Manchester City face Italian side Juventus in the Europa League group stage, while Liverpool take on Napoli.

Big-spending City have been drawn in Group A alongside Juventus, Austrian outfit Salzburg and Polish side Lech Poznan.

Liverpool, who reached the semi-finals last season, play Napoli, Steaua Bucharest and Celtic’s conquerors FC Utrecht in Group K.

Europa League holders Atletico Madrid will take on Bayer Leverkusen, Norwegian champions Rosenborg and Greek side Aris in Group B.

The group stage begins on 16th September with the top two teams from each group going through to the last 32 – where they will be joined by the eight third-placed finishers in the Champions League group stage.

Full draw:

Group A

Juventus

Manchester City

FC Salzburg

Lech Posnan

Group B

Atletico Madrid

Bayer Leverkusen

Rosenborg

Aris Thessaloniki

Group C

Sporting Lisbon

Lille

Levski Sofia

Gent

Group D

Villarreal

Club Brugge

Dinamo Zagreb

PAOK FC

Group E

AZ Alkmaar

Dynamo Kiev

BATE Borisov

FC Sheriff

Group F

CSKA Moscow

Palermo

Sparta Prague

Lausanne

Group G

Zenit St Petersburg

Anderlecht

AEK Athens

Hajduk Split

Group H

Stuttgart

Getafe

Odense

Young Boys

Group I

PSV Eindhoven

Sampdoria

FC Metalist Kharkiv

Debreceni

Group J

Sevilla

PSG

Borussia Dortmund

Karpaty Lviv

Group K

Liverpool

Steaua Bucharest

Napoli

Utrecht

Group L

Porto

Besiktas

CSKA Sofia

Rapid Vienna

The ECB has announced the international fixture schedule for next summer’s tours by Sri Lanka and India.

England will begin the international season by taking on Sri Lanka in three npower Tests, including the first Test to be staged at the Rose Bowl followed by a NatWest International T20 and five NatWest Series one-day internationals.

India will then take on their hosts in a four-match npower Test series ahead of a NatWest International T20 and a five-match NatWest Series between the two countries later in the summer.

ECB chief executive David Collier said: “With India currently the number one ranked side in the ICC Test rankings and Sri Lanka in third place, England supporters can expect to see two exciting npower Test series against high quality opposition.

“Both teams will also provide a tough challenge for England in the shorter forms of the game in what promises to be a highly competitive and entertaining summer of international cricket all round.”

England v Sri Lanka

May 26-30: 1st npower Test v Sri Lanka, Cardiff
June 3-7: 2nd npower Test v Sri Lanka, Lord’s
June 16-20: 3rd npower Test v Sri Lanka, Rose Bowl

June 25: NatWest International T20 v Sri Lanka, Bristol

June 28: 1st ODI v Sri Lanka, Brit Insurance Oval
July 1: 2nd ODI v Sri Lanka, Headingley Carnegie
July 3: 3rd ODI v Sri Lanka, Emirates Durham ICG
July 6: 4th ODI v Sri Lanka, Trent Bridge
July 9: 5th ODI v Sri Lanka, Old Trafford

England v India

July 21-25: 1st npower Test v India, Lord’s
July 29-Aug 2: 2nd npower Test v India, Trent Bridge
Aug 10-14: 3rd npower Test v India, Edgbaston
Aug 18-22: 4th npower Test v India, Brit Insurance Oval

Aug 31: NatWest International T20 v India, Old Trafford

Sept 3: 1st ODI v India, Emirates Durham ICG
Sept 6: 2nd ODI v India, Rose Bowl
Sept 9: 3rd ODI v India, Brit Insurance Oval
Sept 11: 4th ODI v India, Lord’s
Sept 16: 5th ODI v India, SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff

The NFL has fined Chad Ochocinco US$25,000 (£ 16,000) for possessing an electronic device and posting messages to his Twitter account during Cincinnati’s 22-9 preseason win over Philadelphia last Friday, according to a report on NFL.com.

Ochocinco’s Twitter feed (@OGOchoCinco) was updated prior to kickoff with the message: “Just talk with Kelly Washington , Desean Jackson, Geoff Pope, Hank Baskett and I caught a ball from Mike Vick, I love prw-game warm up.”

Ochocinco then tweeted again at 9:53 p.m. ET, approximately two hours after the game began, commenting on a play from the first half where he was hit hard by a pair of Eagles defenders while trying to catch a pass: “Man Im sick of getting hit like that , its the damn preseason s**t! 1day I’m gone jump up and start throwing hay makers , #Tylenolplease.”

The league has a social-media ban in place for gamedays, which lasts from 90 minutes before kickoff until after postgame interviews.

German TV presenter Jessica Kastrop got to suffer for her art during a live cast ahead of the Bundesliga game between Mainz and Stuttgart the other day. The 36-year old was conducting an interview at the same time as Stuttgarts’ Khalid Boulahrouz was quite obviously practicing free kicks. The result was a headache and a messed up hairdo for Kastrop, who was ok after being hit by the ball. Boulahrouz said it was an accident and apologised to her straight away:

Video: YouTube

World number one golfer Tiger Woods has spoken about his recent divorce for the first time:

Video: YouTube

Lewis Hamilton has been fined A$500 (£288) for performing car stunts outside Melbourne’s motor racing circuit before the Australian Grand Prix in March. He was stopped by police under “Anti Hooning” laws after executing “burnout” and “fishtail” tricks in a borrowed Mercedes

The 2008 Formula 1 world champion was not in court to hear his punishment but his lawyer said Hamilton, 25, was pleading guilty to the charge of improper use of a motor vehicle.

Lawyer Sandip Mukerjea said Hamilton had publicly apologised over the incident, and suffered “embarrassment, humiliation and distress” following the subsequent media coverage.

He added that Hamilton had written two letters to the court to explain why he could not be present. He is due to drive in this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Magistrate Clive Alsop said Hamilton was a role model for young people, and had a responsibility to set a good example.

“This is about somebody in a responsible position behaving like a hoon [boy racer],” said Mr Alsop.

He added that he would not record a conviction as it was the first offence of its kind by Hamilton.

A news report from the time of the incident showed his car being towed after the stop:

Video: YouTube

Tiger Woods and his wife Elin Nordegren have divorced, the couple said in a statement posted on the world number one golfer’s website:

“Elin Nordegren and Tiger Woods confirmed today that they have divorced.  Judgment was entered today in Bay County (Florida) Circuit Court dissolving the marriage.  The Judgment provides for shared parenting of their two children.

Ms. Nordegren and Mr. Woods issued this joint statement:

We are sad that our marriage is over and we wish each other the very best for the future.  While we are no longer married, we are the parents of two wonderful children and their happiness has been, and will always be, of paramount importance to both of us.  Once we came to the decision that our marriage was at an end, the primary focus of our amicable discussions has been to ensure their future well-being.  The weeks and months ahead will not be easy for them as we adjust to a new family situation, which is why our privacy must be a principal concern.”

The divorce was granted in Bay County Circuit Court in Panama City, Florida, about 375 miles away from their Isleworth home outside Orlando. The couple married in October 2004 in Barbados and have a 3-year-old daughter, Sam, and a 19-month-old son, Charlie.

Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, declined to comment when asked about the terms of settlement or if the couple had a prenuptial agreement. The petition said the marriage was “irretrievably broken” and that Woods’ wife asked to have her maiden name — Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren — restored.

In November 2009 Woods, the world’s wealthiest athlete, was involved in a single-vehicle accident outside his Florida home.

Soon after, several women came forward and claimed they had had affairs with him.

He subsequently lost several major sponsors, including AT&T and Gatorade. In February he publicly apologised and admitted that he had been unfaithful to Ms Nordegren, a former model.

Although no main draw matches were completed Sunday due to rain, there were four qualifying matches completed. On Monday, a busy schedule features 16 matches, including American wild cards James Blake, Taylor Dent and Donald Young on Stadium.

Leading off the action is Young against Frenchman Stephane Robert in a completion of their first round meeting. They played three games on Sunday before it was called. Young, who is the youngest player in the draw (at 21 years, one month), won his first career ATP World Tour match here three years ago and went on to reach the third round at the US Open.

In the second men’s match, Blake and Spaniard Pere Riba meet for the first time. Blake, who won the title here in 2007 (d. Fish) and ’05 (d. Lopez), enters No. 111 with a 10-13 match record. He missed two months of play due to a knee injury before returning in June. His best results this year are three ATP World Tour quarter-finals.

In the evening match, Dent takes on Argentine Eduardo Schwank for the first time. Dent is ranked No. 70 this week and his best showing of the season was the quarter-finals in Atlanta last month. On Grandstand, Igor Andreev and Frenchman Arnaud Clement meet for the first time since ’05 Moscow where the Russian won in straight sets.

In the second men’s match on that court, Italian Andreas Seppi and Jarkko Nieminen square off for the third time (Nieminen leads 2-0).

Managing to catch a baseball at a game, in front of a huge stadium audience and on live TV, is something a lot of fans dream of. Relatively few manage it, and no-one has yet managed to do it while looking as cool as this Phillies fan the other night. A calm on-handed grab secured him a souvenir from the night – all without losing the snacks he just bought and carried on a tray in his other hand. Now that’s how it’s done!

Video:TwitVid

The championship of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters on Sunday matches World No. 2/No. 3 seed Roger Federer against wild card Mardy Fish.

Federer has won five of the previous six meetings although the American won the last encounter 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-finals of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells in March 2008. Federer is 13-1 lifetime against Americans in finals and he is 14-2 in finals on American soil.

The 16-time Grand Slam titles leader is 1-3 in finals this year and is appearing in his 90th career ATP World Tour level final (62-27). He’s trying to avoid losing in four straight finals for the first time in his career. He’s attempting
to capture his fourth title in Cincinnati (2005, ’07, ’09) and join Mats Wilander (1983-84, ’86, ’88) as the only players in the Open Era to win four titles here. Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras also won three titles.

Fish is trying to earn his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title (0-2) and become the first unseeded champion here in the Open Era. The last wild card winner here was Boris Becker in 1985. The last American to win the Cincinnati title was Andy Roddick in 2006. Fish is 2-1 in ATP World Tour finals this season and he is 5-11 in his career.

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