English sides Liverpool and Tottenham are through to the knockout stage of the Europa League after beating Udinese and Panathinaikos respectively on Thursday.

Steaua Bucharest, Stuttgart and FC Basel claimed the remaining berths in the last 32 to be played in February.

The San Antonio Spurs reclaimed a share of the NBA's second-best record with a 110-99 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, due mostly to a season-high 53 rebounds.

Tony Parker and Gary Neal each scored 22 points for the Spurs, who joined Oklahoma City on a 15-4 record, trailing on winning percentage behind the Memphis Grizzlies on 13-3.

Kobe Bryant has become the youngest player in NBA history to eclipse 30,000 career points and only the fifth overall to hit that mark.

Bryant entered the elite scoring club during the first half of the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the New Orleans Hornets.

Lionel Messi is a doubt for Barcelona's next Spanish league match at Real Betis on Sunday after being carried off the field on a stretcher late in a Champions League game.

With Barcelona already assured a first-place finish in its group, Messi entered Wednesday's game against Benfica with about 30 minutes to play. The Argentine needs only one goal to match Gerd Mueller's 40-year-old record of 85 goals in a single year.

Fernando Torres rediscovered his goal-scoring touch too late for Chelsea's Champions League hopes on Wednesday, with the English side becoming the first holders to exit at the group stage despite a 6-1 thrashing of FC Nordsjaelland.

On a bittersweet night 200 days after winning the competition, Torres ended a month-long goal drought, and Rafa Benitez claimed his first win in his fourth match in charge.

Oklahoma City and Memphis continued their impressive starts to the NBA season with hard-fought wins on Tuesday while the Miami Heat suffered a shock defeat by a Washington team that went into the game with a 1-13 record.

Oklahoma City Thunder seemed to be making light work of a seemingly difficult assignment away to the Brooklyn Nets when they cruised to a 16-point lead. However Brooklyn rallied and whittled the gap down to just two points, only for the Thunder to steady and notch a 117-111 win.

Fernando Llorente announced he will leave Spanish club Athletic Bilbao at the end of the season and blamed the media for souring relations with the club and its fans.

The 27-year-old striker, who rose through the junior ranks of the Basque club, said he had been unlucky and denied money was an issue why his career hadn't worked out at Bilbao.

European champion Chelsea will welcome a chance to rebound from a disappointing showing in both the Premier and Champions Leagues when it travels to Japan for the Club World Cup starting Thursday.

Chelsea coach Rafa Benitez is enduring a difficult return to the Premier League after two years, with the fans against him and the team underperforming. The December 6-16 tournament is a chance to improve the fortunes of the team he inherited from the fired Roberto Di Matteo last month.

Paris Saint-Germain and Schalke sealed top spot in their Champions League groups on Tuesday, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored his tournament-leading sixth goal to help Real Madrid beat Ajax 4-1.

A 17-minute snow delay during the Dinamo Zagreb-Dynamo Kiev match offered something unexpected on a night when all places in the last 16 were decided before kickoff.

Juan Ignacio Chela said he is retiring from professional tennis, leaving with six ATP singles titles and three in doubles — all on clay.

The 33-year-old Argentine has been hinting at retirement for weeks, and he announced it Monday on his Twitter account.