Sporting briefs...

Maldini: Milan captain Paolo Maldini could miss Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final return with city rivals Inter due to a thigh injury. Maldini was ruled out of the Serie A match with Brescia yesterday and said he would wait until tomorrow before any decision was taken over his fitness. "I was able to finish the game against Inter so it is not a serious injury but I have some problems with my left thigh," Maldini said.

Owen: Michael Owen will start Real Madrid's crunch league game against arch-rivals Barcelona today, coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo said. Luxemburgo said he had decided to play Owen alongside Ronaldo and Raul in attack and drop former Barca winger Luis Figo to the bench for the game at the Bernabeu. "I don't like the fact that people have found out the team I was trying out in training, but I'm not going to lie about the line-up," Luxemburgo said. "Owen, Raul and Ronaldo will start."

Giggs: Winger Ryan Giggs is likely to miss Manchester United's FA Cup semi-final against Newcastle on Sunday through injury. United manager Alex Ferguson told MUTV that the Welsh international was "very doubtful" for the game at Cardiff's Millennium stadium because of a hamstring injury. "I don't think he will make it," Ferguson said.

Falkirk: Falkirk clinched promotion to the Scottish Premier League yesterday with a 1-0 victory over Ross County thanks to teenager Ryan McStay's strike. Falkirk won the first division title in 2003 but the SPL barred them from promotion after introducing strict stadia criteria, including a 10,000 all-seater all-covered ruling. That rule was relaxed this season to 6,000 and the club's new North Stand, taking the Falkirk Stadium capacity to 6,200, was opened yesterday just in time for the celebrations.

In France: Nantes vs Lyon 2-2; PSG vs Bordeaux 1-1; St Etienne vs Bastia 3-0; Strasbourg vs Marseille 1-0; Caen vs Metz 0-1; Lens vs Nice 0-0; Toulouse vs S. Rennes 0-2; Istres vs Sochaux 2-0.

In Spain: Numancia vs Atletico Madrid 1-0.