ALL THE REST

UEFA Champions League

Arsenal 1 - 1 Panathinaikos
PSV 1 - 0 Rosenborg

Barcelona 2 - 1 AC Milan
Celtic 1 - 0 Shakhtar Donetsk

CSKA Moscow 0 - 1 Chelsea
FC Porto 0 - 0 PSG

Inter Milan 0 - 0 Valencia
Werder Bremen 5 - 1 Anderlecht

From the Mirror, reminiscent of the non-existent bullsh*t plot supposedly targeting OT last Spring:

Police have smashed a terrifying plot to bomb Real Madrid's ground. Islamic extremists arrested last week had the Bernabeu stadium, where David Beckham and Michael Owen play, top of their hit list.

A police source said: "Thousands of people pack into Real Madrid's ground every other weekend. It would have been a massacre."

Two train stations and Madrid's highest building the 516ft Picasso Tower were also among their targets.

Police picked up 13 people around Spain in the second phase of Operation Nova last week. The first phase led to the arrest of a gang planning to blow up the Spanish parliament. Both groups are thought linked to the March 11 bombers in which 191 people were killed.

Leeds takeover, from the Guardian:

Leeds's board is considering the takeover interest of a second consortium involving a Yorkshire property developer, Norman Stubbs.

Stubbs formed part of a previous bid led by Steve Parkin, which broke down over the level of debt at the club. Parkin had been deterred by takeover costs of £40m. However, Stubbs is believed to have been drawn back to the table by the now-stated £25m price for the club.

The Elland Road board, at least two of whose directors are keen to force an auction for the club, bought time yesterday for the rival bid by declaring that the transatlantic consortium being fronted by Sebastian Sainsbury and backed by the US-based firm Nova Financial Partners had failed to produce satisfactory proof of funding.

Though the club's liabilities have been reduced by about £70m, Leeds remain heavily in debt and without refinancing are expected to run out of operating funds early next year.

Refs show sense shocker. From the Guardian:

Referees have secretly promised Premier League clubs that they will defy a Fifa instruction to book players taking off their shirts in celebration.

The issue has become confused since Tim Cahill was dismissed for a second yellow card by Steve Bennett after scoring Everton's winner at Manchester City in September. The referee is then understood to have been punished with loss of games for disobeying a Premier League order to "manage" partial shirt removal.

But since then a Fifa board meeting has upheld the law and ruled that England must step into line by applying it. But the referees are continuing to interpret it liberally, much to the FA's discomfort.

A Fifa spokesman said yesterday that any failure by referees to act would be "a domestic issue.

FA chief news, from the Guardian:

The FA board will meet today to examine a shortlist of no more than three candidates for the job of chief executive amid doubts about what powers the post will retain after the planned structural review at Soho Square.

The final candidates from a list of 10 were interviewed by the FA's four-man appointments committee yesterday, among them Richard Bowker, the former chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority.

Brian Barwick, head of sport at ITV, is also thought to have been interviewed for the post, which has been vacant since Mark Palios resigned after the Faria Alam fiasco.

Given the state the railways are in, how apt it would be that Bowker should take over the running of English football.

O’Leary charged, from the Telegraph:

David O'Leary has requested a personal hearing with the Premier League and is taking legal advice on his position, after Aston Villa were charged with making an illegal approach to Southampton striker James Beattie in the summer.

The Villa manager is ready to strenuously deny the charge laid against the club after a Premier League commission was set up following an official complaint by Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe.

O'Leary - whose public comments about Beattie's desire to join Villa following the rejection of a £6 million offer in August have prompted the complaint from Southampton - will meet with his solicitor, Michael Kennedy, in the next 48 hours.

Villa, who face a large fine or a points deduction if found guilty, are so confident they will be cleared that they were informing people privately that the charge would not affect their determination to return with a renewed bid for Beattie when the January transfer window opened.