Romano Floriani Mussolini, the great-grandson of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, scored his first goal for Lazio on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Floriani Mussolini — who has "Romano" on the back of his jersey — struck in the 16th minute for Lazio's third goal in its 6-2 rout of Sassuolo in Serie A.

Lazio saw two penalties saved but still managed to rout 10-man Sassuolo 6-2 to remain top of Serie A on Tuesday.

Espanyol suffered a shock loss at fourth-tier Sestao River in the Spanish Cup, with its coach quickly paying the price, while Premier League champion Arsenal was beaten by fourth-tier Fleetwood Town in a penalty shootout in the English League Cup.

The prospect of a general strike in France next week amid national protests on cost of living issues has pushed UEFA to change a Europa League match date in Rennes.

UEFA said Rennes will now host Olympiakos of Greece on Wednesday of next week at 4:30 p.m. local time (1530 GMT) instead of the Europa League's scheduled program Thursday.

China's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it has taken footballstar Kylian Mbappé's apology "seriously" for comments considered to be disrespectful of Mao Zedong, the founding leader of Communist China, as the fallout over the issue continues.

Mbappé faced a backlash Tuesday over comments he made in an online interview, losing brand deals with at least three different Chinese companies. Beverage maker Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese maker Milkground said in similarly worded statements that they were ending agreements with the star forward, each saying they oppose "any words and actions that hurt national sentiment."

Harry Kane said Tuesday that his Ballon d'Or triumph "feels like a dream" as tributes poured in for the first English winner of the award in a generation.

Ever since football star Mohamed Salah posted a photo of himself last month sitting on a small boulder in a remote highland more than an hour from the city of Trabzon in northeastern Turkey, fans have flocked to the spot to pose in the same position.

The unlikely tourist attraction is not the only sign of the Salah-mania sweeping Turkey since the Egyptian star signed with the Trabzonspor club in August after leaving England's iconic Liverpool club.

Spain's growing influence on world football will be on full display at next week's Ballon d'Or gala, the annual award ceremony honoring the sport's top performers.

Four of the five nominees for the Johan Cruyff Trophy for men's coach of the year are Spanish, as are two of the candidates for the women's trophy.

The Asian Football Confederation has endorsed Gianni Infantino for another term as FIFA president in an apparent turnaround in its stance from two months ago when it criticized the head of football's world governing body for a breach of trust.

AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa embraced Infantino with a large hug Friday in front of the Asian membership at an extraordinary congress meeting in Tokyo, where he delivered his endorsement. It was a timely boost for Infantino as he campaigns for re-election amid strong opposition from Europe

President Donald Trump on Thursday accused LeBron James of disrespecting the United States after the NBA star appeared to continue his warmups while the national anthem was performed before Philadelphia's season opener on Tuesday.

"I said right from the beginning that he's no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE," Trump said of James in a social media post sharing the video. "LeBron James should apologize to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag, and all that our Country stands for!"

Vinícius Júnior's scoring slump continued in his return to the Real Madrid lineup in the Champions League.

The Brazilian forward had an ineffective performance and couldn't find the net in Madrid's 4-1 win over Leipzig at home on Wednesday, reaching nine straight appearances without a goal for the Spanish club.