Barcelona forward Ansu Fati has returned to training with the LaLiga club's first-team squad following a lengthy lay-off through injury.

The 18-year-old missed the second half of last season after tearing the meniscus in his left knee in November 2020.

Fati sustained the injury during Barcelona’s 5-2 victory over Real Betis at Camp Nou, and has subsequently undergone three operations.

However, the Spain international is closing in on a return to action after he was photographed back on the training pitches at Barcelona's Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper training ground on Tuesday.

Although he will not be available for this weekend’s LaLiga showdown with Getafe, Fati could be in contention for Barcelona's trip to Sevilla on September 11.

The forward became the youngest goalscorer in Barca's history when he scored against Osasuna in August 2019 aged 16 years and 304 days.

Fati has since added a further 12 goals in 42 appearances across all competitions for the Blaugrana, who he joined at the age of 10.

The Guinea-Bissau-born youngster has been capped four times by Spain, and scored his first international goal against Ukraine in September 2020.  

Granit Xhaka is happy to be staying at 'home' after confirming he has signed a new contract with Arsenal.

Xhaka's previous deal was due to expire in 2023 but he has reportedly agreed to remain at the Premier League club for an extra year, with the option of a further extension until 2025.

The Gunners captain, who was heavily linked with a move to Roma during the offseason, admitted his delight in a post on Instagram.

"Home is where the heart is - really proud to extend my stay at Arsenal," Xhaka wrote to accompany a picture of him signing the contract.

Mikel Arteta's side are yet to announce the news officially, though the club's website has referenced the extension and Arsenal owners Stan and Josh Kroenke also revealed the news in the programme notes before the home game against Chelsea on Sunday.

Xhaka was a regular last term, with only Bukayo Saka (46) appearing more times among Arsenal midfielders.

The 28-year-old started 42 times, provided two assists and created 20 chances in total, while also adding a goal of his own with a free-kick against Chelsea.

Xhaka recorded a passing accuracy of 89.89 per cent, with only Mohamed Elneny (92.08) and Martin Odegaard (90.38) bettering his success rate.

The Switzerland international led the way in terms of recoveries, regaining possession 281 times and making 74 tackles – ranking him first for both aspects among midfield team-mates.

Harvey Elliott has been inspired by working alongside Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, but now he sees the duo as part of the competition for first-team opportunities at Liverpool.

Elliott was handed his full Premier League debut by Jurgen Klopp in Saturday's 2-0 win over Burnley, becoming the 10th youngest player start a top-flight game for Liverpool and the youngest since Ben Woodburn in April 2017.

The 18-year-old previously appeared for Fulham aged just 16 years and 30 days, making him the youngest player to appear in Premier League history.

However, after a positive loan spell with Blackburn in the Championship last term, Elliott is back at Anfield and proving he can fit right in to Klopp's team.

"The first few training sessions after I first arrived at Liverpool was like, woah, I am actually training with these guys," Elliott responded to The Athletic and BT Sport about Salah and Mane.

"Going from watching them live on TV to seeing them in person and training alongside them, you really realise what a presence they bring. They are world-class players but we're all here to fight for a place in the team.

"We're all competing for the same thing. Now I look upon them as my competition. I learn a lot from them.

"They are great inspirations to kids around the world — and to me too — with what they have been through and what they've achieved. I want to achieve big things like they have."

Used in a midfield role against Burnley, Elliott produced three key passes – the third-most of any Liverpool player – and completed 90 per cent of his attempted passes in the opposing team's half. Only Trent Alexander-Arnold, who set up Mane to make it 2-0, attempted more (42).

Teenager Elliott knows he must keep on improving to challenge Salah and Mane, who became the fifth player to hit 50 home goals for Liverpool with his second-half strike at Anfield.

"Even to this day I'm not as quick as I’d like to be," he admitted.

"You can never be happy with what you are, you always need to push yourself. I still need to improve my speed, especially when you look at players like Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane."

Asked about being versatile, he explained: "It’s what players need in their game, being able to adapt to different positions.

"It gives me more of a chance of getting into the team. It’s been a challenge to adapt.

"It's a case of getting your head around knowing where you need to be, how and when you need to press, knowing who you are needing to deal with on their team. I'm enjoying playing somewhere else."

The New York Yankees stayed hot in MLB on Monday, extending their winning streak to 10 games by seeing off the Atlanta Braves 5-1.

Giancarlo Stanton fuelled the streaking Yankees with a homer and three runs in Atlanta.

Yankees slugger Stanton homered in the second inning as the Braves had their nine-game winning run snapped.

Cubs snap skid

Rafael Ortega's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning inspired the Chicago Cubs to a 6-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies. It ended the team's home losing streak at 13 games, the longest in franchise history.

According to Stats Perform, the Cubs are the first team in MLB history to hit a walk-off homer to end a 13-plus game home losing streak. The previous long home losing streak snapped by a game-ending home run was 12 in a row by the St Louis Browns in 1949.

The Toronto Blue Jays edged the Chicago White Sox 2-1 as Alek Manoah impressed on the mound. The Blue Jays starter allowed five hits and just one run while striking out five batters in six innings. His 78 strikeouts to date are the most ever by a Blue Jay in his first 13 career games.

With two outs in the ninth inning, Jake Bauers broke a tie via his two-run single to help the Seattle Mariners rally past the Oakland Athletics 5-3. In 25 of Seattle's 126 games this season, the Mariners earned the lead in their final at-bat to win the game (19.8 per cent). According to Stats Perform, only one team in American League (AL) history has had a higher percentage of their games end in a last at-bat victory – the Washington Senators in 1918 (20.0 per cent).

Royals pounce on Maton

It was a rough outing for the Houston Astros and reliever Phil Maton as the Kansas City Royals cruised to a 7-1 win. In just 0.2 innings of work, Astros pitcher Maton gave up three hits and three runs, one earned.

Shaw slam!

Travis Shaw was the hero as the Boston Red Sox outlasted the Texas Rangers 8-4 after 11 innings. A defensive replacement in the eighth inning, Shaw hit a walk-off grand slam to lift the Red Sox.

Monday's results 

Boston Red Sox 8-4 Texas Rangers
Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 Arizona Diamondbacks
Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 Chicago White Sox
New York Yankees 5-1 Atlanta Braves
Chicago Cubs 6-4 Colorado Rockies
Kansas City Royals 7-1 Houston Astros
Seattle Mariners 5-3 Oakland Athletics

Dodgers at Padres

Tuesday will see a battle between World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers and National League (NL) West rivals the San Diego Padres, who are both coming off defeats.

Lucas Pouille continues to build momentum at the Winston-Salem Open after overcoming veteran Feliciano Lopez in straight sets.

Pouille was on the brink of elimination in qualifying after facing match point before booking his spot in the main draw.

Now, the Frenchman is preparing for the second round following his 6-1 6-4 victory over Lopez on Monday.

Pouille saved all four break points he faced as the former world number 10 claimed his first ATP Tour-level victory since April's Monte Carlo Masters.

Awaiting Pouille in the second round is third seed Daniel Evans, who received a bye in the opening round.

As for 14th seed Richard Gasquet, he prevailed 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (8-6) against Egor Gerasimov at the ATP 250 event.

Elsewhere, Federico Coria and Jordan Thompson were among the players to progress.

All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has signed a contract extension through to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) made the announcement on Tuesday after Foster replaced Steve Hansen on a two-year deal beginning in 2020.

The All Blacks – who retained the Bledisloe Cup and claimed the Tri-Nations last year – won just three of their 2020 Tests, with a draw and loss to rivals Australia, and an historic defeat to Argentina in Sydney.

Foster's New Zealand are flawless in 2021, including a 102-0 demolition of Tonga, having defended the Bledisloe Cup again versus the Wallabies.

"Firstly, I want to acknowledge the board and NZR for the faith they have shown in reappointing me," Foster said. "It's a privilege to be part of the All Blacks and I don't take that for granted.

"It's clearly been a challenging couple of years with Covid-19, but I've been hugely proud of the resilience shown by the team. I'm personally driven to have our team continue to succeed as we build to Rugby World Cup 2023.

"What is equally important to me is the fact that I'm just one part of an outstanding coaching and management team and to continue working with them is a privilege and inspires me to be the best head coach I can be.

"We have the immediate challenge of this year's Fortinet Rugby Championship and then the tour North, but 2022 and 2023 will bring their own challenges. I'm really excited to be leading the team into the future and can't wait to get stuck into our work."

NZR CEO Mark Robinson added: "Ian has faced extraordinary times since he was first appointed, with the uncertainty of Covid-19 and the numerous challenges it has thrown up, and he's shown remarkable composure and resolve to lead incredibly well through it all.

"Foz has built an outstanding culture and environment in the team with an inclusive and collaborative approach and maintained a steady, clear focus on our goal of being Number one in the world again.

"There is no doubt Foz and his team are performing extremely well in trying conditions and we are pleased to send a strong signal of support to create certainty in our environment and allow the management team and player group to plan for the future.

"On behalf of NZR and the board, I want to congratulate Foz and his team and wish them all the best for the rest of this season and beyond."

The Wallabies and All Blacks will clash in the Bledisloe Cup in Perth before Queensland hosts the remainder of the Rugby Championship.

New Zealand pulled out of next weekend's third and final Bledisloe Test due to concerns over coronavirus, with the showdown initially set for August 28 at Optus Stadium.

The fixture will go ahead in Perth, with a date for the game set to be confirmed in the coming days following SANZAAR's announcement on Tuesday.

Afterwards, the Rugby Championship will head to Queensland for doubleheaders across four consecutive weekends in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Townsville, where the centenary Test between the All Blacks and Springboks will be played.

The Wallabies play South Africa on September 12 at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast, where the All Blacks then going head-to-head against Argentina.

September 18 will see the teams travel to Brisbane for Argentina-New Zealand and Australia-South Africa contests at Suncorp Stadium.

Australia and Argentina face-off at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville the following weekend on September 25, before the New Zealand-Argentina centenary encounter.

The Rugby Championship concludes on the Gold Coast on October 2, with the Pumas facing the Wallabies and Springboks taking on the All Blacks.

"We thought last year was tough when we had to implement a Tri-Nations tournament in Australia with South Africa absent due to the pandemic, but the current disruption caused by the 'delta variant' of COVID-19 has seen government authorities tighten up border bio-security measures substantially," said SANZAAR CEO Brendan Morris.

"This is understandable and therefore, we had no option but to basically move the remainder of The Rugby Championship to Queensland.

"On behalf of SANZAAR and the national unions, I would like to sincerely thank the Queensland Government for working with us around the clock to provide a travel, accommodation, training and playing environment that will safely allow us to complete the tournament.

"SANZAAR and the national unions are incredibly grateful and will work closely with the states' health authorities to ensure all bio-security measures are adhered to." 

Rugby Australia (RA) CEO Andy Marinos added: "This is a world Rugby first and a truly special celebration of the game, in what I see as a once-in-a-lifetime event."

Stefano Pioli insisted Milan are well-equipped to challenge for the Serie A title after they made a winning start to the season.

Milan launched their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Sampdoria at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, where Brahim Diaz netted the decisive goal after just nine minutes on Monday.

Pioli handed a debut to new signing and goalkeeper Mike Maignan, while Olivier Giroud also made his bow in the absence of injured talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front.

Despite injury ruling out Franck Kessie, Rade Krunic produced an assured performance in midfield and there was no change allowed from the central defensive pairing of Simon Kjaer and Fikayo Tomori – the pair helping the Rossoneri keep a sixth consecutive clean sheet, their longest run without conceding in the league since February 1994.

Having finished 12 points behind rivals and champions Inter last season, Milan – who have won 11 away Serie A fixtures since the start of 2021, the joint-most in the top-five European leagues, alongside Manchester City and Barcelona – are aiming to go one step better this term and claim a first Scudetto in 11 years.

Milan head coach Pioli is encouraged by the competitive nature and depth within his squad following matchday one.

"I'm happy to have won and to have chased the second goal," he told Sky Sport Italia.

"I like how the team interpreted the game. We have always looked for the goal and this is the right mentality.

"Aside from [Franck] Kessie's injury, I knew we had prepared well.

"We are becoming a strong team with a lot of competitiveness in the group. We know so many ways to play.

"There's a lot of balance now. I don't like limitations. I know I coach a strong team. Just think of the players who were out tonight.

"Maybe the right word is ready; this is the most ready Milan."

Brahim Diaz scored the only goal as Milan launched their Serie A season with a 1-0 victory over Sampdoria.

The Real Madrid loanee netted what proved to be the winner after just nine minutes at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium; Emil Audero unable to keep out his first-time strike from Davide Calabria’s cutback.

Runners-up to rivals Inter last term, it was the ideal start for the Rossoneri, who recorded maximum points in a season-opening away game for only the second time in six attempts.

As for the hosts, who began life under new head coach Roberto D’Aversa, they have now opened each of their last four campaigns with defeat – doing so for the first time in their history.

Signed from Ligue 1 champions Lille as a replacement for Gianluigi Donnarumma, Mike Maignan made his competitive debut between the sticks for the Rossoneri and he played a key part as they opened the scoring in the ninth minute.  

Calabria latched onto his long kick before cutting the ball back for Diaz, whose first-time shot squirmed under the body of Audero. 

Both sides went close before half-time. Maignan tipped Manolo Gabbiadini’s free-kick onto the crossbar, while Rade Krunic hit the side netting from eight yards out.

Opportunities did not fall too freely after the break. 

Gabbiadini drew a save out of Maignan at his near post, but that was as close as Sampdoria came to denying Milan a sixth straight clean sheet in Serie A.

The visitors almost grabbed a second deep into stoppage time as substitute Ante Rebic shot narrowly wide from the edge of the area.

The San Diego Padres have fired pitching coach Larry Rothschild amid a slump that has seen them fall out of contention in the National League West.

Seen as potential World Series challengers having amassed an enviable depth of talent in both hitting and pitching, the Padres have found themselves cut adrift in MLB's top division.

They have lost nine of their past 11 games, with their team earned run average of 6.20 the third-worst in MLB in that span.

Sunday's loss to the Philadelphia Phillies saw the Padres fall to 68-58 and out of the second NL Wild Card spot.

The Padres are 13 games back of the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants, who at 80-44 own the best record in MLB. The defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers are 2.5 games back of the Giants.

Padres manager Jayce Tingler said: "Larry has been a tremendous asset for our organisation over the last two seasons, and we appreciate the experience, hard work and dedication that he brought to the position. We wish him nothing but the best in the future."

Ben Fritz will serve as interim pitching coach for the rest of the season. The Padres next face a critical three-game series with the Dodgers, which starts on Tuesday.

Lionel Messi is yet to play for Paris Saint-Germain this season, but has been called up to Argentina's squad for their World Cup qualifiers next month, with Paulo Dybala making a long-awaited return.

Having led Argentina to Copa America glory, Messi made the shock switch from Barcelona to Paris earlier in August, though he is yet to make his debut for Mauricio Pochettino's team.

The 34-year-old, along with fellow former Barca star Neymar, is expected to make his bow against Reims in PSG's final game before the international break.

Messi, along with club-mates Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes, would then travel to South America for matches against Venezuela, Brazil and Bolivia.

However, despite Pochettino having given his blessing for Messi to play for his country next month, this could result in the trio missing up to four of PSG's September fixtures.

Argentina and Brazil are both on the French government's 'red list' for travellers, meaning arrivals must quarantine for 10 days once they return to France, unless they have been fully vaccinated. It is unknown if the players in question have yet received both doses.

PSG face Clermont on the second weekend in September, with a tussle against Lyon following a week later. A 10-day quarantine period would mean Messi and team-mates would certainly miss those matches, as well as the opening round of the Champions League group stage, which is to be played on September 14 and 15, while an away trip to Metz in Ligue 1 could also come too soon.

Travel restrictions could well change in the coming weeks, though PSG will not be the only team fretting over possible mandatory quarantine for players in Lionel Scaloni's squad.

Premier League players Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia, both of Aston Villa, and Cristian Romero of Tottenham would have to isolate regardless of their vaccination status under the current travel restrictions imposed by the UK government.

Meanwhile, Juventus forward Dybala has earned a recall after almost two years out of the picture.

Dybala, who endured an injury hit 2020-21 but scored in Juve's 2-2 draw with Udinese on Sunday, last featured for Argentina in November 2019.

With Sergio Aguero and Mauro Icardi both unavailable due to injury, and Lautaro Martinez a doubt despite being included, Dybala has made the cut to round off Scaloni's attack.

Argentina squad in full:

Franco Armani (River Plate), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Juan Musso (Atalanta),Geronimo Rulli (Villarreal); Marcos Acuna (Sevilla), Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Lisandro Martinez (Ajax), Lucas Martinez Quarta (Fiorentina), Nahuel Molina Lucero (Udinese), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), German Pezzella (Real Betis), Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur), Nicolas Tagliafico (Ajax); Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), Nicolas Dominguez (Bologna), Alejandro Gomez (Sevilla), Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham Hotspur), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Leandro Paredes (Paris Saint-Germain), Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis); Julian Alvarez (River Plate), Emiliano Buendia (Aston Villa), Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid), Joaquin Correa (Lazio), Angel Di Maria (Paris Saint-Germain), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Nicolas Gonzalez (Fiorentina), Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain).