Paolo Maldini is prepared for a change of off-field leadership at Milan after it was reported the club's owners are in talks with potential buyers of the Serie A giants.

Technical director Maldini said it was important to keep a focus on on-field matters as Milan chase the Serie A title.

The club legend, who made a record 902 appearances for Milan as a player, spoke about the possibility of a takeover before Friday's league clash with Genoa.

Milan won that game 2-0 to move top of the table after city rivals Inter briefly went to the summit earlier in the day.

"I know little, but it is normal that in the future of Milan there may also be a sale," Maldini told DAZN. "I don't know when that moment will be.

"A few matchdays from the end [of the season], however, I think it is in everyone's interest to try and think about winning this championship. We also have the semi-final of the Coppa Italia to play."

It has been widely reported that Investcorp, founded in Bahrain, is in talks to buy the San Siro giants from American hedge fund Elliott Management, which is said to be seeking a price above $1billion.

The Financial Times reported Investcorp has secured an exclusivity period set to last for around two weeks.

Reigning Monte Carlo Masters champion Stefanos Tsitsipas will have to overcome Alexander Zverev if he is to have the chance to defend his title.

Zverev, who is ranked third in the world - two places higher than Tsitsipas - fought back to defeat Jannik Sinner 5-7 6-3 7-6 (7-5) in his quarter-final match, denying his opponent another top-five seed scalp following his prior win over Andrey Rublev.

"It means a lot, definitely, especially [with] how this year has been going so far for me," said Zverev after a gruelling three hours on court.

"I've lost long matches like that, so I’m happy I won this one."

Tsitsipas also orchestrated a superb turnaround against Diego Schwartzman, prevailing 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.

The Greek had looked set for a last-eight exit at four games down in the final set, only to stage a dramatic comeback to keep his hopes of a first title since last May's Lyon Open alive.

"There was a moment in the match where I felt what I was doing wasn't working," Tsitsipas said.

"He had a massive lead and momentum in what he was trying to do. I just tried to stay in the match as much as I could and that worked out very well.

"I wasn't expecting much at that point being a double break down, so I relaxed at that point."

Schwartzman meanwhile will rue his inability to put the tie to bed, having already reached two ATP finals this year.

Grigor Dimitrov and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will face off in the other semi-final.

Bulgarian Dimitrov beat off Hubert Hurkacz in another final-set tie-break, winning 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-2).

Fokina, who eliminated Novak Djokovic in the second round, turned over Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz in another comeback result, triumphing 2-6 6-4 6-3.

Milan regained top spot in Serie A as they returned to winning ways in timely fashion with a 2-0 victory over struggling Genoa.

Inter's 3-1 win over Spezia earlier on Friday had sent the reigning champions to the top of the pile, but Milan responded in San Siro to restore their two-point lead.

Rafael Leao's early volley put Stefano Pioli's team ahead and a first win in three games was secured late on when Junior Messias struck.

Alexis Saelemaekers and Olivier Giroud passed up presentable opportunities, but 19th-placed Genoa were unable to make Milan pay for that profligacy as they slumped to a third straight defeat.

A late switch to Milan's line-up saw Pierre Kalulu shifted to right-back in the absence of Davide Calabria, and the defender produced a moment of real quality for Leao's 11th-minute opener.

Leao had not scored since the end of February but kept his cool to steer Kalulu's inch-perfect cross into the right-hand corner on the volley.

On the opposite flank to Leao, Saelemaekers struggled to get involved and his rustiness showed when he lashed over from Franck Kessie's cutback nine minutes before half-time.

Saelemaekers nearly had a free run at goal after pouncing on a defensive mistake early in the second half, only to slice wide.

The winger turned provider just prior to the hour, but Giroud could not keep an acrobatic attempt down.

Yet Milan's faltering attack finally crafted another opening in the 87th minute, with Messias hitting home at the second time of asking following Salvatore Sirigu's fine save, the goal standing despite a VAR check for handball.

The Dallas Mavericks will be without talisman Luka Doncic for Game 1 of their playoff series against the Utah Jazz and he is a major doubt for Game 2.

Doncic strained his left calf in the third quarter of the Mavs' final regular-season fixture, a 130-120 win over the San Antonio Spurs, and sat out the rest of the game after putting up 26 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

The two-time All-Star would have been ineligible for the game had the NBA not rescinded his 16th technical foul of the season, which he earned in the game prior against the Portland Trailblazers.

It was reported on Thursday that Doncic was set to miss Saturday's game against Utah and now ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski has claimed the 23-year-old will definitely be out, adding that Dallas have serious concerns that he will also be missing for Game 2 on Monday.

Doncic has averaged 28.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game this season. Across his career, he has averaged 30 points per game against the Jazz.

Inter moved back to the summit of Serie A in the latest turn of an enthralling title race after they claimed a 3-1 win over Spezia.

The Nerazzurri threw down a gauntlet to rivals Milan as they deposed them at the top of the table thanks to goals from Marcelo Brozovic, Lautaro Martinez and Alexis Sanchez.

Simone Inzaghi's defending champions could well end the weekend back in second place, with their San Siro neighbours set to face Genoa later on Good Friday.

But victory at Stadio Alberto Picco at least means the Nerazzurri remain neck-and-neck, with a game in hand on the Rossoneri beyond this latest round ensuring destiny stays in their own hands.

In a game where opportunities were initially at a premium, it took almost 15 minutes for either side to register an attempt, with Denzel Dumfries heading wide.

But when Danilo D'Ambrosio headed down a looping cross near the edge of the box in the 31st minute, there was little stopping Brozovic's rasping drive into the top-left corner.

The visitors were not as clinically composed as they would have liked, however.

Nicolo Barella slid reaching for the ball past the hour to fumble a great chance for a second, while Dumfries blazed a subsequent low cross way over the crossbar.

But when Martinez flicked Ivan Perisic's cross beyond Ivan Provedel with just over a quarter-hour to play, Inter looked to be home and dry.

Giulio Maggiore fired home a response late on to set up a nervy final act, but the visitors restored the two-goal cushion in stoppage time, with Sanchez drilling a squared Martinez pass home.

Aiden Markram blasted successive sixes off Pat Cummins to seal an eye-catching seven-wicket win for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.

After Kolkata put 175-8 on the board, Hyderabad reached their target with 2.1 overs to spare, thanks to Markram's 68 not out from 36 balls and an equally explosive 71 from Rahul Tripathi.

At Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, only three Kolkata batsmen reached double figures, but Shreyas Iyer's 28, a rapid 54 from Nitish Rana and 49 not out by Andre Russell looked to have helped them to a competitive score. T Natarajan took 3-37, including the wickets of Iyer and Rana.

As it turned out, Sunrisers won with comfort, recovering from losing Abhishek Sharma (3) and Kane Williamson (17) early in their reply as Tripathi and Markram put on 94 for the third wicket.

Tripathi was furious at himself for holing out to long on with the team score on 133, giving Russell (2-20) a second wicket of the innings, but Markram took over the heavy scoring mantle from that point.

He finished the contest in style in the 18th over, taking a lusty four through midwicket off Australia Test captain Cummins before going the same way off the next ball.

Markram hooked the subsequent delivery for six over deep square leg, clinching a third win in a row for Sunrisers, who began the season with two defeats.

Knight Riders' missing ingredient

It is now two defeats in a row for Kolkata, who had won three of their first four in this campaign, and captain Iyer had little doubt where they had fallen short this time.

He said the batters had "put in a great effort" to post a healthy score, adding: "It was just a bad day for us from a bowling point of view, and we need to sit back, reassess stuff and come back stronger."

While Cummins (1-40 in 3.5 overs) took the bludgeoning late on, the likes of Aman Hakim Khan (0-13), and Varun Chakravarthy (0-45) proved too expensive before the match reached that point.

Tripathi onslaught turned the game

Reaching a half-century from just 21 balls was an outstanding effort from Tripathi, tilting momentum firmly the way of Sunrisers. He hit six maximums in what was comfortably his best score of the IPL season so far, passing the 44 he managed in an early defeat to Lucknow Super Giants. He was eventually out to the 37th ball he faced, with Sunrisers well on the way.

"It's nice to bat when a guy like Tripathi gets going," Markram, who hit four sixes in all, told beinSPORTS. "He almost gives you a bit of time to settle in. He really set a nice platform, and it feels good to get the win for the side."

Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has confirmed he will leave the club at the end of the season.

Matic signed for United from Premier League rivals Chelsea in 2017 and swiftly established himself as a crucial part of Jose Mourinho's side, starting 35 top-flight games in his first season at the club.

His role lessened under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but the former Serbia international nevertheless signed a new deal in July 2020, extending his stay at Old Trafford until the end of 2022-23.

However, having made only 11 Premier League starts this season, Matic has announced it will be his final campaign with the club.

"After a great deal of thought, I have decided that this season will be my last with Manchester United," the 33-year-old wrote in a post on his official Instagram account.

"I have informed the board, the manager and the players of my decision.

"It has been a huge honour and a privilege to play for this great club. A big thank you to the fans for their unwavering support.

"I will now give everything until the end of the season to help my team-mates finish as strongly as possible."

Matic could be the first of a mass exodus at United ahead of 2022-23, with fellow midfielders Juan Mata, Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard all out of contract at the end of June.

It is uncertain as to who will be in permanent charge of United next season, though it has been widely reported that Ajax coach Erik ten Hag reached a verbal agreement earlier this week.

Pep Guardiola likened Manchester City's rivalry with Liverpool to an NBA playoffs series as he challenged his players to slam dunk their way into the FA Cup final.

City have a second treble in their sights this term, having previously completed a clean sweep of the three English domestic trophies in the 2018-19 season.

They can capture the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League this time, but Liverpool are a team who might deny them on all fronts, making Saturday's Wembley semi-final a tantalising prospect.

Guardiola said he had no regrets about City's disappointing record in FA Cup semi-finals during his reign. They have won only one of four matches at the last-four stage in this competition under his command, beating Brighton and Hove Albion 1-0 on the way to the 2019 showpiece before crushing Watford 6-0 in the final.

Arsenal have beaten City twice at this stage during Guardiola's reign, and Chelsea surprisingly had their number last season in the semi-finals.

Ahead of his fifth such occasion, Guardiola said: "I would have loved from five semi-finals to reach five finals and win all five finals. This would have been my dream, but the word 'regret', I don't have it.

"I don't have any regrets for my players. When they're losing I am closer to them.

"We arrive now one month and a half to the end of the season, we are in the position of having two semi-finals in the big competitions.

"We are in the Premier League on top of the league, and we are in the semi-finals of the other two competitions.

"Come on, it's so great. We are so satisfied about what we have done so far, but it is not enough. So try one more time, one more time, one more game, one more game."

Saturday's clash will be the first FA Cup meeting between City and Liverpool since Gerard Houllier's Reds ran out 1-0 winners away from home against Kevin Keegan's men in 2003, with Danny Murphy netting the winner.

It follows just six days after the teams met in the Premier League, battling out a gripping 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium, and with both sides through to the Champions League semi-finals, there is a possible further meeting on the horizon in the final of that competition.

Guardiola was asked if he had ever known such a rivalry where two sides were so dominant across a host of competitions, prompting him to point to a rivalry between his Barcelona and Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid in the 2010-11 season.

As that campaign boiled to its peak, the Clasico foes played one another four times in 18 days, consisting of two legs of a Champions League semi-final, a Copa del Rey final, and a LaLiga game.

Barcelona took the Champions League honours and went on to beat Manchester United in the final, Madrid won the Copa del Rey, and the league game finished in stalemate, with Guardiola's team soon securing the title.

Just as then with Madrid, Guardiola is always wanting to learn more about the opposition.

"Of course, always you learn – every time you play against Liverpool you learn another thing," he said.

"It's like the playoffs in basketball. When you play in a short time many times. We played them one week ago and this is the second. With Madrid... it was like a real playoff."

Paul George has entered the NBA's health and safety protocols and will not feature for the Los Angeles Clippers against the New Orleans Pelicans, according to reports.

George spent three months out earlier this season due to a serious elbow injury but returned at the end of March to help the Clippers push for a playoff berth.

They did not quite seal a guaranteed postseason spot but face the Pelicans on Friday in the Western Conference's play-in game.

The Clippers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first game of the play-in tournament but get a second shot against the Pelicans. However, they will be without their talisman George.

George scored a game-high 34 points in the defeat to Minnesota yet will sit out as his teammates aim to secure a playoff game against the top-seeded Phoenix Suns.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news, with his colleague Ohm Youngmisuk stating that Lawrence Frank, the president of basketball operations for the Clippers, had told media that George had tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.

George averaged 24.3 points per game for the Clippers across the regular season, more than any of his teammates.

After the loss to the Timberwolves, George told reporters: "It's win or go home.

"Obviously, [if] we don't win, we go home. I could care less who we play. The mindset is we have to win regardless. There's no pep talk, X's and O's. We've got to win. We've got to win if we want to continue our season."

George has carried a heavy burden this season in the absence of Kawhi Leonard who has not featured at all this season due to injury, though there is hope he may return for the playoffs should the Clippers progress. 

Sevilla and Real Madrid were title rivals when they last met in LaLiga back in November.

Then, as is the case now, Madrid led the table, but Sevilla were just two points back in third having played the same number of games. Optimism was growing for a genuine title fight.

But the team the capital from behind to win 2-1 through a late Vinicius Junior goal and have since opened a significant gap to Sevilla.

Including the three earned at the Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid have collected 10 more points than Sevilla in the intervening period.

Now, as the sides prepare to face off again at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Carlo Ancelotti's men – fresh from reaching the Champions League semi-finals – look to be coasting towards a 35th championship.

Even victory for Sevilla would only close the deficit to nine points with six games to play – and such a result feels highly unlikely based on recent history.

One-sided recent rivalry

Perhaps discussion of a tussle at the top earlier in the season was premature given Madrid's dominance of this fixture in the past few seasons.

Defeat at the Bernabeu was Sevilla's fifth in six league matches against Madrid, with their other encounter in that run a draw.

Indeed, this is their worst winless run against Madrid since a sequence of 15 games between May 1993 and April 2003 – 13 of which were losses. That was Sevilla's longest such streak against Madrid in LaLiga history.

Away day success in Andalusia 

This miserable stretch for Sevilla has included consecutive home defeats to Madrid, who are now bidding to win three in a row away from home in this fixture for the first time since a run of four ended in November 1996.

Those past two Madrid victories have been by 1-0 scorelines, meaning they could become only the third team in LaLiga history to win three in a row at Sevilla without conceding after Barcelona in March 1961 (three matches) and Celta Vigo in November 2003 (four).

Madrid have enjoyed recent trips to Andalusia as a whole, winning on their past seven visits. This is their best ever such run in LaLiga.

Los Blancos have scored in 31 of their past 32 league matches in the region (W24 D2 L6) for 78 goals in total at a rate of 2.44 goals per game.

Can ex-flop Lop stop the rot?

The match in November was Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui's 100th in LaLiga, but it should have come as no surprise that it did not come to plan. His career rarely has when Lopetegui has become entwined with Madrid.

His Spain tenure was ended prematurely when he agreed to join Madrid as coach on the eve of the 2018 World Cup – a decision that panned out for nobody.

Lopetegui oversaw just six wins in 14 matches in all competitions before he was sacked after a 5-1 defeat to rivals Barcelona. His win rate of 42.9 per cent was the second-lowest among all Madrid coaches to oversee multiple games.

As evidenced by the result in November, things have scarcely improved for Lopetegui where Madrid are concerned since his dismissal.

He has overseen five of the six matches in Sevilla's winless run in this fixture, with the four defeats tied for his most against any team in LaLiga – along with Barca, of course.

On the other hand, opposite number Ancelotti has won six of his seven games against Sevilla as a coach, including two victories in finals, winning the UEFA Super Cup with Milan in 2007 and Madrid in 2014.

Benz at his best while Martial flounders

It was hoped the January signing of Anthony Martial would boost Sevilla's title hopes, yet his only goal in their colours so far came in the Europa League against Dinamo Zagreb.

There has been just a single assist in LaLiga, too, meaning Martial is still waiting for his 100th goal involvement in Europe's top five leagues two months on from his 99th – that tee-up for Rafa Mir against Elche.

This underwhelming form stands in stark contrast to that of compatriot Karim Benzema, who has 38 goals in 38 games in all competitions this season, with only Robert Lewandowski matching his 51 goal involvements among players in Europe's top five leagues.

Benzema has eight goals in 21 LaLiga games against Sevilla, although he has scored just once in 10 visits to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Only at Camp Nou (one goal in 13 games) has he played as many games while scoring so few goals.

Of all the seasons to improve that return, though, this is surely the one.

Kevin De Bruyne has had stitches in a lower-leg injury, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola revealed on the eve of the FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool.

In-form playmaker De Bruyne and right-back Kyle Walker are doubtful for the Wembley game after both missed training on Friday.

Both De Bruyne and Walker hobbled out of City's 0-0 draw at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday. Walker has a twisted ankle.

Guardiola said De Bruyne's injury was not a muscular issue and mentioned the midfielder's calf and foot when asked about the problem.

To lose him or Walker – or even both senior men – for such a major occasion would be a blow to City.

"We will see tomorrow. Apparently, it will be so close after what happened on Wednesday, but we will see," Guardiola said.

City are chasing a treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles that has only been achieved once before, by Manchester United 23 years ago.

Walker's injury was described by Guardiola as "a big twist, but it's getting better".

"We will see in the next hours, the next days. In football these kinds of things happen. We will adapt, adjust and go from here," Guardiola said. "Kevin had stitches after he had contact – it's not a muscular injury."

City, who have been preparing for the Liverpool game at Millwall's training ground in south London, are feeling the strain at this stage of the season.

They have travelled from Madrid to London, rather than preparing in Manchester and then making another long journey, with Guardiola pointing to the demands of broadcasters as the reason his team must play such an important game less than 72 hours since their last huge assignment in Spain.

"We have to adapt," Guardiola added.

He said City could "dream to be in better conditions, but it's not going to happen", given the tight turnaround.

De Bruyne scored in last Sunday's 2-2 Premier League draw with Liverpool, who were also in Champions League action on Wednesday, reaching the semi-finals at Benfica's expense.

"We're going to perform well. Like I said to the players, I don't want any excuse," Guardiola said.

"It is what it is and for that we have to go there tomorrow in Wembley Stadium and try to do our game."

Sean Dyche deserves a statue outside Turf Moor after his dismissal by Burnley, according to Brentford head coach Thomas Frank.

Burnley opted to sack Dyche on Friday, with the announcement a surprise despite the Clarets' relegation battle – they are 18th in the table and four points adrift of safety.

Dyche's side had managed just one win from their past seven matches, with five defeats in that streak, but many have questioned why Burnley parted ways with their manager after nearly a decade-long association.

He guided the Clarets to five straight survivals in the Premier League, having previously followed promotion in his first season with relegation back to the Championship.

Dyche, who led Burnley into Europe for the first time in 51 years, was also the longest-reigning manager in the league but now becomes the 10th different boss to lose his job in the top tier this season.

Frank believes Dyche's efforts should be celebrated as he expressed confusion over the decision of the Clarets board.

"They got promoted. They got relegated. They got promoted again. They've been here, what, six or seven years in the Premier League? It's remarkable what they've done," he said.

"Sean Dyche and his coaching staff, everyone involved with the football club, have done an unbelievable job. Sean Dyche deserves a lot of credit – they should build a statue of him outside Turf Moor.

"I remember there was one year when [you thought], 'How can he not be Manager of the Year?'. So, I think he's done a top job."

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher labelled the decision a "joke", as he posted on Twitter: "If you [Burnley] had given him a decent budget you would never have had a worry about getting relegated."

Veteran Roy Hodgson, who is attempting to battle the drop with Watford, was similarly bemused by the news.

"Of all the people in the league, he would have been one of the ones I would have thought most likely to survive anything like this, so I have no idea what's happened," Hodgson said.

"Something must have happened because you don't part company with a manager like Sean Dyche after all the fantastic things he's done for that club over the last 10 years. He has built the club."

Brighton and Hove Albion head coach Graham Potter also added he was "surprised", while Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta heaped praise on Dyche.

"He gave the club a really clear identity, he's managed to keep the team, with one of the smallest budgets, consistently in the league," the Arsenal boss said. 

"I wish him the best of luck and as always with colleagues, it's sad when you see those decisions."