La Liga Results

  9-man Barcelona maintained their five-point lead at the top of the table with a 2-1 win over Getafe at the Camp Nou. Ballon D'Or winner Lionel Messi and Xavi scored for the Blaugrana while Roberto Soldado scored from the spot for the Azulones.


  Real Madrid cruise to a 3-0 win over Espanyol at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Sergio Ramos grabbed a goal with less than five minutes into the game. Brazilian playmaker Kaká scored the second goal and Gonzalo Higuaín, on his return from injury, sealed all three points for Los Merengues.

  Valencia scored two early goals as they beat Real Valladolid 2-0 at the Mestalla. Éver Banega and Diavid Villa scored for Los Che.

  Mallorca climbed to fourth place as they beat Villareal 1-0 at the ONO Estadi. José Nunes scored the only goal of the game.


  Real Zaragoza climbed out of the relegation zone as they beat Sevilla 2-1 at the Estadio de la Romareda. Frederic Kanouté's goal was sandwiched by a goal by Matteo Contini and an Álvaro Negredo own goal.


  Málaga and Deportivo La Coruña drew 0-0 at the Estadio La Rosaleda.


  A thrilling match at the Estadio San Mamés sees Athletic Bilbao win 3-2 over Deportivo Xerez. A goal by Iker Muniain and a brace by Fernando Llorente for Los Leones while Vicente Moreno and Mario Bermejo grabbed a goal a piece for the Azulinos.  


  Carlos Aranda's goal three minutes after the restart was enough to hand Osasuna a 1-0 win over Tenerife at the Estadio Reyno de Navarra.


  Gonzalo Cosa cancelled Diego Forlán's goal as Racing Santander drew 1-1 with Atlético Madrid at the Campos de Sport de El Sardinero.


  Almería extended Sporting Gijón's losing streak to four with a 3-1 win at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos. Albert Crusat, Domingo Cisma, and Guilherme were on target for Almería while Diego Castro's penalty was the Rojiblanco's only goal. 

  

Serie A Results

  Internazionale strolled to a 10-point lead at the top of the table with a 3-0 win over Cagliari at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. Goran Pandev, Walter Samuel and Diego Milito scored for the Nerazzurri.


  AC Milan dropped down to third place as they were held 0-0 by struggling Bologna at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.


  Roma snatched second place from the Rossoneri with a late goal by Marko Vucinic to beat Fiorentina 1-0 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.


  Nicola Legrottaglie earned Alberto Zaccheroni's new-look Juventus a point against Livorno at the Stadio Armando Picchi. Antonio Filippini headed home the home side's goal.

  Lazio lose to former coach Sinisa Mihajlovic's Catania 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico. Maximiliano Lopez scored the only goal of the game.

  Antonio Di Natale scored a hat-trick for Udinese as they beat Champions League chasers Napoli 3-1 at the Stadio Communale Friuli. Christian Maggio scored for the Azzurri.

  An Antonio Cassano-less resurgent Sampdoria beat Siena 2-1 at the Stadio Comunale Artemio Franchi - Montepaschi Arena. Daniele Gastaldello and Nicola Pozzi scored for the Blucerchiati while Massimo Maccarone scored for the hosts.

  Fabio Simplicio scored a late winner as Palermo beat Parma 2-1 at the Stadio Renzo Barbera. Edison Cavani of Palermo and Jonathan Biabiany of Parma  scored the other two goals.

  Marco Rossi's strike is enough to give Genoa a 1-0 win over Chievo at the Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris in Genova.

  Atalanta held on to a 1-0 win over Bari at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia in Bergamo. Simone Tiribocchi scored the goal for the Nerazzurri.

Premier League Results

  Chelsea beat London rivals Arsenal 2-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to a brace by Didier Drogba. The Ivorian has scored 12 goals in as many games against The Gunners.

  Liverpool continued their bid for a top-four finish against their local rivals Everton 1-0. Dirk Kuyt scored the only goal in a blood-and thunder Merseyside Derby at Anfield.

  Manchester United thump Premier League bottom dwellers Portsmouth 5-0 at Old Trafford thanks to goals by Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov, and own goals by Anthony Vanden Borre, Richard Hughes and Marc Wilson. 

  Manchester City were beaten 2-1 by Hull City at the KC Stadium. Jozy Altidore and George Boateng scored the goals for the Tigers while Emmanuel Adebayor scored the consolation.

  Tony Pulis celebrated his 300th game in charge of Stoke City with a 3-0 win at the Britannia Stadium over 10-man Blackburn Rovers. Goals from Danny Higginbotham, Mamady Sidibe and Matthew Etherington  gave Stoke their first win since January 5.

  Kevin Philips scored two late goals off the bench to give Birmingham City a 2-1 comeback win over rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers at St. Andrews. Kevin Doyle was on the score sheet for Wolves.

  Aston Villa held Tottenham Hotspur to a goalless draw at White Hart Lane. 

  Mohamed Diame's opener was cancelled out by Kenwyne Jones as Wigan and Sunderland played out a pulsating 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light.

  Burnley climb out of the drop zone and dumped West Ham into it with a 2-1 win at Turf Moor. Debutant Daniel Fox set up David Nugent for the opener and scored the second while Araujo Ilan scored for the Hammers.

  Kevin Davies' last-minute header was disallowed as Bolton Wanderers was held 0-0 by  Fulham at the Reebok Stadium.

  

Terry sacked as England captain

John Terry was sacked as England captain after a meeting with England coach Fabio Capello on Friday, the Football Association (FA) said.

The Chelsea captain was all over the papers as revelations about his private life circulated the news. Manchester United defender, and England vice-captain, Rio Ferdinand now looks most likely to lead the squad to the World Cup in June.

"After much thought, I have made the decision that it will be best for me to take the captaincy away from John Terry," Capello, known as a disciplinarian, said in a statement.

"As a captain with the team, John Terry has displayed extremely positive behaviour. However, I have to take into account other considerations and what is best for all of the England squad.

"What is best for all of the England team has inspired my choice. John Terry was notified first."

The decision follows allegations in the British media that Terry had an extra-marital affair with the former girlfriend of England team mate Wayne Bridge, who was a club mate of his at Chelsea before joining Manchester City last year.

"I fully respect Fabio Capello's decision," Terry said in a statement. "I will continue to give everything for England."

The 29-year-old Terry was given the captain's armband on a full-time basis by former England coach Steve McClaren in 2006 and former AC Milan and Real Madrid coach Capello opted to retain him in the role after he took over in 2008.

EURO 2010 Qualifying Draw Results

The Qualifying Draw for the 2012 European Championships was held today in Warsaw.

Group A
 Bundesrepublik Deutschland Germany
 Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Turkey

 Republik Österreich Austria
 Royaume de Belgium Belgium

 Қазақстан Республикасы Kazakhstan
 Azərbaycan Respublikası Azerbaijan


Group B
 Российская Федерация Russia

 Slovenská republika Slovakia

 Poblacht na hÉireann Republic of Ireland

 Република Македонија FYR Macedonia

 Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Armenia

 Principat d'Andorra Andorra

Group C
 Repubblica Italiana Italy
 Република Србија Serbia

 Tuaisceart Éireann Northern Ireland
 Republika Slovenija Slovenia

 Eesti Vabariik Estonia
 Føroyar Faroe Islands

Group D
 République française France

 România Romania

 Босна и Херцеговина Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Рэспубліка Беларусь Belarus

 Republika e Shqipërisë Albania

 Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg Luxembourg

Group E
 Koninkrijk der Nederlanden Netherlands

 Konungariket Sverige Sweden

 Suomen tasavalta Finland

 Magyar Köztársaság Hungary

 Republica Moldova Moldova
 Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino San Marino

Group F
 Republika Hrvatska Croatia
 Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Greece

מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל Israel

 Latvijas Republika Latvia

 საქართველო Georgia

 Repubblika ta' Malta Malta

Group G
 England England
 Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft Switzerland 

 Република България Bulgaria

 Cymru Wales
 Црна Гора Montenegro

Group H
 República Portuguesa Portugal

 Kongeriget Danmark Denmark
 Kongeriket Norge Norway
 Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Cyprus

 Ísland Iceland

Group I
 Reino de España Spain
 Česká republika Czech Republic

 Alba Scotland
 Lietuvos Respublika Lithuania
 Fürstentum Liechtenstein Liechtenstein

The finals of the 2012 European Championships will be held by Poland and Ukraine from 8 June to 1 July 2012 . It will be the third time in that the tournament is jointly hosted by two countries. The competition will kick-off in Warsaw and end in Kiev.