Manuel Pellegrini insists Manchester City's failure to regain first place in the Premier League is hardly surprising after his squad was ravaged by injuries to several key players

City would have finished the weekend in first place had they beaten Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday, but instead dropped to third after settling for a point from a frustrating 0-0 draw.

The British government has corrected a blunder in which it barred 2,500 of England's most notorious football hooligans from just the opening day of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, a newspaper said Sunday.

Police Minister Damian Green signed a legal document that would have left them "free to cause mayhem", The Mail on Sunday said, had one of his team not later spotted the error.

Take a tour around the small Kenyan town of Iten and the scene is something of a who's who of the athletics world.

Olympic gold medalists, world record holders as well as the stars of tomorrow are all being drawn to the modest red-dirt Rift Valley destination, fast emerging as the go-to training destination for the world's elite runners.

Third-placed Borussia Dortmund were delighted by their 5-1 romp at Werder Bremen, while run-away Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich were left lamenting the Nuremberg pitch in their quest for perfection.

European champions Bayern remained 13 points clear in the Bundesliga as goals by Mario Mandzukic and captain Philipp Lahm sealed the Bavarian giants' 2-0 win with 56 out of a possible 60 points this season.

Russia's Winter Olympians face intense pressure to perform at their home Sochi Games from a public hungry for success to prove the country remains a sporting superpower over two decades after the collapse of the USSR.

But it remains to be seen whether the relatively inexperienced teams will be able to satisfy the weight of public expectation, with sport in Russia still suffering from the disappearance of the sports system that vanished along with the USSR.

Petter Northug's form has been one of the big question marks heading into the cross-country skiing events at the Sochi Olympics. The first indication of whether the Norwegian is back to his best will come Sunday in the men's 30-kilometer skiathlon.

Northug, a double Olympic champion, is normally a strong favorite in any mass-start event because of his explosive sprinting ability, but has struggled with an illness this season and has been far from his usual self.

Slopestyle snowboarding is enjoying a bumpy Olympic debut at the Sochi Games -- with high-profile accidents and judging controversies stealing the focus from action on the course.

Mega-star Shaun White -- who took a tumble, hurting his wrist and ankle -- pulled out of the event to focus on the halfpipe after labelling the course "intimidating", despite changes at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park prompted by criticism from riders.

Music, dance and plenty of Russian bravado unleashed the ultimate achievement of Vladimir Putin's Russia on Thursday — a Winter Olympics to showcase the best athletes on ice and snow that the world has to offer.

The opening ceremony on the edge of the Black Sea and subsequent games are Russia's chance to tell its story of post-Soviet resurrection to the world, and dispel the anger, fear and suspicion that has marred the buildup to these most expensive Olympics ever.

Monaco coach Claudio Ranieri insisted on Friday that Colombia striker Radamel Falcao could yet recover from injury in time to go to the World Cup in Brazil.

"I spoke to him on the phone yesterday (Thursday)," said Ranieri at a press conference ahead of Sunday's top-of-the-table showdown in Ligue 1 against Paris Saint-Germain.

Gareth Bale is set to return to the Real Madrid side for this weekend's match against Villarreal, but Cristiano Ronaldo will not play after losing an appeal against a three-match ban.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirmed on Friday that they had upheld Ronaldo's ban following his red card in last weekend's 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao in La Liga.