I've got my fingers crossed – Ribery

Bayern Munich's France midfielder Franck Ribery has said he is "keeping his fingers crossed" having been named among the three finalists for the Fifa Ballon d'Or.

"It's good for me to be named in the three, but we'll have to see, I'll keep my fingers crossed," he said after Bayern's 3-2 defeat to Manchester City with Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo also named.

"I'm happy, happy for me, for the club, for my whole family. But I am a little bit sad for (Zlatan Ibrahimovic) because he's still a great player and he has done great things with Paris Saint-Germain." Ribery, Ronaldo and Messi must wait until January 13 when the winner of the Fifa Ballon d'Or 2013 will be named in Zurich.

The Frenchman is hoping to win it for the first time, while Messi has won the Ballon d'Or four times, three of which since its combination with the Fifa World Player of the Year, and Ronaldo was the 2008 winner.

Ribery admitted he was surprised by the Uefa Champions League defeat to City, who came back from two-goals down to inflict Bayern's first defeat at home in 19 games since losing to Arsenal in March.It was coach Pep Guardiola's first defeat in major competition.

It's good for me to be named in the three, but we'll have to see, I'll keep my fingers crossed.Franck Ribery on being in with a shot at the Fifa Ballon d'Or

"I don't know what happened, we played well in the first 20 minutes, we pressed well and we were aggressive, but maybe after that we thought it was too easy," said Ribery as Bayern progressed to the last 16 as group winners. "We have to correct that quickly and it starts with Hamburg on Saturday in the Bundesliga."

Ribery, who was voted France's player of the year, was a key part in Bayern becoming the first German team to win the treble of European, league and cup titles last season. In August, he was voted European player of the year, ahead of Messi.

France have been drawn alongside Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras in Group E for next year's 2014 Fifa World Cup Brazil™, Ribery said the French must build on their impressive 3-0 win against Ukraine in the play-off. "(The draw) could have been worse, but we should not take this group lightly," he said. "We need to play like we did recently against Ukraine at the Stade de France.

Boateng signs Bayern contract extension

Bayern Munich central defender Jerome Boateng has signed a three-year contract extension to stay at last season's treble winners until 2018, the Bundesliga club said on Wednesday.

Germany international Boateng, 25, has been first choice at the heart of Bayern's defence since joining the club in 2011 from Manchester City. He also played for Hertha Berlin and Hamburg SV prior to his move to England.

"Jerome has made a stunning development here and is one of the important Bayern players so it is only logical that we made every effort to extend his contract," Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in a statement.

Bayern are top of the league and have reached the Champions League knockout stage and German Cup quarterfinals.

Lazio, Sevilla, Lyon and Anzhi advance

Lazio won 2-0 at Legia Warsaw on Thursday to qualify for the Europa League knockout stages after a tie marred by violence when Italian fans fought with Polish police on the way to the stadium.

Olympique Lyon, Real Betis, Eintracht Frankfurt, Racing Genk, Sevilla, Trabzonspor, Anzhi Makhachkala, AZ Alkmaar and PAOK Salonika also advanced to the last 32.

Ludogorets, Esbjerg, Salzburg, Fiorentina, Rubin Kazan, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Tottenham Hotspur and Valencia had already qualified with two games to spare.

Polish police said they detained around 120 Lazio fans during the trouble in Warsaw.

"Bottles and stones were thrown from the Italian group in the direction of the police cars," a spokesman said.

Lazio, who have not won away in Serie A this season, found few problems on the pitch and won with goals from Brayan Perea and Felipe Anderson against a team who have yet to score a goal in Group J.

Leaders Lyon qualified from Group I when substitute Bafetimbi Gomis sidefooted the ball home in the 66th minute following a neat exchange of passes on the edge of the penalty area to earn a 1-0 win at home to Betis who also went through.

Pacos de Ferreira striker Bebe provided the most embarrassing moment of the evening with an extraordinary miss against Fiorentina.
The striker, on loan from Manchester United, tapped the ball straight to Fiorentina goalkeeper Gustavo Munua from close range when it seemed easier to score.
The game ended goalless although it did not matter as the Italian side were already through and the Portuguese eliminated.
SURPRISINGLY MILD
Tottenham emerged victorious from their trip beyond the Arctic Circle as they won 2-0 at Tromso where the temperature was a surprisingly mild minus three Celsius at kickoff.
Zulte Waregem's 2-1 victory at Wigan Athletic made them the first Belgian team to win in England since Antwerp beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the 1975-76 Uefa Cup.

It also lifted them to second in Group D, above the FA Cup winners, and made Waregem the favourites to follow Rubin through to the next round.

Alkmaar qualified with a 2-0 triumph over Maccabi Haifa in Group L and were joined by PAOK who won 2-0 at Kazakhstan's Shakhtyor after a marathon journey to Central Asia.
Anzhi's 1-1 draw at home to Sheriff Tiraspol was enough for the Russians to advance in Group K and Olcan Adin scored a hat-trick as Trabzonspor beat Apollon Limassol 4-2 to progress from Group J.
Genk made sure of their place by coming from behind to beat Dynamo Kiev 3-1 (Group G) and a 1-1 draw at home to Estoril took Sevilla through (Group H).
Martin Lanig grabbed an 83rd-minute winner to give Eintracht, backed by an impressive travelling army of 12 000 fans, a 1-0 victory at Girondins Bordeaux (Group F) which sent the Bundesliga team through and eliminated the French side.

Spurs win eases pressure on AVB

Tottenham Hotspur won 2-0 against Tromso in the bitter chill of Norway on Thursday to seal first place in Europa League Group K and ease a little of the pressure on manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Reports in England in recent days suggest that the Portuguese is hanging on to his job after last Sunday's 6-0 hammering by Manchester City in the Premier League, and another substandard performance on the trip north of the Arctic Circle would have done him few favours, even if Spurs were already through to the last 32 before this game.

Michael Dawson and Roberto Soldado were the only two players to keep their place in the team from the Manchester City debacle, and the much-changed Spurs side had to wait until the second half before finally breaking down a team who were recently relegated to the Norwegian second tier.

The opener on the artificial pitch at the Alfheim Stadion did not come until the 63rd minute, when Adnan Causevic turned the ball into his own net under pressure from Vlad Chiriches, and the London club doubled their advantage when Gylfi Sigurdsson set up Mousa Dembele to fire home from 12 yards with 14 minutes remaining.

Dembele struck the post soon after but the 2-0 scoreline was enough to maintain Tottenham's perfect record in Group K and boost confidence ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash with Manchester United.

It was important for us to get back to winning ways. We said that before the game when we were back in London," said Villas-Boas.
"We knew about the conditions and the artificial pitch and the players did well to get a result which puts us back on our toes, ready for Man Utd."
Meanwhile, Swansea City were unable to get the point that would have clinched their qualification from Group A as they lost 1-0 at home to already-qualified Valencia, Dani Parejo scoring the only goal of the game in the first half.
However, Swansea were left to rue an erroneous decision by the officials to disallow an Alvaro Vazquez effort before the break that would have brought the Welsh side back level.
"I've seen the disallowed goal and it was at least one yard onside so that was a pity," Swansea manager Michael Laudrup told ITV after the game.
"With a little more we could have got that point, at least, that would have got us through. Now we have to maybe get that point in the last game in Switzerland (against St Gallen)," added Laudrup, who lost Wilfried Bony to a hamstring injury which could rule the striker our for several weeks.
Kuban Krasnodar beat St Gallen 4-0 earlier in the day, with the Paraguayan Lorenzo Melgarejo scoring twice, and the Russians could yet overhaul Swansea on the final day.
There was agony for England's other representative Wigan Athletic, who saw their chances of qualification taken out of their hands in a 2-1 home loss to Belgium's Zulte Waregem in Group D.
However, a total of 18 clubs have now qualified for the last 32, including Eintracht Frankurt, who secured top spot in Group F with a 1-0 victory at Bordeaux.
French side Olympique Lyonnais, who have endured a difficult start to the season, are through after recording a narrow 1-0 win at home to Spanish top-flight strugglers Real Betis with Bafetimbi Gomis coming off the bench to score the only goal of the Group I game in the second half at the Stade de Gerland.
Despite the defeat, Betis are also through, their superior head-to-head record against Vitoria Guimaraes - who drew 0-0 with Rijeka in Croatia -guaranteeing them at least second spot.
And Betis's local rivals Sevilla are certain to progress from Group H despite only managing a 1-1 home draw with Estoril in Spain.
Rubin Kazan of Russia, Genk of Belgium, Lazio, Anzhi Makhachkala, PAOK and AZ Alkmaar also secured their berths in the knockout stages on Thursday.

Bony injury blow for Swansea

Swansea striker Wilfried Bony will be out of action for several weeks after suffering a hamstring injury in Thursday's Europa League defeat against Valencia.

Bony was forced off late in the first half of the 1-0 loss at the Liberty Stadium after grabbing at the back of his right leg in pain while chasing a long ball.

With Spanish striker Michu also sidelined due to an ankle problem, Bony's injury is a major blow for Swansea boss Michael Laudrup ahead of Sunday's trip to in-form Manchester City.

"It could be quite a serious one. We'll have to wait two or three days until we get a scan but unfortunately we are talking several weeks," Laudrup said.

"It is a blow but that's how it is. You have to accept it and when you have a lot of games this is a possibility.

"Let's see what happens with Michu in the next week or so.

Lazio criticise policing of Legia match

Lazio have criticised Polish police for their handling of a Europa League match against Legia Warsaw that was marred by violence outside the stadium on Thursday.

Police said they detained around 120 Lazio fans after trouble before the match in Warsaw but the Italian club's sporting director Igli Tare questioned their version of events on Friday.

"On Thursday morning we received a group of fans who feared for their safety and through both the club and the Italian Embassy tried to ensure it," Tare told Sky TG24.

"We spoke to the police to have our fans escorted to the stadium, and they agreed, giving us a well-known bar in Warsaw as the meeting point. However when the police arrived, the fans weren't taken to the ground, but instead taken to police stations."

Tare said the fans were not hooligans and the Italian embassy had tried to help them.

"Something happened but there was no violence," he said. "Even after the game our fans asked for an escort but the police offered nothing and we had to organise a service of 60-70 taxis for them."

Lazio qualified for the knockout stages of the competition after winning 2-0.

While police said Lazio fans had thrown bottles and stones at their vehicles, the Rome-based daily Il Messaggero quoted fans saying they were attacked by local hooligans and given no police protection.

Italian embassy official Riccardo Guariglia said they had received a list of Italians who had been stopped for offences ranging from damage to vehicles to aggression against police.

"The vast majority of the fans will most likely receive a fine, but there are others who may have broken laws that can be considered more serious," he said.

No decision yet on Deulofeu future

Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino has not ruled out the possibility that 19-year-old winger Gerard Deulofeu could spend another season on loan at Premier League side Everton.

Deulofeu joined the Toffees on a season-long loan deal at the start of the current campaign and has begun to make his presence felt in England with two goals in his last three games, including a stunning strike which salvaged a 1-1 draw at leaders Arsenal on Sunday.

After that match Everton boss Roberto Martinez hinted that the Spanish under-21 international could be allowed to spend another season on loan should he be surplus to requirements at Barcelona.

However, while Martino insisted he had been tracking Deulofeu's progress, he said it was too early to say where he would be playing his football next season.

"He is showing the quality he has as a footballer and Barcelona obviously have an obligation to keep an eye on those players that are loaned out.

"If you ask me do I think he is a great player I would say yes, but there is no decision yet with respect to the players on loan (for next season.)"

Of more immediate concern to Martino is his side's Champions League clash with Celtic at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.

Barca need just a point to be guaranteed of finishing top of Group H, while the Scottish champions cannot even qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League.

However, Martino doesn't want another slack European performance like the one his side produced in losing 2-1 to Ajax two weeks ago.

"We need to finish first in the group and we need a good performance tomorrow. For us all the games are have consequences, much more negative consequences than positive ones.

"The situation is the similar to the one we had before the Ajax match and as we saw that game had a lot of negative reaction so we have to be attentive.

"I imagine it will be a game where we have a lot of possession 30 metres from the Celtic goal so we have to be precise and quick in our movement of the ball and try to prevent them from counter-attacking."

Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta return to Martino's 20-man squad having been left out of Friday's 4-1 win over Cartagena in the Copa de Rey.

Neymar is also expected to start having been left on the bench at the weekend, but Cesc Fabregas joins the injured Lionel Messi, Victor Valdes and Dani Alves on the sidelines due to suspension.