Marcus Rashford's heroics were not enough for Manchester United as Raphinha's fortuitous goal rescued Barcelona a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round play-off.

In-form Rashford scored his 22nd goal of the season – matching his best tally for a single campaign – to cancel out Marcos Alonso's opener in Thursday's thrilling clash at Camp Nou.

United were ahead nine minutes after falling behind thanks to more good work from Rashford, whose quick thinking from a short corner culminated in Jules Kounde putting into his own net.

But Barca, who lost influential midfielder Pedri to a first-half injury, hit back against the run of play in the 76th minute when Raphinha's cross went right the way through to keep things finely poised ahead of next week's return leg.

Former Scotland international Blade Thomson has retired from rugby due to a head injury.

Thomson, who has spent the last five years with Welsh side Scarlets, issued a statement on Thursday to confirm his decision.

Scarlets boss Dwayne Peel said at a press conference on Tuesday that Thomson was out with a head problem, adding that it was a "work in progress".

However, the player has now taken the decision to hang up his boots at the age of 32.

New Zealand-born Thomson won 10 caps for Scotland, including playing at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

In a statement released through Scarlets, Thomson said: "Myself and my family have come to this decision and I'd like to thank everyone, coaches, players, the back-room and medical staff and all the fans for their support.

"We've been made welcome from the moment we came to Llanelli. It's a special place to play and I'm proud of what I've achieved, making more than 50 appearances for the Scarlets and having the honour of representing Scotland.

"We will leave with fond memories of our time here."

Scarlets will honour Thomson with a presentation following Saturday's United Rugby Championship game against Edinburgh.

Jude Bellingham described captaining Borussia Dortmund as "the biggest honour of my career so far" as he warned it will be tough to finish off Chelsea in London.

The England midfielder led Dortmund to a 1-0 win in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, with the 19-year-old skippering the hosts as 38-year-old Thiago Silva wore the armband for Chelsea.

The result on Wednesday gave Dortmund a first win over English opposition in the competition since a 2-0 victory against Arsenal in September 2014, halting a winless run of nine games (D1 L8).

Bellingham said of his leadership experience: "I think it comes quite naturally, but for me it's probably the biggest honour of my career so far, to captain this football club.

"I have brilliant role models like Marco [Reus] and Mats [Hummels], and I know how to carry myself when I see them. They carry themselves so well, so I take a lot of examples from that.

"I know that without the captain's armband I can still try and lead the team and this is a bit more for show, but we need to all be captains in the second leg. It's important that we all show up and we all get the job done."

Bellingham has four goals and an assist for Dortmund in this season's Champions League, and this form coupled with his maturity has pushed him towards the responsibility Edin Terzic trusted him with on Wednesday.

In October, Bellingham became just the third teenager in history to score in four consecutive Champions League appearances, after Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.

At the beginning of the same month he captained Dortmund for the first time, in a league clash with Koln.

Former Birmingham City player Bellingham is the leading scorer among midfielders aged under 21 from Europe's top five leagues this season, with 10 goals.

He told CBS Golazo of his relish for the second leg on March 7 at Stamford Bridge, comparing the first 90 minutes at Signal Iduna Park to what awaits Dortmund when they head to England.

Dortmund have won all seven of their matches in 2023. Beating Premier League opposition, albeit by a slender margin, fuels the anticipation for their next European trip.

"It's a small win in comparison to the challenge that we've got facing us in a few weeks' time," Bellingham said. "We've got to go to Stamford Bridge and get another positive result.

"We can be really pleased with how we played and especially how we defended in the second half, but we need to understand it's not over, and they can definitely come back with a lot of power."

Barcelona will not face any sporting sanctions for payments allegedly made to a company part-owned by former referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, LaLiga president Javier Tebas has confirmed.

The Catalan giants have been alleged to have paid €1.4million between 2016 and 2018 to Negreira's company DASNIL 95 SL, with the claims first revealed by broadcaster SER Catalunya earlier this week.

Newspaper El Pais alleged that in return for payments, Barcelona received a written report and DVD assessment of referees prior to games.

Barcelona have strenuously denied wrongdoing, stating they previously hired "an external consultant" who provided video of youth players from other teams, together with "technical reports related to professional refereeing", which it said was "a common practice among professional football clubs".

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said on Thursday it had begun a "request for information" from Barcelona and the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), of which Negreira was a long-time vice-president.

However, statute of limitations laws in Spain only make it possible to punish clubs within three years of any offences, meaning Barca do not face the threat of a points deduction, though criminal action has not been ruled out.

"It is evident that in 2018 and in previous years the 'compliance' regulations which monitor conflicts of interest, both for Barcelona and the referee's committee, failed," Tebas said in a video message published on social media on Thursday.

"From what we are seeing, what's been revealed in the media, they obviously didn't work as these services should never have been provided. Neither the amounts of money, nor the facts which have been unveiled.

"We must clarify from the outset, we have already looked into [sporting sanctions] – it is not possible to impose sports disciplinary sanctions because five years have already passed.

"Criminal jurisdiction is another issue. Now the prosecutor's office is investigating the events that occurred and whether there may be a possible crime of corruption between individuals in terms of match-fixing. Let's see how that investigation ends.

"At LaLiga, we are going to wait and respect the prosecutor's office investigation and once that has finished, see whether it does decide to file the appropriate complaint or lawsuit in the corresponding courts. From there, we will make decisions."

Negreira refereed in the Spanish top flight between 1977 and 1992, before taking up a job with the RFEF between 1994 and 2018.

Barca president Joan Laporta said it is "no coincidence" that the allegations have come to light with the Blaugrana sitting eight points clear at the top of LaLiga.

Former Juventus, Athletic Bilbao and Spain striker Fernando Llorente has retired from football at the age of 37.

Llorente – who has been without a club since the end of last season – made the announcement to Movistar Plus, confirming the end of an 18-year senior career.

When asked about continuing to play football, he replied "No" and suggested he will instead "keep fit by playing padel."

Llorente began his career with Athletic, where he played for nine seasons for the first team, scoring 84 goals in 262 LaLiga games.

He then earned a move to Serie A giants Juventus, where he scored 16 in 34 league games in his first season, though was unable to repeat that form before he left on a free transfer back to Spain with Sevilla in 2015.

After one season at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, where he scored just four goals in 23 LaLiga appearances but won the Europa League, Llorente moved to the Premier League with Swansea City.

He netted 15 league goals in 33 games for the Swans before signing for Tottenham after an impressive year in Wales.

Llorente struggled for game time at Spurs, though, with Harry Kane the established striker at the club.

Nevertheless, he did play a key role in their run to the 2019 Champions League final, scoring the goal that put Spurs through to the semi-finals at the expense of Manchester City.

Llorente was unable to get back to his previous best in spells at Napoli or Udinese, before playing what turned out to be his final season back in Spain with Eibar in the Segunda Division.

He won three Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia crowns and a Europa League during his club career. Llorente was also part of the Spain squads that won the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, earning 24 caps for his country in all, scoring seven goals.

Liverpool and Everton have been charged by the Football Association (FA) following a "mass confrontation" late in Monday's Merseyside derby.

Jurgen Klopp's Reds won the Premier League game 2-0 at Anfield thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo.

Usually a feisty encounter, proceedings were largely under control until a flash point in the 86th minute.

Andrew Robertson handled the ball but continued playing after the referee's whistle and then kicked the ball towards the Everton box, which was seemingly perceived as a blatant act of time-wasting by the Toffees.

Everton players swiftly confronted Robertson, who laughed in the face of Jordan Pickford before being held at the neck by Conor Coady.

The incident subsequently resulted in many other players – including substitutes – becoming embroiled in heated tussles on the touchline, though Pickford and Robertson were the only individuals booked.

Confirming the beginning of disciplinary proceedings, an FA statement read: "Liverpool and Everton have been charged following a mass confrontation during the 86th minute of their Premier League match on Monday, February 13.

"It's alleged that both clubs failed to ensure their players and/or benches conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and/or refrained from provocative behaviour.

"Liverpool and Everton have until Monday, February 20 to provide responses to their charges."

Joe Mazzulla has been appointed the permanent head coach of the Boston Celtics.

Mazzulla becomes the 19th full-time head coach in the franchise's history and he has also agreed an extension to his contract, though details were not confirmed.

The 34-year-old took over the Celtics on an interim basis in September following the suspension of previous head coach Ime Udoka.

Mazzulla has had an impressive impact on last season's NBA Finals runners-up, leading them to a league-leading record of 42-17.

The announcement from the Celtics came on Thursday following Wednesday's 127-109 win over the Detroit Pistons.

Mazzulla was hired by the Celtics in 2019 as an assistant coach following two years in his first head coach role with division two college Fairmont State.

He spent two of his first three seasons on the Celtics bench under former head coach and current president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, before retaining his role when Stevens was promoted and Udoka was brought in as the new head coach.

Stevens said following the announcement: "As he has shown, Joe is a very talented coach and leader. He has a unique ability to galvanize a room around a mission.

"We are thankful for the work he has done to help get us to this point, and excited that he has agreed to lead us into the future."

It was also announced last month that Mazzulla and the rest of Boston's coaching staff had earned the right to coach Team Giannis at this year's All-Star Game, which takes place in Salt Lake City on Sunday.

Manchester City defender Nathan Ake believes Arsenal remain favourites to win the Premier League title despite his side moving top of the table on Wednesday.

Reigning champions City defeated Arsenal 3-1 at Emirates Stadium to overtake their opponents at the summit for the first time since November.

Pep Guardiola's side trailed the Gunners by eight points less than a month ago, but a return to form – coinciding with a wobble from Arsenal – has seen that margin evaporate.

While City are top by virtue of a superior goal difference, Arsenal still have a game in hand and travel to the Etihad Stadium for another blockbuster fixture in April.

Asked if City are now favourites to finish above Arsenal, Ake said: "No. They still have a game in hand so they still have three points on us. We don't want to get carried away.

"We will keep doing what we are doing, go game by game and take it from there. 

"We knew beforehand it was going to be a very big game and we just wanted to win the game and get the three points and we did."

City's victory was their 11th in a row against Arsenal in the league, with Guardiola having now won eight of his nine meetings with Mikel Arteta in all competitions.

Second-half goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland earned the win for City after Bukayo Saka's penalty had cancelled out Kevin De Bruyne's opener.

City's quality ultimately told as they look to add to the four titles won in the past five seasons, success that Ake feels will stand them in good stead.

"We know there is still a long way to go. They have a game in hand but for us it is good to come to a tough place like this and get the win – that is important," the Netherlands international said.

"It's small margins. It was so tight and both teams can create something out of nothing. We still have a long way to go but we do have that [title-winning] experience."

Antonio Conte has acknowledged he underestimated the seriousness of "sudden and serious emergency" that he faced after the Tottenham boss decided to take a break until he has fully recovered.

Italian Conte underwent gallbladder surgery at the start of this month, having suffered severe abdominal pain.

The Spurs head coach was back on the touchline for a 4-1 Premier League defeat at Leicester City last weekend before overseeing a 1-0 defeat at Milan in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 tie on Tuesday.

Tottenham on Thursday revealed the 53-year-old has remained in Italy at his family home to recuperate and Cristian Stellini will once again take charge of the first team in his absence.

Conte knows he returned too soon and knows he must take time out after a routine post-operation check in his homeland this week.

He wrote on an Instagram story: "My great sense of responsibility towards the club, the players the staff and the fans brought me to anticipate my comeback. Sadly I underestimated the procedure, which wasn't a routine operation but a sudden and serious emergency.

"My body has suffered [for] my impatience and now I am forced to stop until my entire recovery.

"Those who know me understand what a burden this is for me, but it is necessary. Come on you Spurs."

Tottenham said in a statement: "Following a routine post-operation check in Italy yesterday, Antonio Conte will remain at his family home to further and fully recover from his recent gallbladder surgery.

"Health is the most important consideration and everyone at the club wishes him well. Cristian Stellini will assume first-team responsibility."

Fifth-placed Tottenham will attempt to get back on track when they face West Ham at home in a London derby on Sunday.

Former Ireland, Leinster and British and Irish Lions prop Jack McGrath has retired from rugby at the age of 33 as he wants to live "a pain-free life".

McGrath earned 56 caps for Ireland and was part of the side that won the Six Nations in 2014 and 2015, as well as a Grand Slam in 2018.

The Dublin native was also part of the Lions' 2017 tour of New Zealand, winning all three of his caps as a replacement.

He has struggled with a persistent hip injury and had been without a club since being released by Ulster at the end of the 2021-22 season.

In a statement posted on his personal Instagram account on Thursday, McGrath officially brought down the curtain on his playing career.

"This decision has taken a considerable amount of time. It has been one of the hardest I've ever had to make," McGrath said.

"The last few years have been extremely testing for myself and my family, both mentally and physically.

"I feel I have given everything to my rugby career and I have no regrets or anything left to prove. It's been a long road of rehabilitation after two hip resurfacing operations.

"My main focus now is my family and I am excited for this next chapter with them.

"I am in a position now where I have a comfortable, pain-free life and can be an active dad, which I have chosen over going back to play rugby."

McGrath won three domestic titles, along with trophy successes in the European Challenge Cup and European Champions Cup, during nine successful years with Leinster, before joining Ulster in 2019, where appearances were limited.

Wales coach Warren Gatland is "confident" strike action will be averted and his team's Six Nations game against England will go ahead next week.

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and the Welsh regions have insisted there is "no room for manoeuvre" on player contract renewals, with internationals in Gatland's squad reportedly considering whether they should refuse to play.

Under a six-year agreement that has, according to the WRU, been verbally agreed, players in Wales are set to receive lower wages, with bonuses introduced to contracts.

WRU interim chief executive Nigel Walker met with senior members of Wales' squad to "further clarify" the governing body's position on Wednesday, and there is a February 28 deadline in place.

That falls three days after Wales take on England at the Principality Stadium.

Sitting alongside former captain Alun Wyn Jones at a press conference, Gatland was asked about the potential for a strike and said: "You have to talk to Alun Wyn about that. As far as I'm concerned, it's just preparing for the game, and I'm confident the game will go ahead."

Asked whether players had suggested they might be unavailable, Gatland said: "No."

Gatland, back at the helm for a second spell as Wales coach, said those in the national set-up "understand the frustrations by the players".

He added: "I'm sure the players, like us, would like things resolved hopefully as quick as possible. These things have been going on for a long time, but all I can focus on is concentrating and preparing on the game.

"That stuff is out of my remit, and I'm just planning for England next week."

Gatland responded "No", when asked if he would support his players refusing to play England, adding: "I completely support the stance [the players are] taking in terms of wanting to get some resolution about the issues that they have, but I think there's a lot more involved in terms of ensuring that that fixture does take place."

He said the Wales players have been "fantastic" on the training pitch, and remarked that players could not be blamed for seeking what they consider market value contracts, despite the WRU's comments.

"It's a little disingenuous to say the players are being paid too much money, from the union's point of view," said Gatland. "No way is it their fault that those contracts have been negotiated by the regions or the agents through the players."

Long-serving ex-skipper Jones said: "This was supposed to be sorted a long time ago. Even players that might have had the opportunity to go somewhere else might not get that now because other teams are filling their rosters.

"The disappointing thing is that the basic treatment of players and the continued unprofessional nature of dealing with things is massively disappointing, and unfortunately it's been highlighted."

Ireland lock Tadhg Beirne has been ruled out of the remainder of the 2023 Six Nations with an ankle injury.

The Munster player, who has started his country's last 14 Tests, was forced off early in the second half of Saturday's 32-19 win over France in Dublin.

Beirne left the Aviva Stadium on crutches, and it was confirmed by Ireland on Thursday he is facing around three months out of action as the injury requires surgery.

"Tadhg Beirne will undergo surgery today on the ankle injury he sustained in Saturday's win over France," a statement from the Irish Rugby Football Union read.

"Unfortunately, Tadhg will be ruled out for up to 12 weeks."

Ulster skipper Iain Henderson replaced Beirne against France and is expected to start Ireland's next game away at Italy a week on Saturday.

Andy Farrell's side are level with Scotland on 10 points after two rounds of fixtures after claiming bonus-point victories against Wales and France.

After facing Italy at Stadio Olimpico, the world's top-ranked nation travel to Scotland and then host England in their final fixture.

Barcelona will be asked for an explanation after allegations they paid €1.4million to a company part-owned by former LaLiga referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said on Thursday it had begun a "request for information" from Barcelona and the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), of which Negreira was a long-time vice-president.

LaLiga giants Barca have been alleged to have paid the seven-figure sum between 2016 and 2018 to Negreira's company DASNIL 95 SL, with the claims first revealed by broadcaster SER Catalunya.

Newspaper El Pais alleged that in return for payments, Barcelona received a written report and DVD assessment of referees prior to games.

Barcelona have strenuously denied wrongdoing, stating they previously hired "an external consultant" who provided video of youth players from other teams, together with "technical reports related to professional refereeing", which it said was "a common practice among professional football clubs".

The club, whose first team sit eight points clear at the top of LaLiga, said they would take legal action "against those who are trying to tarnish the club's image with possible insinuations against its good reputation".

The RFEF wants to be sure there has been no malpractice, and in a statement said its integrity department "initiated a request for information reserved for both those responsible for the CTA and FC Barcelona".

It added: "As soon as sufficient information is available, the RFEF will adopt the corresponding measures within the framework of legality that must prevail in all these situations."

The process of gathering information began on Wednesday, and the federation statement added: "The RFEF agreed yesterday to appear in the possible judicial procedures that are followed on this matter."

It also pointed out Negreira left the CTA leadership after an overhaul that followed the May 2018 RFEF presidential elections.

Negreira held his role with the RFEF from 1994 to 2018.

The RFEF said its rules dictated that all involved with refereeing and disciplinary matters are "obliged to detail any income, regardless of what is received by the RFEF, that could be related to football for the purpose of being able to evaluate and verify the effective and real absence of conflicts of interest".

Amid the controversy, Barcelona host Manchester United on Thursday evening in the first leg of their Europa League play-off.