Hamburg - German Bundesliga clubs VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin on Thursday stayed on course for a place in the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup with good results from their group games.

Wolfsburg had to come from behind to beat Dutch club Heerenveen 5-1 in the so-called Group of Death.

With AC Milan, Braga and Premier League side Portsmouth also in Group E, the German side went into the game knowing that they could not afford to lose at home.

Hamburg - German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart and Serie A team Udinese on Thursday stayed on course for a place in the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup with victories in their group games.

Udinese won 2-1 at Spartak Moscow to register their second win from two games and move to the top of Group D with six points, while Stuttgart, who lost their first Group C game in Sevilla, bounced back with a 2-0 win against Partizan Belgrade.

Both goals for the home side were scored by Germany striker Mario Gomez late in the game.

London - Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association (FA) regarding his conduct towards a referee in a recent Premier League match.

Ferguson marched on to the field at Old Trafford at the end of the recent 4-3 win over Hull City to confront Mike Dean about some of his decisions.

Madrid  - Real Madrid winger Arjen Robben will be out of action for around six weeks, the Spanish champions said Thursday.

The Dutch wideman tore fibres in his right calf while warming up for Wednesday's Champions League clash on Wednesday.

Real coach Bernd Schuster had to play Royston Drenthe down the left instead of Robben - and suffered an embarrassing 2-0 defeat.

Juventus are now four points ahead of Real in Group H, and Zenit St Petersburg are only two points behind the Spaniards.

Hamburg- Leaders Hoffenheim will be looking to continue their remarkable series when they travel to Hertha Berlin on Sunday, but the top game of the weekend takes place the same day in Gelsenkirchen where Schalke 04 take on champions Bayern Munich.

Hoffenheim extended their winning run to five game by thrashing Karlsruhe 4-1 last Saturday, with the Bosnia striker Vedad Ibisevic taking his goal tally to a spectacular 13 from 11 games.

The promoted side, who have scored 25 goals in their last seven league games, now face a tough proposition in seventh-place Hertha whose strong recent form was somewhat tarnished with a 5-1 defeat at Werder Bremen last weekend.

Milan - Their standing in the Serie A may not show it clearly, but champions Inter Milan are facing some unexpected problems in a defence package that was crucial for them in the successes of the past seasons.

The five goals conceded in the last two games, a 3-2 win over tail-enders Reggina and a 3-3 draw at Cypriot side Anorthosis, sent bad signals that president Massimo Moratti did not fail to point out.

"There must be something to adjust," he said. "It's partly a psychological problem and a matter of mistakes. They make them, and if you make mistakes, you concede goals."