Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta could be out for up to three weeks after injuring his thigh in the King's Cup quarter-final second-leg match against Real Madrid, the club said on Thursday.

Iniesta sustained the injury in a clash with Alvaro Arbeloa, forcing his departure in the 29th minute.

Schalke 04 are hoping veteran striker Raul will soon put pen to paper and extend his stay in Gelsenkirchen beyond the summer.

The 34-year-old and his advisors met with Royal Blues' bosses on Wednesday evening in Duesseldorf to discuss an extension to his deal which expires in June.

Kobe Bryant hit four of six free throws in the final 21 seconds as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied in the fourth quarter during a bad-tempered 96-91 win over the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday.

Bryant finished with 24 points and six assists and Pau Gasol had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers who won despite being held to under 100 points for the 12th consecutive game.

Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer to reach the Australian Open final, extending his command in the personal duel between two of the best tennis players of all time.

No. 2-ranked Nadal won their semifinal 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Thursday to improve his record to 8-2 in Grand Slam head-to-heads against Federer.

Maria Sharapova overcame Petra Kvitova to set up a women's final against Victoria Azarenka at the Australian Open before the attention quickly shifted to a much anticipated semifinal showdown between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Sharapova broke Kvitova's serve in the last game to finish off a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 Thursday, and third-seeded Azarenka beat defending champion Kim Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 to set up a Saturday night final at Rod Laver Arena that also will decide the No. 1 ranking.

Barcelona held off a spirited Real Madrid fightback to hang on for a 2-2 draw on Wednesday that was enough to edge its eternal rival once again, this time for a place in the Copa del Rey semifinals.

Barcelona looked headed for a comfortable victory when it went up 2-0 by halftime in the second leg of another feisty "clasico" matchup, but ended up narrowly escaping with a 4-3 aggregate victory after Madrid rallied in the second half.

Craig Bellamy's second-half equalizer against his former club sent Liverpool into the League Cup final Wednesday as the Reds rallied twice for a 2-2 draw against Manchester City to put them through on aggregate.

The result means Liverpool, which held a 1-0 lead from the first leg, will play a cup final at Wembley for the first time in 16 years when it takes on Cardiff next month after holding off the Premier League leader at Anfield.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 23 points with six rebounds to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 97-84 NBA victory over Memphis that ended the Grizzlies' winning streak at seven games.

The Trail Blazers denied the Grizzlies their eighth straight victory that would have matched the franchise record, set in January of 2004.

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola said Tuesday that if his side was content to simply "play for a result" in Wednesday's second leg of their Spanish Cup quarterfinal against holders Real Madrid they would be knocked out.

Having come from a goal down to win the first leg 2-1, Guardiola insisted Barca - who lost to Real in the final last season - would only be thinking about victory in front of their own supporters.

Former and reigning Wimbledon winners Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova will meet in the Australian Open semifinals after both won in straight sets on Wednesday.

Sharapova won 6-2, 6-3 against fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova, who knocked out five-time champion Serena Williams in the previous round.