Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed that Angel Di Maria and Julian Draxler have tested positive for COVID-19.

The pair are the latest in a spate of recent positive cases at the Ligue 1 club, with Layvin Kurzawa, Danilo Pereira, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Sergio Rico also self-isolating.

Lionel Messi was ruled out of Monday's 4-0 win over Vannes in the Coupe de France after testing positive, though he has since given a negative test and is clear to resume training.

But Mauricio Pochettino will now almost certainly be without Di Maria and Draxler for Sunday's Ligue 1 clash with Lyon as PSG aim to consolidate their 13-point lead at the top.

A statement posted by the Parisians on their official Twitter account on Thursday read: "Angel Di Maria and Julian Draxler tested positive this morning for Covid-19. 

"They have been placed in solitary confinement and are subject to the appropriate health protocol."

Di Maria has featured 16 times for PSG in all competitions this season and has been directly involved in seven goals, a tally bettered only by Messi (10) and Kylian Mbappe (30) among his team-mates.

Draxler, who had only just returned from an injury lay-off, has two goals and two assists from 14 appearances.

Milan moved within one point of the Serie A summit with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Jose Mourinho's lacklustre Roma side at San Siro, who were reduced to nine men in the second half.

First-half goals from Olivier Giroud and Junior Messias put the hosts in a commanding position before Tammy Abraham dragged Roma back into the contest. 

After a string of Mike Maignan saves kept the hosts' lead intact, Rick Karsdorp's sending-off for two bookable offences put paid to any hope of Roma earning a point, and substitute Rafeal Leao added a third on the break late on before Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed a penalty following another red card, this time for Gianluca Mancini.

Milan were handed a brilliant start, with Giroud dispatching an eighth-minute penalty after Abraham was adjudged to have handled Theo Hernandez's fierce volley. 

Things quickly went from bad to worse for Mourinho's men. Giroud intercepted a dreadful backpass from Roger Ibanez, and although his strike came back off the post, Messias buried the rebound to double the hosts' lead after just 15 minutes.

The 2-1 half-time scoreline arguably flattered Roma, who found themselves back in the contest when Abraham diverted Lorenzo Pellegrini's shot past Maignan, seconds after being denied by the France international's reflex save.

Milan almost made another fast start in the second period, with Brahim Diaz crashing a fabulous effort against the bar on 50 minutes, before Maignan was forced into two more good saves by Abraham and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

With 20 minutes remaining, the already-booked Karsdrop received his marching orders for a desperate lunch on Hernandez on the edge of the penalty area, killing the visitors' hopes of leaving with a result. 

Alessandro Florenzi rattled the bar from the resulting free-kick, before Leao, returning from injury as a substitute, finished the contest with a late breakaway goal, his sixth of the season.

That was not the end of the drama, with Roma's Mancini joining Karsdrop for an early bath by bringing down Leao. Ibrahimovic, however, saw his penalty saved by Rui Patricio, maintaining some respectability for Mourinho's side.

What does it mean? Milan apply early 2022 pressure to Inter

Thanks to a raft of COVID-19 cases and Africa Cup of Nations call-ups, Stefano Pioli was forced to select a makeshift side, but they produced a largely accomplished display to move within a single point of cross-city rivals Inter in the title race.

Milan have also now won three consecutive league games against Roma for the first time since 1996.

Mourinho's men stay seventh, six points outside the top four.

Home comforts for Giroud

Former Arsenal and Chelsea man Giroud opened the scoring with his fifth league goal of the campaign, and all of the World Cup winner's strikes for Milan have come at San Siro.

Among all the other players to have netted five or more goals in a top-five European League this season, only Bruno Fernandes and Mattia Aramu have also scored all of theirs at home.

Milan press home their superiority

Pioli has masterminded Milan's title charge by implementing an exhilarating, high-pressing game at San Siro, forcing opponents into errors in perilous positions. 

Going into this game, no Serie A team had attempted more than the Rossoneri's tally of 37 shots from high turnovers this season. This quality was on display once again, with Messias' crucial second goal originating from Giroud intercepting Ibanez's slack pass.

What's next?

Notwithstanding a continuation of the coronavirus-caused chaos that has engulfed Serie A this week, Milan travel to Venezia for Sunday's early kick-off, while Roma face a huge clash with Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico later that day.

Antonio Brown's Tampa Bay Buccaneers career is officially over after his contract was terminated on Thursday.

There was drama when Brown astonishingly made a bizarre exit from the Bucs' win over the New York Jets last Sunday.

Brown removed his jersey and pads and left the field with Tampa Bay trailing 24-10 in the third quarter at MetLife Stadium, the wide receiver jumping in the endzone and waving to fans before running down the tunnel.

He subsequently left the stadium in an Uber and there was never likely to be a way back for the 33-year-old.

Brown accused Tampa Bay of a cover-up in a lengthy statement, revealing he will have surgery on his injured ankle.

He then on Thursday took to social media to post screenshots of text exchanges he had with Bruce Arians last week, informing the Bucs head coach that he was struggling with the ankle problem.

Brown then tweeted: "Don't get it twisted. My brothers have been good to me. From Tom [Brady] to practice squad, we were a top-level unit.

"They have been good to me and knew nothing about my talks with coach last week. The team mishandled this situation. They let me down and, more importantly, my teammates."

Tampa Bay later confirmed Brown has been released.

The franchise said in a statement: "The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have terminated the contract of Antonio Brown, effective immediately.

"While Antonio did receive treatment on his ankle and was listed on the injury report the week leading up to last Sunday's game, he was cleared to play by our medical team prior to the start of the game and at no point during the game did he indicate to our medical personnel that he could not play.

"We have attempted, multiple times throughout this week, to schedule an evaluation by an outside orthopaedic specialist, yet Antonio has not complied.

"Maintaining the health and wellness of our players is of the utmost importance to our organisation."

Julian Nagelsmann does not regret giving Bayern Munich's players freedom to enjoy their vacation during the Bundesliga's mid-season break.

German top-flight leaders Bayern are set to face Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday, but currently have nine players who have returned positive COVID-19 test results.

Manuel Neuer, Lucas Hernandez, Dayot Upamecano, Tanguy Nianzou, Omar Richards, Corentin Tolisso, Kingsley Coman, Leroy Sane and Alphonso Davies have all tested positive for the virus.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Bouna Sarr are with Cameroon and Senegal respectively for the Africa Cup of Nations. Niklas Sule is nursing a back problem, while Leon Goretzka and Josip Stanisic are injured.

Gladbach's sporting director Max Eberl confirmed on Wednesday that Bayern had asked for the game to be postponed. Bundesliga rules allow a team to request a postponement if they have fewer than 16 players, including a goalkeeper, available.

But Nagelsmann, who contracted the virus in 2021, does not believe he should have limited the movements of his players during the recent hiatus in an attempt to curtail the possibility of an outbreak.

"I have a clear opinion about this topic. I'm not a teacher, I'm a coach," Nagelsmann told a news conference.

"Our players are all adults. My players are responsible for their own lives. We have the same rules and recommendations that we've had the last two years.

"You want to remain healthy. There's no option to suggest to a player that he can't go on holiday, if the law doesn't prevent that. There's psychological recovery. If you look at Upamecano, he flew to Senegal to see his family. If I don't let him do that then I can't let another player go 10 miles down the road to see his family.

"Every employee was allowed to go on holiday. You can't tell a player not to go, to stay home. With Omar Richards, once we found out that England was a high-risk area we got him back from England. 

"I don't know why we have more infected players than others. It's unfortunate, but the players have the same rules that have worked very well. There are other clubs that don't do PCR tests, they do fast tests that aren't as sensitive. So there's a couple of elements, we have to make the best of the situation.

"I was very happy with the players, the U23s and U19s players that joined us. I am not the type of coach to complain. We can discuss if these rules make sense. I went out for a meal and was infected. I rarely go out. I went out once and got coronavirus. It happens, I don't know exactly why."

Asked if the game would be going ahead at all, Nagelsmann said: "I can't answer that with 100 per cent accuracy. My job, and the job of the players, is to prepare as if it is going to take place.

"That's what we're operating on, that's what we're expecting. We've prepared all week for this game to take place. 

"It's a challenging situation, but as a coach it's an interesting challenge, you have to adapt, change your tactics to turn your problem into a strength."

One player who will return is Joshua Kimmich, who has not played since November after contracting coronavirus.

Kimmich's recovery was hampered by a lung issue but Nagelsmann confirmed the midfielder is fit to feature.

"Joshua is making a very good impression. He's very happy, his physical condition is outstanding," he said.

"If everyone was here he'd probably play, now it's clear he's going to play anyway because he has to. He deserves to play, we're all happy that he's back and he will play tomorrow."

Kimmich had initially declined the vaccine while he waited for more research on possible side effects, though confirmed in December that he had changed his mind and would take up the option.

Asked if Kimmich had received the vaccine, Nagelsmann said: "I can't say, I don't want to, that's a private matter. It's Joshua's responsibility to talk about that."

Barcelona have confirmed that defender Ronald Araujo requires surgery on a fractured hand sustained in Wednesday's Copa del Rey win over Linares Deportivo.

Araujo was substituted at half-time in Barca's 2-1 comeback victory against the third-tier side and was later spotted with his arm in a sling.

The Uruguay international will go under the knife on Friday to rectify the problem, which will reportedly keep him sidelined for between four to six weeks.

A statement on Barcelona's official website on Thursday read: "First-team player Ronald Araujo has fractured the second and third metacarpal bones in his right hand. 

"Doctor Xavier Mir will perform surgery tomorrow under the supervision of the club's medical services. An update will be provided after the operation."

Araujo has played in 21 of Barca's 26 matches this season – only five players have been used more regularly, with Gerard Pique the only defender on that list. 

The 22-year-old ranks highly for tackles won (22) and aerial balls won (45), trailing only Pique among Barcelona players in those metrics this term (30 and 71 respectively).

Barca have also announced that Frenkie de Jong sustained a left calf injury against Linares that forced him off in the second half, having only been introduced at half-time.

The full extent of the Netherlands midfielder's injury is not known and he will continue to be monitored, but he is not currently being considered for selection against Granada on Saturday.

Xavi's side, who have had to contend with a number of coronavirus cases and injury setbacks, are fifth in LaLiga.

Manchester City assistant Rodolfo Borrell is concerned about the escalating number of coronavirus cases within the club, but is hopeful Friday's FA Cup third-round tie with Swindon Town will go ahead as planned.

The Premier League leaders confirmed on Thursday that manager Pep Guardiola and assistant Juanma Lillo are among those to have tested positive for COVID-19.

Twenty-one members of City's first-team bubble – seven players and 14 backroom staff – are isolating and will miss the trip to fourth-tier Swindon.

That match is still scheduled to go ahead as planned, though that may yet change depending on how the coronavirus situation develops ahead of the game.

Following the fixture with Swindon, City are scheduled to face second-placed Chelsea in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium on January 15.

Borrell will take charge of City on Friday and says it is a case of taking it one game at a time.

"At the moment we have seven players unavailable and up to 14 staff, so it's quite a big outbreak," he said at a pre-match news conference on Thursday.

"Pep is fine. He has the virus but he hasn't got a lot of symptoms. We are permanently in touch. We communicate by calls and technology.

"We will play with the ones we have available. We don't have much more, but our aim is to keep playing as much as we can trying to respect all competitions.

"At this moment we can fill the team. I don't know what will happen in the following days but right now it's an easy line-up to decide.

"We will play with what we've got. We have some first-team players and some others that will come from our second team."

Asked if he is confident the Swindon game will definitely go ahead, Borrell replied: "We have prepared mentally for the game. We have to prepare for the game to happen. 

"This is what we have done until now and we'll keep going this way. If then tomorrow for whatever reason it's not possible because of more news, this is out of our reach to know.

"But right now, yes, we are prepared to play the game and we are mentally ready for it."

Borrell did not disclose which players have tested positive for coronavirus, but the outbreak is serious enough for City to have to turn to their youth squad.

City have won 13 of their last 14 matches in all competitions ahead of their first meeting with Swindon in any competition since a 2-0 FA Cup third-round win in January 2002. 

The Citizens have come out on top in 10 of their last 11 meetings with Swindon, with these matches taking place between 1988 and that most recent game 20 years ago.

Though City have progressed from their last seven FA Cup ties against sides from the fourth tier or lower, last losing against Blackpool in January 1984, Borrell is taking nothing for granted this weekend.

"You know better than me that lesser teams beat big opponents [in this competition]," he added.

"It creates a great atmosphere, everyone wants to make their village, town or city proud. There is a difference in terms of quality of players, this is obvious, but in these games everything gets very close.

"The FA Cup is very special. This is one of the titles we are most proud of achieving in the last six years. It's important to do well and get into the next stage. It will be very close, like any other tie in this competition."

Arsenal have been fined by the Football Association for failing to control their players' conduct during their 2-1 Premier League defeat to Manchester City.

League leaders City snatched a late winner through Rodri at the Emirates Stadium on New Year's Day, in a match littered with contentious moments.

Arsenal were convinced they should have had a penalty for Ederson's tackle on Martin Odegaard in the first half, while they were then left outraged that a spot-kick was awarded City's way for Granit Xhaka's challenge on Bernardo Silva.

Gabriel Magalhaes was booked for dissent during the aftermath of that decision, with the centre-back then receiving another booking two minutes later for clattering into Gabriel Jesus.

Arsenal's players surrounded referee Stuart Attwell and, for that, the club have been handed an FA fine of £20,000.

An FA statement said Arsenal had "failed to control their players in an orderly fashion".

The Gunners have accepted the fine and admitted the charge, meaning there will be no appeal.

After the game, goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and assistant coach Albert Stuivenberg, who stood in for the isolating Mikel Arteta, questioned the consistency of the officiating, in particular the use of VAR.

Arsenal's defeat allowed West Ham and Tottenham, who both won, to close the gap to one and two points respectively.

Gabon captain and star player Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Arsenal striker was one of three members of the travelling Gabon party to produce a positive result after the team's flight landed in Yaounde.

It means the Premier League star is set to miss his team's opening Group C game against Comoros on Monday.

The Gabon Football Federation issued a statement on its official Facebook page, with a headline of "Aubameyang, Lemina and Yala positive".

The statement read: "Arriving this morning at Yaounde on a special flight, the Panthers of Gabon submitted, like all delegations, to an antigen COVID-19 test at the Nsimalene airport.

"Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mario Lemina and assistant coach Anicet Yala have not escaped [COVID-19].

"But as required by the health protocol in this area, they subsequently underwent a PCR test, the results of which will confirm or deny the status of the latter."

Lemina is another key player for Gabon, with the midfielder having played for Juventus, Southampton, Fulham and now Nice.

Aubameyang missed the start of the Premier League season after testing positive for coronavirus.

More recently, his Arsenal future has become clouded by uncertainty after he was stripped of the club captaincy and dropped by manager Mikel Arteta following a disciplinary breach.

Gabon are also due to face Ghana on January 14 and Morocco four days later.

Felix Auger-Aliassime pulled off a terrific win over Alexander Zverev to carry Canada through to the ATP Cup semi-finals.

After Great Britain beat the United States 2-1 earlier to stake a claim for a last-four spot, Canada's singles players rose to the challenge to see off Germany.

That meant disappointment for Dan Evans and the British team, with Canada progressing to a clash with Russia as winners of Group C.

Denis Shapovalov got the better of Jan-Lennard Struff in a tight tussle, the world number 14 beating 51st-ranked Struff 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-3, giving Auger-Aliassime a swing at Olympic Games and ATP Finals champion Zverev before a possible doubles decider.

The world number 11 duly got the better of third-ranked Zverev by a similar score to the opening singles rubber, winning 75 per cent of first-serve points as he came through 6-4 4-6 6-3 late at night in Sydney.

Great Britain had impressed in edging out the US team, with Dan Evans beating John Isner and then teaming up with Jamie Murray to see off Isner and Taylor Fritz 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 10-8 in a dramatic doubles decider. Fritz beat Cameron Norrie in the second singles rubber.

Daniil Medvedev played a pivotal role as Russia wrapped up a perfect 3-0 match record in Group B, beating Italy 2-1 to nail down their semi-final place.

Defending champions Russia, who also won the Davis Cup last year, were on the back foot early on against Italy after Jannik Sinner beat Roman Safiullin, but US Open champion Medvedev ground out a 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 win over Matteo Berrettini to take the match – and the battle for top spot in the group – down to a doubles decider.

Medvedev and Safiullin were given a stiff test by their singles foes on the doubles court but had just enough to beat Berrettini and Sinner 7-5 4-6 10-5.

Richard Arnold will take over as chief executive of Manchester United next month and Ed Woodward will leave the Premier League club on February 1.

Arnold, previously United's managing director, is to start his new role at the beginning of February.

Woodward was due to step down at the end of 2021, but the long-serving executive vice-chairman is now set to depart a month later.

Arnold said: "I am honoured to have the chance to serve this great club and its fans. I am determined to return that honour in any way I can."

United executive co-chairman Joel Glazer said: "I would like to thank Ed for his tireless work on behalf of Manchester United during his nine years as executive vice-chairman and 16 years with the club. 

"We are now looking forward to Richard and his leadership team opening a new phase in the club's evolution, with ambitious plans for investment in Old Trafford, the strengthening of our engagement with fans, and continued drive towards our most important objective – winning on the pitch."

It has been all change at United in recent months, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sacked in November and Ralf Rangnick installed as interim boss.

The Red Devils are seventh in the Premier League after slumping to a 1-0 defeat against Wolves at Old Trafford in their first game of the year on Monday.

Pep Guardiola has tested positive for coronavirus and will miss Manchester City's FA Cup tie against Swindon Town, the Premier League champions have confirmed.

Guardiola and his assistant Juanma Lillo recorded positive test results on Tuesday, and both are now isolating.

City now have 21 members of their squad – seven players and 14 backroom staff – in isolation.

Fourth-tier Swindon host City in the FA Cup third round on Friday, and assistant coach Rodolfo Borrell will take charge of the Premier League leaders.

Guardiola joins three fellow Premier League managers who have had to isolate in the last week.

Arsenal manager and Guardiola's former assistant Mikel Arteta had to watch on from home as the Gunners lost 2-1 to City on New Year's Day.

Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, was absent for Liverpool's draw with Chelsea on Sunday while on Thursday, Burnley confirmed Sean Dyche was isolating after testing positive.

Clear your schedule. There's some appointment viewing in the NBA this week as the Milwaukee Bucks visit the Brooklyn Nets.

The defending NBA champion Bucks renew acquaintances at Barclays Center on Friday with the team they edged in an engrossing Eastern Conference semi-final series last year.

Both Milwaukee and Brooklyn are looking up at the Chicago Bulls, with the Eastern Conference's surprise package continuing to lead the way.

Yet the Bucks and the Nets remain favourites to contest the Conference Finals this season, and their second meeting of the campaign will provide another measuring stick as to who has the edge.

The Nets will not have the unvaccinated Kyrie Irving, who made his season debut against the Indiana Pacers but cannot play in home games due to New York's vaccine mandate.

However, in Kevin Durant they have the NBA's leader in points per game (30.0), and his tussle with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo - himself averaging 27.9 - promises to be unmissable.

Durant, team-mate James Harden and Antetokounmpo will be the star attractions in Brooklyn, yet some supposed lesser lights could have a decisive say in this marquee matchup.

PIVOTAL PERFORMERS

Milwaukee Bucks - Jrue Holiday

Holiday has been key to the Bucks' recent surge, scoring at least 20 points in five of their last eight games, registering three double-doubles in that span.

Excelling as both a scorer and facilitator, the Bucks will likely need Holiday firing on all cylinders for the offense to perform at its best against the Nets.

Brooklyn Nets - LaMarcus Aldridge

Veteran big Aldridge recently revealed he is still suffering from coronavirus symptoms despite clearing the NBA's protocols.

The Nets could certainly use Aldridge at full strength given what he has offered on the defensive end this season. His 4.3 defensive rebounds per game trail only Durant and Harden among Nets players, and he is second on the team in blocked shots with an average of 1.11.

KEY BATTLE - Can Nets bridge three-point gap?

The Bucks were among the most prolific teams in the NBA from the three-point line last month, attempting the second most (603) shots from beyond the arc and converting the third most (217).

Their three-point field goal percentage of 36 was only good enough for 14th. However, with the Nets shooting 32 per cent from deep in December, there is something of a disparity for the home side to make up.

Steve Nash's team are not short of the talent to bridge the gap, though, with Durant, Harden and Co. more than capable of going blow for blow with the Bucks should they get hot from deep.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Having lost to the Bucks back in October, the Nets will be hoping to avoid a fourth straight regular-season defeat in games against Milwaukee.

Inter's Serie A clash at Bologna on Thursday was called off at the eleventh hour due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the home club's squad.

Bologna had requested that their game against the leaders be postponed, along with Sunday's meeting with Cagliari, after "a number" of positive tests in the camp were returned.

Although there was no immediate confirmation from league authorities, Inter confirmed less than an hour before the game was due to start at Renato Dall'Ara that it would not go ahead.

Bologna had revealed on Wednesday that their entire squad had been ordered by the local health authority to quarantine for at least five days.

The Inter players warmed up on the pitch, but there were no Rossoblu opponents for what should have been their first game after the winter break. It remains to be seen whether league chiefs order it to go ahead on a new date or award the points to Inter.

Nerazzurri CEO Giuseppe Marotta said there should be no repeat of the decision to call off the game so late, and he wants it to be made mandatory for players to be vaccinated.

Marotta said in Bologna : "First of all, we reaffirm the primary objective of all: to safeguard the health of the players, the fans, all those who revolve around this sport.

"Bologna were ready to take the field and had to accept the decision of the ASL [local health authority]. There is no guideline for sport: we need a protocol that limits the competence of the ASL, otherwise these situations will be repeated.

"The issue of the protocol was addressed in the Lega Council, which will be announced with an official communication. We are faced with a scenario of great confusion and difficult to interpret.

"There are matches postponed and others that will be played: this is because every ASL decides autonomously. So here are cases like that of Bologna-Inter, which will not be played, or that of Spezia-Hellas, which will be played despite the 11 positives in the Venetian team.

"We need a guideline, a discussion with the government. The autonomy of the ASL in the decisions, taken to safeguard public health, causes differences, from case to case.

"I certainly hope for the introduction of full vaccination obligation for all players. If all players had the third dose, the spread of the virus and damage to health would be severely limited.

"The fourth wave caught us off guard, some leagues postponed the matches, others did not. The situation is difficult to assess.

"The postponement of these rounds would have ensured a more fluid management, but then the calendar would have been very compressed: it would have been really difficult to find days of recovery."