Egyptian club Al Ahly will experience rare crowd support Saturday when they play Congo Brazzaville side AC Leopards for the CAF Super Cup.

Post-Arab Spring security concerns meant the Cairo Red Devils played six of seven home games behind closed doors last year en route to a record-extending seventh CAF Champions League title.

Late goals by Tottenham's Mousa Dembele and Chelsea's Eden Hazard advanced the English clubs to the Europa League's third round on Thursday night, while Newcastle also reached the final 16 and Liverpool and defending champion Atletico Madrid were eliminated.

Playing in an empty stadium because of previous fan violence, Fenerbahce defeated BATE Borisov 1-0 on Cristian's penalty kick in first-half stoppage time following a 0-0 tie in the first leg. A lit flare was parachuted into the stadium and landed on the field.

Australia's much-hyped men's Olympic freestyle swim relay team on Friday owned up to taking sleeping medication banned by the Australian Olympic Committee and then performing "stupid" pre-Games pranks.

Members of the 4x100m freestyle relay team led by James Magnussen admitted taking Stilnox tablets at a training camp in Manchester and then making random prank calls and knocking on the doors of team mates.

AC Milan stunned Barcelona 2-0 in the first leg of its Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday, beating the Spanish giant for the first time in eight matches.

Kevin-Prince Boateng gave Milan the lead in controversial circumstances in the 57th minute. Cristian Zapata appeared to handle Riccardo Montolivo's assist in the buildup.

Dwight Howard had 24 points and 12 rebounds to help the Los Angeles Lakers to an emotional 113-99 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday in their first game since the death of owner Jerry Buss.

Kobe Bryant added 16 points, Steve Nash and Earl Clark had 14 each, and Metta World Peace 12 in a game that surely would have delighted Buss, who always loved to win but especially liked beating the Celtics.

Schalke remained unbeaten in the Champions League with a 1-1 draw at Galatasaray on Wednesday.

But Schalke scorer, midfielder Jermaine Jones, will miss the second leg of their last-16 tie on March 12 through suspension after picking up his third yellow card of the competition — 10 minutes before scoring.

The prosecution case against Oscar Pistorius began to unravel Wednesday with revelations of a series of police blunders and the lead investigator's admission that authorities have no evidence challenging the double-amputee Olympian's claim he killed his girlfriend accidentally.

Detective Hilton Botha's often confused testimony left prosecutors rubbing their heads in frustration as he misjudged distances and said testosterone — banned for professional athletes in some cases — was found at the scene, only to be later contradicted by the prosecutor's office.

Alessandro Del Piero has committed to play another A-League season with Sydney FC.

The 38-year-old former Juventus and Italy star finalized the contract with the club late Wednesday and announced his decision Thursday.

Manchester United chief executive David Gill said Wednesday he is to step down in June after a decade at the helm of one of the world's most valuable sporting clubs.

His move will deprive long-time manager Alex Ferguson of one of his closest confidants at the football club that was taken over in 2005 by the Glazer family, who also own the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

FIFA's head of security has warned that the fight against match-fixing will ultimately flounder without the full support of governments across the world.

Ralf Mutschke said he hopes a Singaporean businessman accused of heading a crime syndicate that made millions by betting on rigged Italian games will be brought to face the courts with the help of Singaporean authorities.