Garcia: Real Madrid midfielder Pablo Garcia will be sidelined for up to six weeks after tests showed he had a partial tear of the lateral ligament in his left knee. Garcia, who had only recently recovered from a muscle strain, will miss both legs of Real's Champions League knockout tie against Arsenal.

Thun: Thun have sacked the trainer who steered the tiny Swiss club to a shock place in this season's Champions League. The club announced yesterday that Urs Schoenenberger would be "released immediately due to irreconcilable differences." The 46-year-old coach was brought in to replace popular local figure Hanspeter Latour in January 2004 and succeeded in taking the team to an unprecedented second place finish in the Swiss league.

Rangers: Former Lyon coach Paul Le Guen has had talks with Rangers with a view to replacing manager Alex McLeish at the end of the season. The 41-year-old, who succeeded Jacques Santini as coach of Lyon in 2002, said the Scottish champions had shown renewed interest in his services. "I had contacts with Rangers last year and they have been resumed recently," Le Guen said.

Hearts: Hearts appointed Jim Duffy as their director of football yesterday, two weeks after naming him assistant head coach. The appointment follows reports that Lithuanian owner Vladimir Romanov, and not head coach Graham Rix, was selecting the Hearts first team. Duffy, a former Hibernian and Dundee manager, will take responsibility for all player contractual, development and communication matters, the Scottish Premier League club said.

In England: Premier League - West Ham 3 (Harewood 10, 62; Ashton 65) Birmingham 0.

In Italy: Serie B - Cesena vs Cremonese 2-1; Avellino vs Catania 1-1.