The Dakar Rally in January will start in Portugal and finish in Morocco after being moved from Saudi Arabia because of the Middle East conflict.

Organizers announced the new route on Friday. They canceled the race in Saudi last weekend but reaffirmed it will return to the kingdom in 2028.

Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac has called on his players to work together to stop "sensational" Ballon d'Or winner Harry Kane in the Bundesliga Klassiker against Bayern Munich.

Dortmund goes to Bayern on Saturday level on points at the top of the Bundesliga but winless in its last five games against the Munich team since 2024.

Riquelme Fillipi tallied his first Major League Football goal in the 90th minute to cap a late-game barrage of scores, and Lionel Messi and Inter Miami escaped with a 2-2 tie against FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night.

Luis Suárez scored in the 61st minute to give Inter Miami a 1-0 lead, and then the reigning MLS Cup champions needed some late-game heroics to salvage a point. They still fell to third in the Eastern Conference, after New England beat Red Bull New York 3-2 on Wednesday.

Romano Floriani Mussolini, the great-grandson of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, scored his first goal for Lazio on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Floriani Mussolini — who has "Romano" on the back of his jersey — struck in the 16th minute for Lazio's third goal in its 6-2 rout of Sassuolo in Serie A.

Lazio saw two penalties saved but still managed to rout 10-man Sassuolo 6-2 to remain top of Serie A on Tuesday.

Espanyol suffered a shock loss at fourth-tier Sestao River in the Spanish Cup, with its coach quickly paying the price, while Premier League champion Arsenal was beaten by fourth-tier Fleetwood Town in a penalty shootout in the English League Cup.

The prospect of a general strike in France next week amid national protests on cost of living issues has pushed UEFA to change a Europa League match date in Rennes.

UEFA said Rennes will now host Olympiakos of Greece on Wednesday of next week at 4:30 p.m. local time (1530 GMT) instead of the Europa League's scheduled program Thursday.

China's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it has taken footballstar Kylian Mbappé's apology "seriously" for comments considered to be disrespectful of Mao Zedong, the founding leader of Communist China, as the fallout over the issue continues.

Mbappé faced a backlash Tuesday over comments he made in an online interview, losing brand deals with at least three different Chinese companies. Beverage maker Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese maker Milkground said in similarly worded statements that they were ending agreements with the star forward, each saying they oppose "any words and actions that hurt national sentiment."

Harry Kane said Tuesday that his Ballon d'Or triumph "feels like a dream" as tributes poured in for the first English winner of the award in a generation.

Ever since football star Mohamed Salah posted a photo of himself last month sitting on a small boulder in a remote highland more than an hour from the city of Trabzon in northeastern Turkey, fans have flocked to the spot to pose in the same position.

The unlikely tourist attraction is not the only sign of the Salah-mania sweeping Turkey since the Egyptian star signed with the Trabzonspor club in August after leaving England's iconic Liverpool club.

Spain's growing influence on world football will be on full display at next week's Ballon d'Or gala, the annual award ceremony honoring the sport's top performers.

Four of the five nominees for the Johan Cruyff Trophy for men's coach of the year are Spanish, as are two of the candidates for the women's trophy.