Suarez: Late yesterday, Liverpool striker Luis Suarez apologised for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in their Premier League match. “I am deeply sorry for my inexcusable behaviour earlier today during our match against Chelsea,” Uruguayan Suarez said on the club website. “I have issued an apology and have tried to contact Branislav Ivanovic to speak to him personally. I apologise also to my manager, playing colleagues and everyone at Liverpool Football Club for letting them down.”

Hertha up: Hertha Berlin secured promotion to the Bundesliga after a season away with a 1-0 win over Sandhausen yesterday. The result gave second-division leaders Hertha an unassailable 14-point lead over third-placed Kaiser-slautern with four games left, with the top two teams earning automatic promotion.

Messi: Lionel Messi has been included in Barcelona’s squad for their Champions League semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich tomorrow, although he has yet to receive the medical all-clear to return to action. The Argentina superstar has missed Barca’s last three league matches as the Catalan giants decided not to take any unnecessary risks with the hamstring problem Messi sustained against Paris St Germain.

Pompey: Portsmouth have been deducted 10 points after exiting administration. The south coast club, who had been in administration for more than a year, were last week taken over by the Pompey Supporters’ Trust. Given Portsmouth have already been relegated, the penalty hardly makes any difference, whereas there had been speculation the deduction would be carried over to next season in League Two.