Ballack: Bayern Munich will not be able to resist Chelsea if the English champions really want Michael Ballack, Bayern commercial manager Uli Hoeness was quoted as saying yesterday. "If he (Ballack) gets an offer from Chelsea, there's no way we can come up with a better one," Hoeness told German weekly Sport Bild. "There is one club in the world we can't fight with and that's Chelsea because financially, we are not strong enough," he added.
Blanc: Former French international Laurent Blanc's 1997 transfer from Barcelona to Olympique Marseille went under the microscope on the third day of the trial of the club's former officials yesterday. Blanc, capped 97 times by France, joined Marseille from Barcelona in July 1997 for a transfer fee estimated at 14 million French francs. While his contract with the Spanish side had two years to run, Blanc was allowed to leave and was even granted a four million-franc departure bonus. Former deputy chairman Jean-Michel Roussier said that this kind of golden handshake was quite usual.
Deisler: Midfielder Sebastian Deisler will miss Germany's World Cup warm-up against the United States next week because of a right knee injury, Bayern Munich said yesterday. Bayern said an arthroscopy would be needed to determine exactly how serious the injury was. Deisler would definitely miss Sunday's Bundesliga game against Schalke 04 as well as the friendly international on March 22 in Dortmund.
Serbia Montenegro: Serbia and Montenegro could play in the Euro 2008 qualifers as two separate teams if the state splits. Montenegro, the smaller of the two republics, is scheduled to hold a referendum on May 21 to decide whether to remain a part of the union or become an independent nation. "Whatever happens, we want to reach an amicable solution as the relations between the two football governing bodies of Serbia and Montenegro are outstanding," FA spokesman Aleksandar Boskovic said.
Keane: Celtic's Stilian Petrov believes Roy Keane still has a lot to offer the club and should carry on playing, following reports the former Manchester United midfielder is considering his future. "With his experience and his name, every time he is on the team sheet the other side know that it's not very easy to play against Roy and Lenny (Neil Lennon) together," Petrov said. "So I hope he will play for a few more years."
Spanish Cup: Semi-final 2nd leg - Deportivo vs Espanyol 0-0 (Espanyol win 2-1 on aggregate).
In England: FA Cup 4th round replay - West Ham 2 (Jaaskelainen 10 og; Harewood 96) Bolton 1 (Davies 36) aet. League One - Oxford vs Bristol R. 1-0.