Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm returned to team training yesterday after recovering from a broken ankle late last year but is not expected to feature in any of their games yet.
The 31-year-old, who retired from international football after Germany’s World Cup win in July last year, underwent surgery in November after breaking his ankle in training.
He had started individual training sessions some time ago.
They host Shakhtar Donetsk in their Champions League last-16 return tomorrow, having drawn 0-0 in the first leg.
Lucky escape
A Brazilian reporter was felled by a rocket thrown onto the pitch during Sunday’s Cruzeiro-Atletico Mineiro derby in Belo Horizonte.
The reporter was not hit directly but was knocked to the ground and treated by doctors. He was not badly injured and was later released, reports said.
A Cruzeiro fan was arrested by police in the Mineirao stadium.
Flares and rockets are not allowed into stadiums in Brazil but organised fans groups are able to sneak them past police searches at the turnstiles. In 2013 a young Bolivian fan was killed by a flare fired by Corinthians supporters in a Libertadores Cup game.
Coach Kasperczak leaves Mali job
Mali have parted ways with coach Henryk Kasperczak after their failure to get past the first round at the African Nations Cup finals.
It ended a second spell in charge of the west African country’s national team for the 68-year-old former Poland World Cup player.
Kasperczak took Mali to fourth place at the 2002 Nations Cup but in his second spell the team were eliminated in the first round in Equatorial Guinea after the drawing of lots.
Mali finished tied with Guinea after each country had drawn their three group games 1-1 and had to be separated by turning to a rare form of tie-breaking.
Juventus hit by double injury blow
Juventus have suffered a double injury blow with defender Martin Caceres and midfielder Federico Mattiello set to be sidelined for the rest of the season.
Caceres, 27, sustained a fractured left ankle in a training session on Sunday and could be out for three months, while Mattiello, on loan at Chievo, faces six months out of the game after suffering a fractured tibia and fibula in their draw with Roma.
Mattiello, 19, who joined Chievo on loan in January, sustained the horrific injury after a tackle from Roma’s Radja Nainggolan during Sunday’s goalless draw in Verona.
A statement from Chievo said: “The two-hour surgery went well and Mattiello will remain under observation in hospital.”
Kaka to the rescue
A deflected Kaka goal off a free-kick in stoppage time helped Orlando City salvage a 1-1 draw with New York City in a battle of Major League Soccer newcomers.
In his MLS debut, the former Milan and Real Madrid midfielder’s shot from 25 yards in the 91st minute struck a New York defender before deflecting past goalkeeper Josh Saunders.
Earlier, a well-placed goal by midfielder Mix Diskerud in the 76th minute gave New York the lead in front of a sellout crowd of more than 62,000 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
Orlando appeared headed for defeat when defender Aurelien Collin was sent off after 83 minutes for a rash tackle on Spanish striker David Villa, who was also on his MLS debut.
But Kaka stepped up to earn the home team a point and send the crowd into a frenzy.
Tottenham manager celebrates with snap
Three points were not the only thing Mauricio Pochettino left Loftus Road with as the Tottenham head coach also brought home a new family photo for the mantelpiece.
The 2-1 win over QPR could prove vital in the chase for Champions League qualification and is a result Pochettino celebrated by approaching the away end to take a photo.
It was not just the sight of celebrating Spurs fans that led him over, though, as among them he picked out his sons, Sebastiano and Maurizio, and his brother Javier.
“I took it as a souvenir,” Pochettino said.
“It was the first time I’ve done it in my career. My brother works on the farm we grew up on and he watches every game live, all the games are on in Argentina.”
Zeman returns to Cagliari helm
Zdenek Zeman is back for his second spell as Cagliari coach this season after being confirmed as Gianfranco Zola’s replacement.
Relegation-threatened Cagliari sacked Zola yesterday after less than three months in charge following a miserable run of results.
And by yesterday evening, Zeman found himself back in Sardinia, with the club saying: “Ca-gliari announce that the technical team has been entrusted to Zdenek Zeman and his staff formed by Vincenzo Cangelosi, Giacomo Modica and Roberto Ferola.”