Kehl: Madrid need a 'miracle'

Borussia Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl admitted Real Madrid need to "create a miracle" to stop the Germans from making the final of the Champions League.

Dortmund travel to Spain for the second-leg of the semi-final clash on Tuesday with one foot in next month's showpiece event after storming to a 4-1 victory in last week's home tie.

However, Madrid are refusing to buckle in the face of adversity, manager Jose Mourinho believing "everything is possible."

But Madrid must match a slice of history to book their place in the final; only one team, AC Milan, has been knocked out of competition with a 4-1 first-leg lead.

But despite being wary of their cornered foe, Kehl is confident Dortmund are "ready for anything."

"They will try everything, they want to create a miracle," the 33-year-old told reporters.

"But we're prepared, we'll have to be fully focused on the match and then I'm sure we'll succeed.

"It's going to be a tough match, there's the danger Madrid will overrun us tomorrow, and therefore we'll have to be ready for anything."

However, there is one advantage that Madrid will be able to call upon for their all-or-nothing match against the Germans - the parochial Bernabeu crowd.

"We will try to continue bringing our positive attitude to the pitch in the Champions League," Dortmund defender Neven Subotic said.

"However, we know that our three-goal advantage doesn't guarantee us anything yet. We know that Madrid will appear a lot stronger at home than they did in Dortmund last week. "

Rodgers: No player is irreplaceable

Brendan Rodgers has suggested Liverpool could sell Luis Suarez for biting Branislav Ivanovic on the forearm by saying the values of the club are more important than any individual and players have to accept the consequences of their actions.

The Liverpool manager insisted he did not witness the 66th-minute incident in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Anfield and ignored a freeze frame of it when a reporter tried to show it to him but promised to launch an internal inquiry which could involve owners Fenway Sports Group.

Referee Kevin Friend missed the flashpoint and the FA are expected to take further action against Suarez, who went on to score Liverpool's equaliser in the seventh minute of stoppage time.

And Rodgers, who had always said that he is keen for Suarez to stay, insisted Liverpool's image is more important than anyone.

He stated: "I will make an honest appraisal of it. I will review and we will review it as a club. There is certainly no one bigger than this football club, as a player or a manager. As football managers, staff and players we're representing this great football club off the field and in particular on the field.

"It's just not the time to comment realistically on it now. If you ever lose a player you can't replace, the next one comes along. The standards at this football club have been met for many years and that's why it is the worldwide institution that it is.

"The history of this club is about respect and how people are treated. And that is something that will always be maintained here and will always be long after I am gone."

Suarez's Ajax career ended after he was given a seven-match ban for biting PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal in 2010 and, during his time at Liverpool, he has served an eight-game suspension after he was found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

Rodgers added: "I will always defend people if I think they are right and if I think they are wrong, I will tell them as I has already happened this season with Luis. And we move on from it.

"People have to accept it when they do wrong if that's what the case is. They have to accept the consequences accordingly."

Ten-man Milan held, Cagliari beat Inter

Goran Pandev kept 10-man AC Milan at arm's length in the race for second spot but Mathieu Flamini's early strike denied Napoli the chance to pull seven points clear in a 1-1 draw.

Flamini played both hero and villain as he briefly cut Napoli's lead over third place to a single point at San Siro before seeing red for a reckless challenge on Juan Camilo Zuniga in the second half.

Napoli were hoping to maintain their pursuit of Serie A leaders Juventus but Pandev's equaliser was only enough to cut the gap to eight points with six games remaining.

Cagliari made a perfect return to their temporary home in Trieste as Mauricio Pinilla scored twice to down struggling Inter Milan 2-0 at the Stadio Nereo Rocco.

Inter's week spent blaming officials' decisions for their disappointing campaign ended with another controversial penalty call as Pinilla fired the rehoused Sardinians ahead midway through the second half before hitting the winner 15 minutes from time.

Cagliari have left the doomed Stadio Is Arenas to move back to the Rocco, where they closed out last season, but the 600-mile journey north east did not adversely affect their players, who now find themselves in the top half of the Serie A table.

Roma held on for the final ten minutes with a man less to claim a potentially valuable 2-1 win from their trip to Torino.

The visitors twice led in the match - goals from Pablo Osvaldo and Erik Lamela sandwiching an equaliser from Rolando Bianchi - but were left sweating at the end after their Italy international defender Federico Balzaretti picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Alessio Cerci.

Torino could not make the most of their numerical advantage though as Roma claimed a victory that moves them level on 51 points with fifth-placed Lazio, who play host to runaway leaders Juventus on Monday night.

Udinese moved within three points of the Europa League places after Luis Muriel scored twice in a 3-0 victory at Parma.

Bianconeri coach Francesco Guidolin was worried about visiting the Stadio Ennio Tardini without his suspended 20-goal striker Antonio Di Natale, but Muriel allayed his fears with a coolly-taken brace in the first half.

Parma, who dropped into the bottom half of the table, were at a loss for ideas after the break and Roberto Pereyra compounded their misery with a third goal on the hour mark.

Catania's hopes of competing in Europe next season suffered a blow as they drew 0-0 at lowly Chievo.

In an even encounter, the visitors had the better opportunities to break the deadlock but a combination of poor finishing and Chievo goalkeeper Christian Puggioni making several fine saves proved their undoing.

Palermo saw their Serie A survival hopes suffer a setback as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Bologna.

Josip Ilicic gave the hosts a flying start at the Stadio Renzo Barbera with a goal after just five minutes, but Manolo Gabbiadini brought Bologna level soon after.

Matuzalem spared Genoa's blushes with a fortunate equaliser in a 1-1 draw in the Derby della Lanterna as ten-man Sampdoria missed the chance to complete a rare Serie A double.

Samp were in no mood to do their city rivals any favours in their battle to beat the drop and Eder's improvised free-kick put Delio Rossi's men on course to follow up November's 3-1 derby victory and push Genoa closer to relegation.

But Matuzalem pounced on a mistake from Samp goalkeeper Sergio Romero, after Andrea Costa had seen red, to keep the Rossoblu within two points of 17th-placed Siena with six games remaining.

Blues battle to beat Di Canio's Sunderland

Tottenham scored a late equaliser to deny Everton a huge win in the race for Champions League football on Sunday, meaning Chelsea were the day's big winners as they moved up to third with victory over Sunderland.

QPR were denied a much-needed victory by Wigan, while Liverpool all but kissed goodbye to their European ambitions after they were held by West Ham and Newcastle edged closer to safety with a win against Fulham.

Chelsea returned to third place as they came from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

In Paolo Di Canio's first game in charge, relegation-threatened Sunderland led at half-time through Cesar Azpilicueta's own goal. John O'Shea had helped on Adam Johnson's corner just before the break, and Azpilicueta sliced his clearance into the back of his own net

However, within two minutes of the restart, Chelsea were level when Simon Mignolet's save from Oscar hit Matthew Kilgallon and rolled over the line.

The Blues capitalised on their momentum and scored another fortunate goal moments later, Ivanovic diverting the ball beyond a helpless Mignolet after David Luiz had shot goalwards. That proved the winner, with Chelsea able to dominate possession to see out the victory.

Tottenham needed a late equaliser from Gylfi Sigurdsson as they drew 2-2 with Everton at White Hart Lane.

Spurs had taken the lead after 35 seconds - Jan Vertonghen finding Emmanuel Adebayor to stab home - but they were level on 15 minutes when Phil Jagielka climbed above Vertonghen to head past the poorly positioned Hugo Lloris.

It was Kevin Mirallas who conjured up Everton's second, adding to his recent solo strike against Stoke. Receiving the ball outside the Spurs box in the inside-right channel, he first drove inwards before checking back onto his right foot to calmly slot across Lloris into the far corner.

Spurs looked beaten but, when the ball rebounded off a post, Sigurdsson was on hand to poke home an 87th-minute equaliser and ensure the spoils were shared.

Shaun Maloney scored an injury-time equaliser as Wigan Athletic salvaged a 1-1 draw against ten-man Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.

QPR, in desperate need of a victory to boost their relegation fight, had seen striker Bobby Zamora sent off on 21 minutes for a dangerous challenge on Jordi Gomez, but Harry Redknapp's men looked to have secured a potentially priceless victory when Loic Remy raced clear on the counter to fire home a marvellous goal in the 85th minute.

However, Wigan claimed a share of the spoils when Maloney brilliantly curled home a free-kick, with Adel Taarabt failing to stand tall in the QPR wall.

Liverpool had to settle for a 0-0 draw at home to West Ham at Anfield.

A poor display from Luis Suarez epitomised the Reds in a defeat that leaves them below neighbours Everton as they target a top-five spot.

Liverpool did plenty of pressing and carved out numerous half-chances, but as the interval arrived it was the visitors who had come closest to scoring.

Steven Gerrard tried to change that fact after the break, but his shot was cleared off the line by James Tomkins, while Suarez fired another attempt right across the line from an impossible angle. Sturridge then diverted a Jordan Henderson shot into the net but was marginally offside.

Gerrard felt he had been denied a penalty when challenged by Tomkins, while at the other end Lucas cleared off the line to deny Jack Collison in the 85th minute.

Newcastle United left it late to add three points to their survival bid, recovering from their Europa League defeat at Benfica to beat Fulham 1-0 at St James' Park.

The Magpies hit the woodwork on several occasions but looked to be heading for a draw until Papiss Cisse showed great control to score deep into injury-time.

Fulham hold off QPR fightback

QPR's chances of beating the drop look bleaker than ever after defensive mistakes cost them dear in tonight's west London derby at Fulham.

Harry Redknapp has just seven matches left to pull off the greatest of escapes after tonight's utterly avoidable 3-2 defeat by the Thames.

Last season QPR suffered an embarrassing 6-0 defeat at Craven Cottage and it looked like there could be a similar scoreline after a dominant first-half display by the hosts,

Marquee January signing Christopher Samba gifted the Cottagers their first two goals, bringing down Ashkan Dejagah to allow Dimitar Berbatov to net an eighth-minute penalty.

Things got worse soon after when Samba lost possession of the ball on the edge of his own box, allowing Berbatov to coolly slot home past Julio Cesar.

Chants of "going down'' echoed around Craven Cottage when Clint Hill put a John Arne Riise cross into his goal, but QPR rallied and launched the unlikeliest of comebacks.

Adel Taarabt, who stormed out at half-time of last season's Craven Cottage encounter, reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time before Loic Remy netted moments after seeing a penalty saved by Mark Schwarzer.

The veteran Australian had to be at his best for the rest of the match and, despite Steve Sidwell's late sending off, Fulham held on, condemning QPR to a potentially season-defining defeat.

The hosts started brightest and, after early warning shots from Riise and Damien Duff, Samba thought he had thwarted Berbatov with a decent tackle inside the box.

However, the Rs defender had not accounted for Dejagah latching onto the loose ball and his late challenge on the winger saw referee Lee Probert point to the spot.

Berbatov stepped up to take the resulting penalty and nonchalantly sent Cesar the wrong way to give Fulham an eighth-minute advantage.

Stephane Mbia had to be alert to stop Bryan Ruiz grabbing a quickfire second, before Hill received an early booking for a poor challenge on Giorgos Karagounis.

Ruiz's effort from the resulting free-kick drifted just wide, before Berbatov somehow headed wide from close range.

QPR were failing to cope with the hosts, who would had a second had Brede Hangeland not seen a glancing header blocked by the giant frame of Samba.

That good work was soon undone, though, as the January signing again messed up spectacularly.

Samba was caught out by the evergreen Duff, whose hassling saw the ball end up at Berbatov's feet, allowing him to burst into the box before finishing with aplomb.

Fulham fans were quick to goad their rivals, before a wayward Bobby Zamora strike saw the target of their ire aimed at their former striker.

Remy and Andros Townsend saw strikes deflect behind as QPR pushed for a response, with the latter also seeing a fierce drive go inches wide.

Fulham, though, were still in control and almost went further ahead through Jose Bosingwa after the Rs right-back almost turned a Berbatov cross into his own goal.

And, after Urby Emanuelson replaced the injured Dejagah, things got worse for QPR.

Hangeland, showing the skill and poise not normally associated with a centre-back, directed a deft backheel into the path of Riise, whose driven cross was deflected home by Hill.

However, QPR gave themselves a glimmer of hope late in the first half when Taarabt ran at the hosts' backline before firing low past Schwarzer.

Nedum Onuoha came on for Hill for the start of second period, which the visitors started with renewed intensity.

Remy saw a shot deflect just wide 10 seconds in and, after a strike was blocked by Hangeland, had a chance from the penalty spot in the 49th minute.

Probert pointed to the spot after Karagounis was fooled by the quick feet of Taarabt, but Remy's penalty was saved to his left by Schwarzer.

The France international, though, soon made amends, losing marker Philippe Senderos and continuing forward before thrashing home off the underside of the bar.

Townsend saw a long-range shot saved soon after but QPR's pressure soon petered out, with Samba next to threaten with a snapshot 20 minutes from time.

Remy wasted a glorious chance to level after wriggling free in the box as QPR pressed for a leveller, which would have come from Zamora's boot had Schwarzer not got down low to save.

Fulham were on the ropes and their hopes of hanging on were made even tougher when Sidwell received a perhaps harsh straight red card for a scything down Armand Traore.

Remy curled just wide as QPR pressed for an all-important leveller that never came, leaving their Premier League status in serious danger.

Liverpool comes from behind to beat Villa 2-1

LONDON (AP) -- Steven Gerrard's tiebreaking penalty kick in the 60th minute helped Liverpool rally for a 2-1 win over relegation-threatened Aston Villa on Sunday, boosting its hopes of playing in the Europa League next season.

Villa went ahead in the 31st minute on Christian Benteke's 14th league goal of the season, but Jordan Henderson tied the score in the 47th minute.

Luis Suarez tumbled in the area under a challenge from Nathan Baker, and Gerrard beat American goalkeeper Brad Guzan to convert the penalty kick awarded by referee Lee Mason. It was Gerrard's 98th Premier League goal.

Liverpool (13-9-9) is sixth, five points behind fifth-place Arsenal. Aston Villa (7-15-9) is 18th with seven games left, in the relegation zone behind Wigan on goal difference.

Sunderland (7-14-10), which is one point ahead of Wigan, fired manager Martin O'Neill after Saturday's 1-0 loss at home against Manchester United and replaced him Sunday with Paolo Di Canio.