* Gareth Bale marked his return from injury with a goal as Real Madrid continued their impressive turnaround in results by thrashing Espanyol 4-2 away on Sunday, racking up a third consecutive win in La Liga.
* Champions Bayern Munich had to work hard for more than an hour before beating VfB Stuttgart 4-1 in the Bundesliga on Sunday and stay six points off leaders Borussia Dortmund.
* Willian scored twice as FA Cup holders Chelsea marked new signing Gonzalo Higuain's debut by beating Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 in the fourth round at Stamford Bridge on Sunday (Jan 27).
* Tottenham Hotspur went out of their second domestic cup competition in four days as first-half goals by Connor Wickham and Andros Townsend sealed a 2-0 FA Cup victory for Crystal Palace in a thrilling fourth-round clash on Sunday.
* Edinson Cavani struck twice as Paris St Germain continued their march towards the Ligue 1 title with a 4-1 home thrashing of Stade Rennais on Sunday.
* American Bryson DeChambeau fired a solid 64 in Sunday's (Jan 27) final round to claim a seven-shot victory and his maiden European Tour title at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
* Olympic handball champions Denmark clinched their maiden world title after an impressive 31-22 win over fellow Scandinavians Norway on home court in a lop-sided final on Sunday.
* Three-time world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce exuded confidence of returning to her peak form following an easy 7.21 second clocking over 60 metres at the Queen’s/Grace Jackson Invitational meet in Kingston on Saturday.
* Reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier won the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally for a sixth straight year on Sunday. The Frenchman collected his first victory since returning to Citroen this season in the World Rally Championship (WRC) by just 2.2 seconds from Belgian Thierry Neuville in a Hyundai.
* Atletico Madrid have sent out under-performing Portuguese midfielder Gelson Martins to struggling French side AS Monaco until the end of this season. Martins, 23, made only one league appearance for Diego Simeone's side since joining as a free agent from Sporting last July and has not featured for the team in any competition in 2019.
