World No. 1 Rory McIlroy has played down any rivalry between he and 14-time Major winning Tiger Woods ahead of this week's $US 5.2million World Golf Final in the Turkish resort of Belek.

While sponsors draw heavily on McIlroy versus Woods in promoting the event, the 23-year-old Northern Irishman does not see it that way.

Brendan Rodgers insists Liverpool will end their Anfield agony as long as the club's fans don't turn on the Reds boss and his struggling side.

Rodgers has yet to oversee a Premier League home win in four attempts since taking charge of Liverpool in the close-season and the Reds' barren run in front of their own supporters has now stretched to six matches in all competitions after Sunday's 0-0 draw with Stoke.

Juventus extended their lead at the top of Italy's Serie A table with a 2-1 win away to Siena as Miroslav Klose kept Lazio in contention with a double strike in a 3-0 win over Pescara Sunday.

In Sunday's late matches Napoli kept pace with Antonio Conte's leader with a 2-1 win over Udinese which means they remain in second and are the only other unbeaten team in Serie A this season.

Ten-man Inter Milan survived a second-half assault by city rivals AC Milan to win 1-0 at the San Siro Sunday and claim their 50th Milan derby win in Serie A.

Inter and Milan began the match, the 157th to be played between the sides in Serie A, with 49 wins apiece from 156 meetings.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both scored twice as Barcelona and Real Madrid drew 2-2 in a politically-charged Clasico on Sunday which kept the Catalan giants eight points ahead of their bitter rivals.

Ronaldo put Madrid ahead after 23 minutes but Messi responded just after the half hour mark.

Andre-Pierre Gignac matched Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal for goal to earn Marseille a 2-2 draw at home to Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday and keep OM three points clear of their arch rivals at the top of Ligue 1.

All the goals came in the first half at Stade Velodrome, with Gignac scoring either side of a stunning quick-fire double from Ibrahimovic, whose eye-catching contribution masked a listless performance from his side.

Sebastian Vettel stormed to pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix Saturday at the head of this year's first all-Red Bull front row, as his late charge for a Formula One world title hat-trick gathered pace.

The double defending world champion, who won last month in Singapore to rise to second in the standings, claimed his fourth pole in a row at Suzuka with a supreme level of speed and a lightning fastest lap of 1min 30.839secs.

Italian superstar Alessandro Del Piero got off to a losing start with his new Australian club as Sydney FC crashed to a 2-0 defeat to Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand on Saturday.

World Cup winner Del Piero, on a reported Aus$2 million ($2.04 million) a season, was one of the few positives as the two-time A-League champions struggled against Phoenix in wintry Wellington.

Pakistan will host two friendly matches against Palestinian footballers in hopes of reviving international sport in the country, hit hard by Taliban and Al-Qaida-linked violence, an official said Saturday.

International sportsmen stopped coming to Pakistan after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore in March 2009, killing eight Pakistanis and wounding seven of the visiting players, and their assistant coach.

Sir Alex Ferguson has demanded a show of defiance from his players as Manchester United look to get their Premier League title challenge back on track at Newcastle on Sunday.

United's 3-0 defeat at St. James' Park last season put a severe dent in Ferguson's title ambitions and the Scot knows his side can't afford a repeat following last weekend's surprise home loss against Tottenham.