Alan Pardew’s ongoing bid to boost his defensive options could lead to Valenciennes’ Gaetan Bong, with the French club’s president claiming Newcastle have tabled an offer for the Cameroon left-back.

Tito Vilanova insisted Barcelona were not a one-man side after Lionel Messi scored twice and set up another as the Catalan club powered on at the top of the Primera Division with a 3-1 victory over Real Zaragoza.

A goal three minutes from time by Adil Rami saw France come from 2-0 down to claim a late 3-2 victory over Iceland in Valenciennes last night.

France 3 Iceland 2

Santi Cazorla’s stunning stoppage-time free-kick gave Malaga a deserved point to halt Real Madrid’s 11-match winning run in the Primera Division last night.

France

‘JESUS seeks fourth victory over dragon’ is one of those headlines which most journalists can only dream of — except in Portugal, where the dragon is the symbol of Porto and Jorge Jesus is manager of Benfica.

Alex Ferguson has told Paris St Germain they have no chance of signing Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov.

Lille claimed their first Ligue 1 title in 57 years as both they and nearest challengers Marseille drew this evening.

Bordeaux have confirmed the signing of Tunisian international midfielder Fahid Ben Khalfallah from fellow Ligue 1 team Valenciennes.

Didier Drogba has been left out of a 26-man Ivory Coast squad for Tuesday’s international friendly against Italy in London.

NEIL LENNON yesterday admitted Aiden McGeady might have played his last game for Celtic as he revealed the winger would not start Wednesday’s crucial Champions League clash with Braga.

Cameroon manager Paul Le Guen has named star man Samuel Eto’o in his 23-man World Cup squad despite the striker’s claims he might walk away from the tournament.

Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh is a major doubt for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Juventus after sustaining an abdomen injury at the weekend.

Bordeaux’s Ligue 1 title hopes suffered a further setback tonight as they were held to a draw by struggling Grenoble at Stade Chaban-Delmas.

Rangers striker Jean-Claude Darcheville is in advanced talks with Valenciennes regarding a move to the French top-flight strugglers in the January transfer window.

Rangers have confirmed the sale of striker Filip Sebo to French club Valenciennes for an undisclosed fee.

Lyon secured an historic seventh successive Ligue 1 title with a convincing 3-1 victory at Auxerre.

ARE Internazionale cracking? A title race that looked like being a procession for the second year running has been thrown into doubt after a week of results that reduced the gap at the top to four points.

France’s minister for sport Bernard Laporte has called for a “general mobilisation” against racism in the French football league.

French champions Lyon take a four-point lead into the Christmas break after they were held to a 1-1 draw by closest challengers Nancy.

Lyon moved clear at the top of Ligue 1 today following a 3-1 win against Monaco.

SLOVAKIA striker Marek Mintal has promised to step into the shoes of captain Robert Vittek for Saturday’s Euro 2008 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.

Slovakia coach Jan Kocian acknowledges Saturday’s Euro 2008 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland is a must-win game for his side.

Rangers have offloaded striker Filip Sebo to French side Valenciennes on a season-long loan deal.

Toulouse warmed up for their Champions League qualifier against Liverpool on Wednesday by beating reigning league champions Lyon tonight.

ALAN SMITH enjoyed a dream debut for Newcastle with the only goal in a pre-season friendly against Sampdoria.

Reigning Ligue 1 champions Lyon enjoyed a convincing start to the defence of their title on today with a comfortable win over Auxerre.

Paris St Germain climbed out of the Ligue 1 relegation zone as goals by Amara Diane and Sylvain Armand helped see off second-placed Lens today.

Georges Eo has been sacked as coach of Ligue 1 strugglers Nantes.

REAL Madrid coach Fabio Capello praised David Beckham after the former England captain marked his return with a goal in a 2-1 win at Real Sociedad.

ROBERTO MANCINI etched his name into Inter Milan’s history books yesterday with a record-breaking ninth successive league victory, beating Messina 2-0.

DUTCH striker Ruud van Nistelrooy scored four times as Real Madrid beat Osasuna 4-1 yesterday to move third in La Liga.

SEVILLA’S dream season continued yesterday as they took command of the Spanish Primera Liga at Barcelona’s expense with a 2-0 win over Osasuna.

CHAMPIONS Barcelona came unstuck last night as Real Madrid triumphed 2-0 in El Classico at the Bernabeu.

THE cheers in the Santiago Bernabeu that greeted Real Madrid’s 5-1 Champions League win over Dynamo Kiev in midweek turned to jeers yesterday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by local rivals Atletico Madrid.

BARCELONA’S Cameroonian international Samuel Eto’o was targeted by racist taunts after scoring at Racing Santander in the Primera Liga last night.

Lyon went top of Ligue 1 for 24 hours at least with a convincing 2-0 win over Troyes.

HAVING arrived at Highbury almost unnoticed this summer, Pascal Cygan now has the chance to prove himself as yet another of Arsene Wenger’s bargain buys.