League quarterfinal first-leg against Galatasary on Wednesday.

The Spanish captain has recently returned to full training after breaking a bone in his hand back in January.

Manchester United and Chelsea face a challenging 48-hour turnaround ahead of their FA Cup quarterfinal replay at Stamford Bridge on Monday.

Both sides were in Premier League action on Saturday, giving them little time to prepare for an encounter that carries with it the tantalizing prize of a semifinal date with Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.

Kobe Bryant passed Wilt Chamberlain for fourth on the NBA's all-time scoring list Saturday to help the Los Angeles Lakers to a much-needed 103-98 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Bryant's jump shot with 7:54 to play in the first half gave him 31,421 career points, taking him past Chamberlain's total of 31,419.

Maria Sharapova is pleased with the state of her game as she prepares to begin her clay-court preparations for defending the French Open title, even though the Russian star still has no title at Miami.

World No. 2 Sharapova led by a set and a break before world No. 1 Serena Williams battled back, capturing the final 10 games on her way to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory in Saturday's WTA Miami hardcourt final.

Fabio Quagliarella and Alessandro Matri scored one apiece for Juventus as the champions reinforced their Serie A title defense with a commanding 2-1 away win to Inter Milan here at the San Siro on Saturday.

Inter began the day 18 points adrift of the leaders and despite having a game in hand had hoped to close the gap as they continue to battle for a top three place that would guarantee Champions League football next season.

Lewis Hamilton believes his Mercedes team is now Red Bull's closest challenger and will be capable of mounting a sustained bid for Formula One glory this year.

In the wake of last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix in which champions Red Bull were split by Sebastian Vettel's decision to ignore team orders and pass team-mate Mark Webber to win, the 2008 champion has pointed to the potential of his outfit.

Fiji's 2009 French championship winning wing Samueli Naulu was killed in a car crash on Saturday, local police and his club confirmed.

According to the police the 31-year-old, who was playing for fifth division side Bergerac, lost control of his car at around 0500GMT and hit a tree some 20km south of Bergerac.

Cavalryman came from near the back of the field to win the $1 million Dubai Gold Cup by three lengths Saturday in a victory for owner and Dubai ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

The Irish-bred horse Seismos jumped out to an early lead but was quickly passed by the Saddler's Rock. The John Oxx-trained horse was in front for much of the race.