Cristiano Ronaldo's sixth hat trick of the season guided Real Madrid to a 4-2 victory over 10-man Levante on Sunday to extend the Spanish leader's advantage over defending champion Barcelona to 10 points.

Manchester City kept fierce rival Manchester United at arm's length in the Premier League title race on Sunday, winning 1-0 at Aston Villa to maintain its two-point lead.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has apologized for refusing to shake hands with Manchester United defender Patrice Evra before the Premier League match between the two teams.

Inter Milan's woes deepened Sunday as it slipped to a 1-0 loss at home to bottom-place Novara in Serie A, despite having a man advantage for the final 10 minutes.

Big-spending Paris Saint-Germain failed to win for the first time under new coach Carlo Ancelotti and saw its lead atop the French league trimmed to one point Sunday after it was held to a 0-0 draw at struggling Nice.

Borussia Dortmund edged Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 to extend its unbeaten run to 15 games on Saturday, and Bayern Munich beat Kaiserslautern 2-0 to keep the pressure on the Bundesliga leader.

Fabio Capello plans to relax rather than return to coaching in Italy after blaming a "misunderstanding" for his exit from England job, Capello told an Italian TV outlet Friday.

Freezing temperatures and poor defending cost Barcelona as the defending Spanish champion's league hopes took a big hit by losing 3-2 at Osasuna on Saturday.

AC Milan new signing Maxi Lopez scored his first goal for the Serie A champion to help it come from behind to beat Udinese 2-1 and take over top spot in the Italian league on Saturday.

Simeon Jackson and Desiree Scott have been named as Canada's soccer players of the month for January.

Striker Olivier Giroud's league-leading 16th goal helped Montpellier beat Ajaccio 3-0 to take the provisional lead in the French league on Saturday.

Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs, the most decorated player in British soccer, signed a one-year contract extension with the storied Premier League side on Friday.

Arsenal Gunners manager Arsene Wenger confirmed Friday that striker Thierry Henry won't be extended on loan from the New York Red Bulls beyond Feb. 16.

Petr Jiracek scored two goals as Wolfsburg edged out bottom-place Freiburg 3-2 in the Bundesliga on Friday.

England Football Association chairman David Bernstein confirmed Thursday that under-21 manager Stuart Pearce has been promoted to replace Fabio Capello on an interim basis.