Just as in 2005, when Manchester United were last dispatched from the Champions League before Christmas, Sir Alex Ferguson will face calls to overhaul his team.

Six years ago to the day, in December of that year, Benfica were the harbingers of United's doom and Lisbon's fabled Estadio da Luz the setting.

South Korea coach Cho Kwang-Rae has been sacked after a shock defeat to Lebanon left the 2002 semi-finalists at risk of crashing out of World Cup qualifying, officials said Thursday.

Cho said he was "flabbergasted" at the move, which comes with his team still top of Group B on goal difference and needing only to avoid defeat in their last game to be sure of reaching the final round.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has accused illustrious teammate Michael Schumacher of being a sore loser but insisted harsher criticism of the multiple world champion is wide of the mark.

Rosberg consistently out-qualified seven-time world champion Schumacher over the season and also beat him regularly enough to the finish line to see out the year one place and 13 points above his teammate.

The U.S. Grand Prix has been included on the 2012 Formula One calendar, ending fears the race in Austin, Texas, would be cut for financial reasons.

The sport's governing body said Wednesday on its website that the 2012 "calendar was confirmed as previously published." The unchanged F1 calendar was approved at a World Motor Sport Council meeting in New Delhi, India.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could head into the busy program of fixtures over Christmas without any recognized full backs after Andre Santos injured his right ankle in the Champions League loss to Olympiakos.

The Brazilian left back, one of the few first-team regulars selected for the 3-1 defeat on Tuesday, was forced off early in the second half.

Bayern Munich's Dutch star Arjen Robben and Germany midfielder Toni Kroos will both miss Wednesday's Champions League clash at Premier League leaders Manchester City with flu.

Robben has only recently returned after groin surgery in October and Bayern's director of sport, Christian Nerlinger, said he cannot play, despite the Dutchman having scored twice in Saturday's 4-1 win over Werder Bremen.

Roberto Mancini has hit back at Karl-Heinz Rummenigge after the Bayern Munich president again questioned Manchester City's ability to meet UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

Rummenigge called on European football's governing body to impose strict sanctions on clubs who fail to meet the criteria for FFP and supports the proposed bans from the Champions League and Europa League.

AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri accused his side of letting their concentration slip as Viktoria Plzen hit back from 2-0 down to snatch a 2-2 draw in the Champions League.

Milan still took second place in the Group H with Plzen finishing third and booking a spot in the Europa League.

Didier Drogba's double fired Chelsea to a 3-0 victory over Valencia at Stamford Bridge that sent the Blues into the Champions League knockout-stages as Group E winners on Tuesday.

Andre Villas-Boas' side knew a defeat or score-draw in this qualification shoot-out would put Valencia through at their expense, but two goals from Drogba either side of a Ramires strike eased Chelsea's path into the last 16.

The Los Angeles Lakers will play games on the first three nights of the NBA season, the first of 42 back-to-back-to-back sets of games that teams will face during this lockout-shortened season.

The NBA announced the compacted, 66-game schedule on Tuesday night, one that will require every team to play on three consecutive nights at least once.