London, Nov 7: Fallen England soccer idol Paul Gascoigne has been given a nine-week breathing space to file his late tax returns and fend off a bankruptcy petition by Revenue and Customs.

Gascoigne has not filed any returns for the past two years. The taxman is petitioning on the basis of an estimated 200,000-pound liability, The Sun reported.

At the London Bankruptcy Court, the case was adjourned until January 9 with the Revenue’s agreement.

Gascoigne’s solicitor Craig Montgomery told Deputy Registrar Kyriakides that his financial affairs were complex, involving interests overseas, and time was needed to submit returns and liquidate assets to meet his liabilities.

Hamburg - There were victories for most favourites in Thursday's UEFA Cup group games, with Serie A clubs AC Milan and Udinese being two of six club with two wins from two matches.

Former Champions League winners Milan needed a goal four minutes into injury time from substitute Ronaldinho to break down the Sporting Braga defence.

The other Group E game saw German Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg come from behind to beat Dutch club Heerenveen 5-1 in the so-called Group of Death.

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.