Erling Haaland's failure from the penalty spot and Bruno Fernandes' latest red card compounded the woes of Manchester City and Manchester United on another tough day for the two Premier League giants.

There were no such problems Thursday for Liverpool, which rallied to a 3-1 win over Leicester in foggy conditions at Anfield and moved seven points clear atop the standings approaching the halfway point of the campaign.

The world football players' union disagreed with FIFA's temporary changes to transfer rules on Monday following the landmark Lassana Diarra judgement.

Former France international Diarra challenged FIFA 's rules due to a dispute with a club dating to 2014, and the European Court of Justice ruled in October that some rules were contrary to European Union law because they restricted freedom of movement and were anti-competitive.

Kylian Mbappé added to his scoring streak with a superb strike in Real Madrid's 4-2 win over Sevilla in the Spanish league on Sunday to finish the year on a positive note after hitting what he called "rock bottom" in early December.

Mbappé sent a right-footed shot into the upper corner 10 minutes into the match for his fourth goal in as many games with Madrid in all competitions. It was Mbappé's sixth goal in his last eight matches with Madrid.

Liverpool heads into Christmas with a four-point lead, a game in hand and as the overwhelming title favorite in the Premier League on the back of a wild 6-3 win at Tottenham on Sunday.

As for Manchester United and its new manager Ruben Amorim, they stumble into the festive period in 13th place — as low as they've been at Christmas since the 1989-90 season — and with a familiar sinking feeling.

The organization that represents European football leagues on Thursday rejected latest proposals for a breakaway super league.

Detailed plans for a new rival to the Champions League — the Unify League — were released this week by Madrid-based A22 Sports Management.

When Atletico Madrid led the Spanish league in spending on summer transfers, Diego Simeone's club was making a bet it could challenge for its first title since 2021.

On Saturday, Atletico can move to the top of the table with a win at a Barcelona side that is struggling to reproduce its great start to the campaign. And to make matters worse for Hansi Flick, the hosts will be missing injured star Lamine Yamal for its last game before a short winter break.

Real Madrid meets Mexican club Pachuca in the final of the watered-down Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday, with Kylian Mbappé expected to be available to play for the Spanish powerhouse after nursing a left-thigh injury.

The tournament — being played in a new format after FIFA expanded the Club World Cup for 2025 — brings together the champions of all six soccer confederations. It takes place every year while the bigger Club World Cup will happen every four years.

Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal is expected to be sidelined for three to four weeks because of an ankle injury, the club said Monday.

Barcelona said the 17-year-old Yamal has a grade-one injury to his right ankle. He sustained the injury in the team's 1-0 loss to Leganes at home in the Spanish league on Sunday, when he had to be replaced in the 75th minute.

Real Madrid was held at Rayo Vallecano to 3-3 in a thrilling derby on Saturday, missing a chance to overtake Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

Rayo set a fast pace and stunned the powerhouse with two headed goals from Unai López and Abdul Mumin to lead 2-0 by the 36th minute.

Kylian Mbappé will miss one Spanish league game with a leg injury but Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti hopes his striker will recover from in time to play the Intercontinental Cup final next week.

Ancelotti said Friday that the left-thigh injury that Mbappé sustained this week will rule him out of Saturday's La Liga match at Rayo Vallecano.