Mourinho To leave Real Madrid?

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Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has rejected reports that he is planning to quit the Spanish champions at the end of this season.

The 49-year-old has struggled to regain the heights of last season, with Real 11 points behind Barcelona after only 14 games in La Liga.

Los Blancos go into Tuesday's Champions League clash with Ajax already qualified for the last 16 of a competition that Mourinho has won twice before -- but that his club has not triumphed in since its record ninth success in 2002.

The former Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan boss dismissed suggestions he wants to join another top European club at his Monday prematch press conference.

"My future is that tomorrow I'll have my 101st Champions League match, and UEFA will confirm that," he said.

"Neither I nor I think the president will say a word about it. I have nothing to say about what we talked about. My relationship with him is very good and I will not be giving any substance to this situation. You have no story."

Mourinho has been linked with a move to big-spending French club Paris Saint-Germain, where one of his Chelsea successors -- Carlo Ancelotti -- is coach.

"About PSG I will say that one of my assistants will go to watch the match tomorrow because they are a potential opponent," he said.

"They're playing against Porto and both of them could be drawn against us. That's the only thing that I am bothered about in Paris."

Mourinho was recently praised by his former English Premier League rival Alex Ferguson, who said the Portuguese has the credentials to one day succeed him as Manchester United's manager.

"That is what friends are like, they always speak nicely about each other," Mourinho said.

"Some people think that there is room for betrayal in friendship and others have a deep respect. His succession is a long way off and it will be 10 years away because he is stronger every year. What would he want to retire for?"

Mourinho has been booed by his club's own fans this season, and he said that was the reason he went out onto the pitch before Saturday's Madrid derby win at home to second-placed Atletico.

"I was watching Casillas and the other goalkeepers warming up. I went out early because I was expecting lots of whistles and some sort of animosity towards me," he said.

"I preferred that it happened before the match and was addressed personally towards me so that during the match they would support the team and have positive feelings and help their players and their team."

Eight teams playing in the Champions League on Tuesday have already qualified for the knockout stage, but first and second places have yet to be decided in two of the four groups in action.

Porto and PSG are fighting for top spot in Group A, while Schalke has a one-point lead over Arsenal in Group B.

Malaga will go through top of Group C ahead of AC Milan, while Real will finish second behind Borussia Dortmund in Group D.

Three places in the last 16 will be decided in Wednesday's matches, in which Barcelona's Lionel Messi has the chance to match Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals in a calendar year.

In Monday's La Liga action, Real Valladolid climbed to seventh place with a 2-1 win at 10-man Sevilla.

Patrick Ebert and Oscar Gonzalez scored in the first 12 minutes for Valladolid, but Manucho put through his own net soon after halftime before teammate Gary Medel was sent off for a second booking on 63.

In England, Newcastle moved up to 14th place in the Premier League with a 3-0 win over struggling Wigan, who had defender Maynor Figueroa sent off after only 12 minutes.

Figueroa was red-carded alter fouling Papiss Cisse, and the Senegal international's strike partner Demba Ba scored from the resulting penalty.

Ba then took his league tally to 10 this season, matching the leading totals of Michu, Robin van Persie and Luis Suarez, before Gael Bigirimana sealed the result in the second half to end a run of four defeats.

Messi scores his 90 goals world history

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It was billed as the battle of the heavyweights.

In the red corner -- Radamel Falcao -- one of the most coveted strikers in world football and one of the most lethal finishers around.

Only last week, Falcao hit five in his side's demolition of Deportivo to add to his already burgeoning reputation.

In the blue corner -- Lionel Messi -- perhaps the greatest to have ever played the game. The man with 88 goals to his name in 2012.

The magical and mesmerizing feet of Messi going up against the pace and predatory instincts of Falcao. It had all the ingredients of a classic.

Between them they have run La Liga and European defenses ragged, scoring goals at will and leaving defenders trailing in their wake.

Going into the clash, Messi had plundered 23 league goals to Falcao's 16. It was time for the two to go head-to-head.

For Barcelona, victory over Atletico would place it nine points clear of its closest title rival and surely allow the Catalan club to wrestle the title away from defending champion Real Madrid.

A win for Atletico would finally confirm that Diego Simeone's men could be taken seriously as a championship challenger.

Atletico and Falcao -- the pretenders to Barcelona and Messi's crown.

And pretenders they will remain.

In the end, the chasm could scarcely have been greater as Simeone's men were put in their place without any sign of mercy from Tito Vilanova's side.

Barca has now won 15 of its opening 16 league games, taking an astonishing 46 points from a possible 48.

With Real Madrid only managing to draw with Espanyol earlier Sunday, Barca moved 13 points clear of its great rival.

It was Messi who stole the show once again as the little magician emerged out of the shadows to crush Atletico.

Two second-half strikes took his total to 90 for the calendar year and 25 league goals for the season as Barca came from behind to win 4-1.

And yet for the opening 30 minutes it appeared that the Messi's evening might have not been so enjoyable.

Instead it was Falcao who took center stage, bullying Barcelona's defenders at every opportunity.

It was the Colombia star who had the first opportunity of the contest, heading against the post after just nine minutes as Atletico signaled its intentions.

Falcao then went close again after firing narrowly wide when well placed, while Messi seemed to vanish as Atletico took control of the contest.

Barcelona was finally undone just after the half-hour mark when Falcao produced an exquisite finish to silence the majorityof those packed inside the Camp Nou.

After taking the ball in his stride, Falcao burst past Barcelona's central defenders before lifting the ball over the stranded Victor Valdes to net his 17th league goal of the season.

It was no less than Atletico deserved, but that strike only served to awaken Barca from its slumber.

No less than five minutes had elapsed before Barca drew level in spectacular style thanks to Adriano's stunning curling effort.

The right-back turned onto his left-foot, before unleashing a wonderful rasping effort into the top corner to bring his side level.

And with just seconds of the first half remaining, Busquets lashed home from close-range after Atletico had failed to clear.

From dominating the game, Atletico had been rumbled in the blink of an eye.

Worse was to follow as Messi began to find time and space as Atletico started to lose its way.

Just 12 minutes of the second half had passed before the Argentine finally grabbed his trademark goal, firing home his 89th of the year with a neat curling effort.

He reached 90 late on, taking advantage of a horrific defensive mistake to slot home his 25th league goal of the season.

Incredibly, Messi has scored 58 out of Barcelona's 116 league goals in 2012.

Meanwhile, the pressure continues to build on Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho after he all but conceded defeat in the race for the title.

Real fell further off the pace after being held to a 2-2 draw at home by lowly Espanyol and are 13 points off the lead.

Espanyol had taken a shock lead through Sergio Garcia after 31 minutes before strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo and Fabio Coentrao put the home side in control.

But with just two minutes remaining, Juan Albin popped up to steal a precious point for relegation-threatened Espanyol and leave Real reeling.

"The league is now impossible," Mourinho told reporters.

"It is the first time that I have been in a situation like this where my team are a long way off their objectives.

"But I don't want to make a drama out of it, I will treat it as another stage of my life."

Elsewhere in La Liga, Valencia was beaten 1-0 at home by Rayo Vallecano, while Levante claimed a 1-0 victory at Real Zaragoza.

Chelsea 3- 1 Sunderland

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Fernando Torres scored twice as Chelsea secured a first Premier League win in eight games and ensured Sunderland dropped into the relegation zone.

The Blues dominated early on and a classy Torres volley made it 1-0.
Sunderland responded but a rash tackle by Sebastian Larsson gifted Torres a second from the penalty spot and Juan Mata drove in a third after the break.
Adam Johnson's fine shot gave the hosts hope but Chelsea held on to give Rafael Benitez a first league win as boss.

It was the Spaniard's first Premier League victory in four attempts but it increases the pressure on counterpart Martin O'Neill, whose side have won only two games in 23 league matches and have slipped to 18th place in the table following Southampton's win over Reading.

A dismal run of form had left a 10-point gap between Chelsea and leaders Manchester United at the start of the day.
Benitez had insisted the deficit at the top of the table was not insurmountable.
But with no wins in seven league games and an enforced break because of the World Club Cup in Japan, defeat against a hopelessly out-of-form Black Cats side would surely have ended their title chances.
That never looked likely as Chelsea established control from the outset.
Eden Hazard appeared unfortunate not to win a penalty when Larsson tugged him back as the Belgian raced through on goal and Mata and Torres and the Spaniard both had decent openings.
But Torres soon steered the visitors ahead with a beautifully controlled volley from Hazard's cross and a flowing move.
Chelsea's rhythm was disrupted when holding midfielder Oriol Romeu was forced off after 20 minutes with what appeared to be a knee injury.

And, having been completely outplayed, Sunderland suddenly upped the tempo.

They started to press further up the pitch, denying the visitors space in their own half and forcing mistakes.
O'Neill's side still struggled to create clear chances, but Stephane Sessegnon tested keeper Petr Cech with a swerving long-range effort and there were a couple of nervy moments in the Blues defence.
However, any fears of a repeat of last week's second-half capitulation against West Ham all but disappeared as Chelsea scored either side of the interval.
Larsson raced back and needlessly chopped down Ramires on the goal-line in first-half injury-time.
And Torres showed renewed confidence to assume spot-kick responsibilities and found the corner with his first penalty in English football.
Three minutes after the restart Mata had made it 3-0, calmly shooting into the far when after an instinctive first-time Torres strike crashed back off the bar after a Phil Bardsley mis-kick.
Moses almost added a fourth soon after but Johnson's breathtaking strike across Cech gave the hosts hope with 25 minutes left.
And suddenly Chelsea started to look shaky.
David Luiz and Gary Cahill both made important defensive interceptions as Sunderland dominated territory.
Johnson forced a fine save from Cech from a 25-yard free-kick, Wickham - who replaced the injured Steven Fletcher up front - went close with a low shot across goal and Craig Gardner struck the bar with a powerful free-kick.
But Sunderland were left to rue their defensive shortcomings and unable to prevent a 15th defeat in 16 games against Chelsea, who head off to Japan in a much better frame of mind and with Torres suddenly in form.

Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool

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uis Suarez struck his 11th goal of the season to help Liverpool earn a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea dominated the first half and took the lead when John Terry headed home from a corner.
Suarez nodded a leveller with just under 20 minutes remaining and though the Reds had chances to go on and claim all three points during an excellent finish, they wouldn't have been too downhearted as they left the capital.
Liverpool went into the game having recorded successive league doubles over their hosts, a statistic which gave Roberto Di Matteo cause to classify the Reds as a 'bogey team' in his pre-match press conference.
His side almost made the ideal start in shaking off that tag when Joe Allen lost possession in midfield on six minutes, inviting Eden Hazard to play Oscar through on goal. The Brazilian was under pressure from Andre Wisdom but should have tested Brad Jones, who was again standing in for the injured Pepe Reina.
Operating with three centre-backs in the first half, Liverpool controlled the early possession, but it was Chelsea who looked most threatening in the final third.
Branislav Ivanovic was next with an attempt, arrowing over from 30 yards.
The opener came from a Juan Mata corner on 20 minutes when Terry, afforded room to spare at the near post, powered a header beyond the reach of Jones.
It might have been 2-0 seven minutes later when Hazard ran clear of Allen in midfield before side-footing to Torres. The Spaniard tried to place the ball beyond Jones but was denied by a good reaction stop before Hazard skewed the rebound.
The closest Liverpool came to any kind of response was a drive along the ground from Nuri Sahin. Wide.
The game was brought to a lengthy stop 10 minutes before the interval when Suarez stumbled out of a challenge and into Terry, whose leg was bent backwards in the collision. The former England skipper left the field on a stretcher and was replaced by Gary Cahill.
The disruption did little to alter the flow of the game, and again it was Chelsea who came the closest to finding the net prior to half-time when Mata went one-on-one with Jones. A few seconds later he was smacking the turf in frustration after directing the ball over the crossbar.
Liverpool were in need of a spark, but it was Chelsea who were first to probe after the break, Mata not coming as close with a long-range effort as the gasps from the home crowd suggested.
Jones displayed excellent reflexes to stop Torres heading home his first goal against his former employers since departing in January 2011. The save prompted a round of pinball in the Liverpool box but those in red eventually cleared their lines.
Brendan Rodgers replaced Sahin with Suso just before the hour mark, and while the impact wasn't instant, the 18-year-old was to play his part in an equaliser that hadn't looked likely. It was his corner on 72 minutes that was flicked from the near post to the far by Jamie Carragher. Suarez reacted quicker than Ramires and, from a yard or two out, nodded home before celebrating in front of the travelling supporters.
From here the game could have gone either way, with the away team looking more impressive after reverting to four at the back. Suso might have won it for Liverpool had he shown a little more composure from a Raheem Sterling cross.
Suarez had Petr Cech scampering back to his goal line with an effort from just inside the Chelsea half, while Ivanovic almost headed the winner from a corner.
Enrique then played Suarez clean through but Cech was quick off his line and got a decisive touch.
The final chance for the hosts was created and executed by Hazard, who angled just wide of the top corner. At the other end Suarez gave an onrushing Enrique the chance to shoot towards the bottom corner but the effort was saved.

Machester United 3-2 Aston Villa

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Javier Hernandez says Manchester United's incredible comeback against Aston Villa was inspired by manager Sir Alex Ferguson's unshakeable belief.

The striker scored twice as the Premier League leaders came from two goals down to snatch a 3-2 win at Villa Park.

"We've never given up in the history of Manchester United," Hernandez said after his eighth strike of the season.

"That's what the gaffer and all the legends show you. You learn the game is 90 minutes, so you fight to the end."
Villa forward Andreas Weimann had scored either side of half-time to put the hosts 2-0 ahead and threaten United's 17-year unbeaten record at Villa Park. But Ferguson's decision to replace Ashley Young with Hernandez at half-time changed the game.
Hernandez, known as Chicharito, dug the ball out of his feet to poke the ball in for United's first before another of the Mexican's efforts was deflected into his own net by Villa defender Ron Vlaar to level the scores.
Then, with three minutes remaining, Hernandez headed in Robin van Persie's perfectly placed free-kick to complete the incredible turnaround.
When asked how he felt when he came on at half-time, Hernandez said, "I thought 'we can do it'."

Ferguson on 'fantastic' Villa win

Hernandez was only denied a hat-trick by Vlaar's intervention but the United striker said he believed he should be credited with all three goals.
"Of course (I will claim the hat-trick)," he said. "I shot on target, the defender tried to kick it away but he kicked it in the same direction I shot. That's the decision of the referee but I've just seen the replay and that was definitely hitting the target."
"But it doesn't matter who scored the goals. The most important thing is who is top of the league and that we came back from two goals down to win."
Ferguson was delighted with the fighting qualities shown by his side.
"It was a fantastic game," he said. "Villa will be feeling gutted with the effort they put in. They ran their socks off. In the second half our game was fantastic. Once we got that first goal I felt like we were going to do it.
"It just wasn't happening for any of us in the first half. I just felt Chicharito's pace and movement around the box can change games. Once again, as he has been doing all season, he was fantastic. When you score a hat-trick like that he has picked himself next week."
Ferguson echoed his striker's thoughts on the goals and said he hoped he would be allowed to claim a hat-trick. "He deserved that. It would be silly to take it away. It was a great strike. He got himself in a good position. I think he deserves it," Ferguson added.
Defeat leaves Villa just one place above the bottom three and with only two wins to their name this season.
But manager Paul Lambert refused to lay the blame with his players, despite them letting slip a two-goal advantage.
"We gave it absolutely everything, we were brilliant," he said.
"I can't fault the team. We've got lots of young lads in the team and they were great. I can't ask for any more from them."

Will Rio get carried away: Manchester United

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Rio won't get carried away

Rio Ferdinand is refusing to get carried away with United sitting at the top of both the Barclays Premier League table and Champions League Group H ahead of Saturday's domestic trip to Aston Villa.
The experienced centre-back, who turned 34 this week, is convinced a run of clean sheets is just around the corner as the Reds focus, first and foremost, on getting three points in the Midlands.
"I wouldn't say we are over-happy [at the moment]," he said. "We are in the position we want to be. We set our stall out at the beginning of the Champions League to make sure we qualify comfortably. We have done that with games to spare. We are sitting nicely in the group.
"In the league, Christmas-time is when we really evaluate it, through the January period and the turn of the year. If we are in the same position then as we are now, we would say it is a good start to the season. But it is still too early to look at the league table and start singing and dancing.
"We always know Villa is a tough game and they always save their best for us. We always feel we have to perform to our strongest to make sure we get a result there. That is how it has been for the last few years. Long may it continue."
With qualification for the knockout stages in Europe already assured, Ferdinand can perhaps expect to be rested for the final two group games, although he has no problem playing midweek matches - as he proved when coming on as a substitute in Braga.
"I have not been speaking about my injuries because there haven't been any," he stressed. "Over the last 18 months, I have managed it really well. The club have helped me.
"It is testament to the club, and the medical and science department for helping me along. I am just happy to be playing consistently week in, week out. If the manager needs me to play during the week, that is fine as well. I am more than capable of doing that as I have proved over the past 18 months."
Ferdinand feels a settled defence will ensure things tighten up at the back as the squad have been working hard on becoming more difficult to break down.
"I just think no matter what goes on with the team, when you have a bit of stability in terms of personnel, results start forming a bit more consistently," he explained. "The manager has not been able to do that this season with players getting injured in various different areas. That is what it has been like for about 18 months.
"We have not been able to find the same level of consistency and put the same team out every week. That is unfortunate when you play so many games and are in the later stages of tournaments. You have to be able to deal with that and we do it better than anyone else.
"We are working on keeping clean sheets and defending as a team. I have seen good signs in the last few weeks. We are getting a better shape, becoming harder to break down and conceding fewer chances. It is only a matter of time before you start seeing a consistent run of clean sheets."

LA Laker sacks coach: NBA

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The Los Angeles Lakers' 0-8 preseason and 1-4 start to the regular season was too much for the front office to take.

The NBA team on Friday fired second-year head coach Mike Brown, whose efforts to implement a new offense and mesh free-agent signings with stars who won a title two years ago didn't turn into wins.

"Really, it came down to ownership and management looking at the record, looking at the improvement level, and wondering a month or two or three down the road, will we be in the same spot," General Manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters.

Assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff will be interim head coach for Friday night's game against the Golden State Warriors, the Lakers said.

The Lakers, just two years removed from an NBA championship, are loaded with high-profile talent with the likes of all-stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, and they added former league MVP Steve Nash and former Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard in the off-season.

But Nash has missed most of the season's early games with an injury, and the Lakers struggled with a complex new offense Brown was implementing.

"I never thought we got to the point where the offense was flowing," Kupchak said. "You could see flashes of it, but we never got to a point (where it was consistent through a game)."

A reporter asked Kupchak whether a desire to make Howard's first year a smooth one was a factor in the decision. The star center would be a free agent at season's end if he doesn't sign an extension.

"Obviously, we know he is a free agent this summer, and you want to make the experience for him as good as possible, but we have a lot of other people we need to (please) as well," Kupchak said.

Kupchak said the team's management decided Thursday night to make the move, a day after the Lakers lost a 95-86 game at Utah.

Brown released a statement saying he had great respect for the family of Lakers owner Jerry Buss "and the Lakers' storied tradition, and I thank them for the opportunity they afforded me."

"I have a deep appreciation for the coaches and players that I worked with this past year and I wish the organization nothing but success as they move forward," Brown said.

Before taking the Lakers job in May 2011, Brown, 42, compiled a 272-138 regular-season record in five seasons as head coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers.