Vieira: Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira says he will be thinking only about winning when he returns to his old club with Juventus in the Champions League. Yesterday's quarter-final draw paired the Serie A leaders with Arsenal, taking the 29-year-old Frenchman back to Highbury for the first time since he left for Turin last year. "At times destiny serves up some surprises," Vieira said. "Obviously for me it will be a special match, seeing that I'll be returning to Highbury. But beyond that I'll be thinking only of winning."
Rangers: Alex McLeish will walk away from Ibrox happy if Rangers finish second in the Scottish Premier League this season. After steering the club to the last 16 of the Champions League where they lost to Villarreal on away goals on Tuesday, McLeish is now focusing his attention on catching second-placed Hearts and a Champions League qualification berth. "If we were to do that, and we are capable of doing it, then I would leave very happy. I would be very disappointed if we don't get that," McLeish said.
Gravesen: Midfielder Thomas Gravesen has joined David Beckham and Roberto Carlos on the absentee list for Real Madrid's league match against Valencia today. The Danish international was left out of the squad yesterday after suffering a dead leg in his side's Champions League match against Arsenal on Wednesday. Real and Valencia are level on 51 points in joint second place in the standings, 10 adrift of leaders and champions Barcelona.
Compensation: Defender Iban Zubiaurre and Athletic Bilbao have been ordered to pay five million euros in compensation to Real Sociedad after the player broke his contract to move between the two Basque clubs. Bilbao presented Zubiaurre as a new player in July 2005 while the defender was still under contract to Sociedad. Sociedad had called for Bilbao to pay the 32 million euros stipulated in the buy-out clause in the player's contract, but judge Francesc Xavier Gonzalez said the clause was "abusive".
Rooney: Manchester United's 20-year-old England striker Wayne Rooney has signed one of the biggest sports book deals in publishing history, agreeing to write five books over the next 12 years. British media reported the deal with HarperCollins was worth at least five million pounds but a spokeswoman for the publishers would only say it was a "substantial figure". HarperCollins said the first book would be released in July and cover this year's World Cup in Germany. The following books will cover the rest of his career. England captain David Beckham has won a British Book Award honour for his autobiography "My Side" which became the UK's best-selling sporting autobiography.
Timely Call: China's troubled Super League unveiled internet communications company Iphox as its new title sponsor yesterday. The announcement came on the eve of the third season of the league which has been without a title sponsor since German electronics giant Siemens pulled out after a scandal-plagued first season. The league's cumulative TV audience was 120 million last year with average crowds of 12,000. That compares with an average attendance of 24,700 and combined TV ratings of up to 500 million eight years ago.
MFA Division Three: Ta' Xbiex vs Kirkop 0-4; Xghajra vs Sirens 2-2.
In England: League One - Hartlepool vs Huddersfield 3-1; MK Dons vs Bristol City 0-1; Southend vs Scunthorpe 3-0. League Two - Northampton vs Carlisle 0-3.
In Italy: Serie C1 - Pavia vs Novara 1-0.