Vinícius Júnior did his best Cristiano Ronaldo impression in Saudi Arabia, scoring a hat trick and leading Real Madrid to a 4-1 rout of Barcelona and the Spanish Super Cup trophy.

Vinícius scored his three goals in the first half as Madrid beat Barcelona to lift its first trophy of the season on Sunday. After his first goal, the Brazil forward imitated the trademark celebration of the former Madrid great, with Ronaldo reportedly at the Riyadh stadium.

Big names Mohamed Salah and Victor Osimhen endured a difficult start to the Africa Cup of Nations as Sunday turned into a day for the underdog.

Salah needed to score a late penalty to spare Egypt's embarrassment by drawing 2-2 against Mozambique, and Osimhen was unable to lift Nigeria to a winning start as the "Super Eagles" were held 1-1 by Equatorial Guinea in their opening game.

A Turkish court Monday released pending trial an Israeli footballer who was detained after displaying a message referring to the Israel-Hamas war during a first division match, the DHA news agency reported.

Soccer club Antalyaspor's Israeli player Sagiv Jehezkel, 28, displayed a bandage on his wrist reading "100 days. 07/10" next to the Star of David after scoring a goal for Antalyaspor against Trabzonspor on Sunday.

Jayson Tatum drained a go-ahead layup then drilled a dagger three-pointer as the Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-120 in overtime Wednesday in a battle of the NBA's best teams.

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold will be sidelined for three weeks because of a slightly torn knee ligament, the team said Tuesday.

The right-back hyperextended his knee during Liverpool's 2-0 win over Arsenal in an FA Cup third-round game Sunday.

Tottenham signed Timo Werner on loan from Leipzig on Tuesday, giving the Germany forward another shot at the Premier League after his inconsistent stint with Chelsea.

The 27-year-old Werner joined Spurs on a six-month deal that included an option to make the transfer permanent this summer.

Liverpool winger Fabio Carvalho has joined Championship team Hull on loan for the rest of the season.

The 21-year-old Carvalho spent the first half of the season on loan at German club RB Leipzig but returned to Liverpool last week after struggling for playing time.

Playing true to their rankings, defending champion Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek will be the top seeds at the Australian Open in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year which begins Sunday at Melbourne Park.

The men's seedings mirror the ATP rankings as of Wednesday from Nos. 1-32, with 24-time major winner Djokovic followed by Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz, the only player to beat him a Grand Slam event in 2023.

The former president of a top-division football team in Turkey told a court on Tuesday that he regretted attacking a referee at the end of a league game but denied threatening to kill him.

Faruk Koca, who resigned as president of MKE Ankaragucu after punching referee Halil Umut Meler, has been charged with causing wilful injury to a public official, threatening an official and violating a law relating to the prevention of violence in sports.

Thierry Henry, who won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship with France and is Arsenal's all-time highest scorer, has opened up about the fact he "must have been in depression" during his soccer career.

The 46-year-old former forward says he had a spell early in the coronavirus pandemic when he was "crying almost every day".