NBA players and club owners met for more than seven hours on Thursday and planned to return to the bargaining table Friday morning as talks continued toward a new contract and a possible full season.

A dispute between billionaire owners and millionaire players over how to divide about $4 billion in annual revenues led to a lockout July 1 when the old contract expired, a shutdown that reaches 120 days on Friday.

German league leaders Bayern Munich expect to have vice-captain and Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger back in their starting line-up when they host Nuremberg in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Schweinsteiger sat out Bayern's 6-0 demolition of second-division Ingolstadt 04 in the German Cup on Wednesday with a heavy cold as coach Jupp Heynckes blooded several promising youngsters.

Cristiano Ronaldo's 10 league goals may be the focus of Real Madrid's La Liga title challenge this season, but it's Brazilian superstar Kaka who is the team's lucky charm.

A rejuvenated Kaka has been a key player for Madrid in recent weeks, scoring in Wednesday's 3-0 victory over Villarreal as Jose Mourinho's team stretched their winning run to five league games.

Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio insists the league leaders will not be fooled by Inter Milan's disastrous start to the season when the two meet in the 'Derby of Italy' on Saturday.

Unbeaten Juventus sit a point clear of Udinese and Lazio at the top of Serie A after eight matches while 2010 Champions League winners Inter are fifth from bottom.

FIFA's bumper week of World Cup business was completed with broadcast deals worth $1.85 billion (€1.3 billion) for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, the governing body announced Thursday.

The deals include an estimated $1.2 billion (€0.86 billion) earned from United States broadcast right sales to Fox, Telemundo and Futbol de Primera Radio. Those deals were confirmed last Friday.

Police say eight officers were injured in clashes with football fans before the German Cup match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Kaiserslautern.

The two clubs have a long history of animosity between their fans. Clashes between rival groups apparently left more people injured but police had no figures.

Seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher said Thursday he is touched by this month’s deaths of two motorsport stars but believes they are down to fate rather than deficiencies in the sport's safety.

Commenting on the deaths of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon and MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli, Schumacher said motorsport safety had been "hugely improved."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger acknowledges there is "fear, even discontent" among fans over the club's failure to win a trophy since 2005.

The Frenchman addressed shareholders' concerns at Arsenal's Annual General Meeting on Thursday following the club's worst start to a season in more than 50 years.

A rested Bayern Munich hosts Nuremberg in the Bundesliga's Bavarian derby on Saturday knowing that another slip could bring Borussia Dortmund dangerously close.

Bayern lost in the previous round at Hannover and defending champion Dortmund is now only three points behind. But Dortmund has a tough trip to Stuttgart.

NBA club owners and players made progress toward a new contract after a negotiating session of more than 15 hours ended early Thursday morning with positive talk about playing a full season.

As the lockout over money issues stretched into a 119th day, the second marathon session in as many weeks was the second-longest since the shutdown began on July 1 after the old deal between players and team owners expired.