Vranješ ruled out of Bremen run-in

Werder Bremen are set to be without midfielder Jurica Vranješ for the remainder of their push for UEFA Champions League qualification. The 26-year-old suffered knee ligament damage in Sunday's 0-0 draw against FC Schalke 04 which consolidated Bremen's hold on fourth place in the Bundesliga. Vranješ could be out for a month but will hope to be fit in time for the FIFA World Cup finals, with Croatia due to name their squad on 15 May.

FC Porto's Croatian international forward Tomislav Šokota is back in training after seven months out with an injury to his right knee. The 29-year-old, who has made just one Liga appearance this term for the new champions, remains hopeful of being selected for his country's FIFA World Cup squad. Šokota was injured during Porto's UEFA Champions League defeat at Rangers FC on 13 September.

French champions Olympique Lyonnais expect to announce the location of a new stadium by 1 June, according to club president Jean-Michel Aulas. Lyon hope to move into the projected new ground, which will have a capacity between 55,000 and 65,000, in three years' time.

Turkish league leaders Fenerbahçe SK have been ordered to play their next home game behind closed doors following crowd disturbances during their 5-3 defeat at Vestel Manisaspor on 15 April. Meanwhile, Fenerbahçe striker Márcio Nobre faces three weeks on the sidelines with a recurring knee injury, and midfielder Kemal Aslan may also not play again this season following cruciate ligament surgery.

Real Madrid CF defender Jonathan Woodgate is having treatment at former club Leeds United AFC in a bid to recover from a persistent thigh injury which has dogged his season. "Jonathan will be with us for a few weeks," said a Leeds spokesman. The 26-year-old has played only nine league games this term following his return from an 18-month lay-off with a torn thigh muscle.

KAA Gent attacking midfielder Moubarak Boussoufa has been voted the best player with African roots in Belgium. The 21-year-old won the Ebbenhouten Schoen (Ebony Boot), succeeding RSC Anderlecht defender Vincent Kompany, following a poll of coaches from the top three divisions, football writers, a panel of experts and national-team coach René Vandereycken. Boussoufa, a Dutchman with Moroccan roots, joined Gent in September 2004 and has scored nine goals with 16 assists this season.

SC Braga are contemplating UEFA Cup football after last night's 3-0 win at A. Académica de Coimbra secured fourth place in the Liga with two games to play. Frechaut opened the scoring for the visitors before former Académica striker João Tomás added two second-half goals. "It was a calm and focused performance," said coach Jesualdo Ferreira.

Experienced coach Georgi Vassilev has replaced Ivan Kyuchukov at the helm of PFC Naftex Burgas, the Bulgarian Premier League's bottom club. The 59-year-old led FC Etar Veliko Tarnovo, PFC Levski Sofia and PFC CSKA Sofia to Bulgarian titles during the 1990s, and recently left his post in charge of German club 1. FC Union Berlin. Naftex are seven points adrift at the foot of the table, with eleven points from 22 games.

Lithuanian club FK Žalgiris Vilnius are to hold on to Igoris Pankratjevas despite the coach serving a 15-match ban. Pankratjevas was suspended for attacking the referee after Žalgiris's 2-0 home defeat by FK Ekranas on the second matchday of the season, 19 April. He has also been fined €3,000, but will nonetheless be retained by club president Arminas Narbekovas

Kazakhstani club FC Shakhtyor Karagandy have dismissed coach Vahid Masudov after only three matches of the 2006 league campaign. Masudov's men, who finished fourth in the table last term, have lost two and drawn one of their games so far.