Lehmann: Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel had Jens Lehmann to thank for saving his side a point and possibly saving him his job on Saturday. Babbel's side struggled to a 0-0 draw at Borussia M'gladbach, but the veteran goalkeeper performed heroics to keep his team on level terms. "He was in excellent form," said Babbel.
Grafite: A week's holiday in Brazil has done Wolfsburg striker Grafite good as he showed by scoring his first goal since mid-September in Saturday's 2-1 win over Hoffenheim. He said: "It has done me good to score again. The coach and the team have helped me so much the whole time and I would like to thank them for that."
Bobby Robson: Thousands of bouquets laid at Newcastle United's St James' Park Stadium after the death of former England manager Bobby Robson have been turned into garden compost and will be sold to raise money for charity. Proceeds from the compost, costing £10 a bag, will go to the Bobby Robson Foundation.
Adler: Coach Joachim Loew has opted not to add an extra goalkeeper to the Germany squad for the friendlies against Chile and the Ivory Coast later this month, despite injury to his first-choice Rene Adler. Leverkusen goalkeeper Adler missed his side's 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt with an eye injury.
Tennis: World number one Roger Federer missed out on a fourth successive Swiss Indoors title when he lost to third-ranked Novak Djokovic in the final yesterday. The Serbian won 6-4 4-6 6-2 to record his third win over Federer in five meetings this year. In Spain, top seed Andy Murray dismissed unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-2 in the final of the Valencia Open to clinch a sixth title of the year on his return from injury.
Golf: World number two Phil Mickelson held off a charging Ernie Els to win the WGC-HSBC Champions by a shot yesterday for his second success in three years at the $7 million tournament. The American shot a three-under-par 69 in a dramatic fourth round to finish 17-under for the tournament and pick up his second World Golf Championship (WGC) title and a cheque of $1.2 million.
Basketball, NBA: The Boston Celtics bounced back from their first loss of the season to record an 86-76 victory over the winless New Jersey Nets. Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo each scored 16 points as the Celtics broke open a close game by outscoring the Nets (0-7) 27-15 in the fourth quarter.
Rugby Union: New Zealand's five Super rugby franchises could be sold under a plan being considered by the country's governing body. The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) has begun discussing the possibility of using private investors to fund the teams currently based in Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago and Waikato.