SOCCER

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The international break came at the perfect time for Real Madrid to try to speed up the recovery of some of their key players in an injury-plagued start to the season but they find themselves still depleted ahead of their trip to Leganes on Sunday. They returned to winning ways two weeks ago with a 4-0 victory over Osasuna at the Bernabeu following heavy home defeats by 4-0 to pacesetters Barcelona in LaLiga and 3-1 against AC Milan in the Champions League.

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Paraguay put four points between themselves and seventh-placed Venezuela after coming from behind to beat Argentina for the first time on home soil since 2009.   With the aim of creating a hostile atmosphere where only the colors of the Albirroja are present, Paraguayan president Fernando Villasboa banned fans from wearing any jersey with Lionel Messi’s name.

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Premier League leaders Liverpool will be without Trent Alexander-Arnold (26) on Sunday when they travel to Southampton, manager Arne Slot (46) said, adding that goalkeeper Alisson (32) had returned to training but was not ready to play. "Trent isn't training with us, but he's getting there to be back with us soon," Slot told reporters on Friday.

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A new bid to break the impasse between Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco (39) and Thibaut Courtois (32) has been made but there is no time frame for when the Real Madrid goalkeeper may return to the team, Tedesco said on Wednesday. Courtois has not played for Belgium since June last year when he had a falling out with the coach after not being appointed captain for a European Championship qualifier in Estonia.

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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has unveiled the top five nominees for the 2024 African Player of the Year award, with Nigeria's Ademola Lookman (27) and Morocco's Achraf Hakimi (26) among those making the shortlist. Rounding out the list are Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast/Brighton & Hove Albion), Serhou Guirassy (Guinea/Borussia Dortmund), and Ronwen Williams (South Africa/Mamelodi Sundowns). CAF initially released a ten-man shortlist in October but has now trimmed it to five nominees.

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Liverpool extended their lead at the Premier League summit to five points by beating Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield - their sixth victory in seven home league meetings. One of the toughest away assignments in world football came at a poor time for Unai Emery’s men, who arrived on Merseyside after suffering three successive defeats across as many competitions.

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Tottenham's Rodrigo Bentancur (27) has been banned for seven matches after the Uruguayan made a racist remark about South Korean people when talking about teammate Son Heung-min during a television appearance, the Football Association said on Monday.

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Manchester United ended their year-long wait for a European win, beating PAOK 2-0 at Old Trafford to extend their unbeaten home run against Greek sides to seven matches. United came into the game still searching for their first win in Europe this season, and Ruud van Nistelrooy had the incentive to deliver that before his interim reign ends this weekend.