Sports

Kazan silenced the boisterous home crowd when they took the lead through Marko Devic's superb rising finish but a red card in the 36th minute for captain Oleg Kuzmin changed the dynamic of the match and handed Liverpool a route back.

Messi damaged knee ligaments in a La Liga game at the end of September and the prolific Argentina forward is not expected to return until the middle of next month.

Real's Cristiano Ronaldo, who set a club scoring record with his 324th goal on Saturday, will be going in search of his third consecutive World Player of the Year award.

Pune FC rode on India international Jackichand Singh's second minute strike to snap defending champions Atletico de Kolkata's unbeaten run with a 1-0 win and jump to the top of the Indian Super League standings on Saturday.

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone believes outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter should remain in charge of the world football governing body despite facing corruption charges.

FIFA has suspended Kuwait's football association over government interference. World soccer's governing body says the sanction against the Kuwait Football Association goes into effect immediately.

Inter started the season with five straight wins but then lost to Fiorentina 4-1 and drew 1-1 at Sampdoria. A win on Sunday would put Inter 11 points clear of four-time defending champion Juventus.

With Madrid and Barcelona both battling injuries and trailing Villarreal at the top of the Spanish league, Benitez is counting on the Portugal forward to start the title charge on Saturday against Levante.

Some Bayern Munich fans are planning to boycott the start of next week's Champions League game at Arsenal in a protest over ticket prices, they said on Thursday.

Boosted by the presence of the legendary Pele, defending champions Atletico de Kolkata will look to open their home campaign on a winning note when they face Kerala Blasters FC.

The 27-year-old picked up the injury in his national side's 4-0 victory over Armenia on Thursday when he scored twice at Nice's Allianz Riviera.

Blatter and Platini were on Thursday banned for 90 days by the Ethics Committee which was reformed and ring-fenced as independent from FIFA under reforms which were passed in 2011.

NorthEast United FC's Zohmingliana Ralte was unlucky as he scored an own goal in the 73rd minute to put his team behind against FC Pune City.

Blatter's lawyers in Switzerland and the United States did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report.

Aguero passed a fitness test ahead of the match in Buenos Aires but limped off after 24 minutes to be replaced by Carlos Tevez.

Pune got their campaign off to the best possible start in the second season with a 3-1 win over arch-rivals Mumbai City FC in the Maharashtra derby at home on Monday.