Highlights

After a 3-2 defeat to relegation-threatened Lorient on Jan. 31 acted as the first true bit of unpleasantness in Mauricio Pochettino’s short Paris Saint-Germain reign, the club has since rebounded nicely with back-to-back victories over Nîmes and Marseille in Le Classique. 

Key to the uptick has been the play of Kylian Mbappé, who reached and surpassed the career landmark of 150 goals with two world-class goals in those wins. 

Against Nîmes, the 22-year-old showcased the lethal finishing power of his right foot.  

It doesn’t matter the tournament, "Monsieur Liguilla" will deliver. 

AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli insists he is not surprised by Zlatan Ibrahimović's remarkable longevity and hinted that he would like the Swede to extend his contract with the Serie A club.

The 39-year-old striker scored the 500th club goal of his career in a 4-0 Serie A win over Crotone on Sunday to send Milan two points clear at the top of the table.

The Swede fired the opening goal into the top corner to hit the landmark before adding a second after the break, taking his seasonal tally to 16 goals in 17 games in all competitions.

The cliché suggests Cristiano Ronaldo is aging like a fine wine. But we might have to rethink that aphorism to say fine wines age like Cristiano Ronaldo. No matter how old he gets, he just seems to keep getting better. Before turning 30 he scored 0.64 goals per game; since turning 30 he’s scoring better than 0.92 goals per game. 

NEWCASTLE — Newcastle United hung on for a valuable 3-2 victory over Southampton despite finishing a rip-roaring Premier League contest with nine men at St James' Park on Saturday.

Southampton, hammered 9-0 at Manchester United in midweek, fell 2-0 behind after 25 minutes with Joe Willock netting on his Newcastle debut and Miguel Almiron scoring via a large deflection off Jan Bednarek.

FREIBURG, Germany — Borussia Dortmund conceded two goals in three minutes to slump to a 2-1 loss at Freiburg on Saturday and drop 16 points behind leaders Bayern Munich while putting their hopes of a Champions League spot next season at risk.

Dortmund, who needed extra time to beat second tier club Paderborn 3-2 in the German Cup on Tuesday, have long given up on the title but their third loss in the last four league games meant they remained in sixth place.

BERLIN — Bayern Munich was unaffected by heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures as it beat host Hertha Berlin 1-0 to go 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga on Friday with its fifth consecutive league victory.

French winger Kingsley Coman scored the winner with a deflected shot from the edge of the box in the 21st minute, with the ball flying over goalkeeper Rune Jarstein, who had earlier saved a penalty from Robert Lewandowski.

Mexican side Tigres UANL secured a place in the FIFA Club World Cup semifinals with a 2-1 comeback win over South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai thanks to first-half goals from French striker Andre-Pierre Gignac in Al Rayyan, Qatar on Thursday.

Tigres, who won their maiden Concacaf Champions League title last year, will next face Brazil's Copa Libertadores winners Palmeiras for a place in next week's final.

رجل المباراة pic.twitter.com/0vuikKiqhN

Barcelona racked up 79 percent possession and 36 shots (20 on goal) in Wednesday’s Copa del Rey match against Granada, 29 more shots that the host. The end result was a 5-3 victory that was anything but easy, despite the final score and the wildly mismatched statistics.