El Clasico: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona
This is the most important match of the season for Real Madrid and Manuel Pellegrini. When the newly elected president Florentino Perez started his second "Galactico" project he never imagined that the word "failure" would be linked to it.

The last three games of the 1º leg of the SPANISH CUP season 2010 -2011 ( the last 32 teams stage) concluded tonight with the following results & scorers Gurpegui for At Bilbao Second Division Club ( & last years Real Madrid killers ) ALCORCON lost 0 - 1 to ATHLETIC DE BILBAO thanks to the 54th min goal scored by defender GURPEGUI.

In Spain, one of the New Year's Eve traditions includes eating twelve grapes before the stroke of midnight, one grape for each of the last twelve seconds of the year. Photo courtesy of Camino Z.

As 2010 arrives through the doorstep, La Liga returns with a vengeance from the winter break that seemingly flew by so quickly.

Beleagured Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez could face a three-way summer fight for his services.
Real Madrid head coach Manuel Pellegrini and AC Milan's Leonardo have both been told they must do better after defeats in Europe this week - and both are said to see Benitez as the man who could transform their fortunes.

There are many things that you could accuse Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho of being, and 'inconspicuously subtle' is definitely not one of them.

With tonight's Copa Del Rey tie with lowly Real Murcia looming, many-a-Madrid supporters' memory is instantly transported back to this time last season when Manuel Pellegrini's ailing charges slumped to a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of third-tier side Alcorcon in the corresponding fixture (with Los Merengues eventually dribbling out of the competition altogether after only managing to notch a single consolation goal in the return leg a fortnight later), but the Chilean's successor is determined that his batch of Galacticos will not suffer the same critically embarrassing fate.

Y el Atlético de Madrid sigue dando de que hablar. En su nuevo tropiezo ahora en la Copa del Rey por 3 a 0 en casa del Recreativo Huelva, el defensa Ujfalusi se acredita mucho la derrota a su persona debido a la expulsión que sufrió al minuto 20, el Atlético sigue en picada, Liga, Copa y de la ya eliminada Concachampions.

(video gol highlights)
COPPA DEL RE, RISULTATI OTTAVI (ritorno):
Mercoledi 13
Siviglia - Barcellona 0-1 (19'st Xavi)
Getafe - Malaga 5-1 (15'pt e 4'st Soldado, 30'pt Rafa, 8'st Pedro Leon (G), 18'st Juanmi (M), 36'st Parejo (G)
Osasuna - Hercules 1-0 (3'st Masoud)
Racing - Alcorcon 0-0
Deportivo La Coruna - Valencia 2-2 (10'pt e 29'pt Zigic (V), 4'st Luis Filipe (D), 26'st Juan Rodriguez (D)
Villareal - Celta de Vigo 0-1 (46'st Trashorras su rig.

They're human after all. Having swept everything placed infront of them last season, they have fallen at the first hurdle in 2010 after succumbing to an aggregate defeat by Sevilla in the Copa del Rey. The match was an absolute thriller and a firm response to those who proclaimed the cup a dead duck last week when only a total of 90,000 spectators turned up to all the cup ties combined (not enough to fill the Camp Nou).

Recreativo de Huelva and Sevilla provided the cupsets of the round so far as they both finished the first leg ahead of their supposed superior rivals. In yesterdays tie at the Camp Nou, Barcelona and Sevilla both had grounds for complaint regarding the performance of referee Alfonso Burrull as Bojan and Diego Capel had goals incorrectly chalked off, whereas the penalty awarded to Sevilla appeared to occur outside of the box.

Plataforma Blanca president Eugenio Martínez Bravo(PlataformaBlanca.com)

The president of Plataforma Blanca, Eugenio Martínez Bravo, has always been the antithesis of Florentino Pérez. After his team's loss to Barcelona, he texted my good friend in Frankfurt, Germany Jorge Zuazola and talked about the damage being done by current president of the club.

MLS Playoffs on ESPN2: Colorado - Columbus at 9pm. Copa del Rey on GolTV: Alcorcon - Bilbao at 2pm. Mexician Primera on TeleFutura: Edgar Castillo's San Luis host Club America at 9pm. All Times Eastern

MLS Playoffs on ESPN2: Colorado - Columbus at 9pm. Copa del Rey on GolTV: Alcorcon - Bilbao at 2pm. Mexician Primera on TeleFutura: Edgar Castillo's San Luis host Club America at 9pm. All Times Eastern

MADRID, Spain Real Madrid avoided another embarrassing Copa del Rey exit to a lower-tier club with a 5-1 fourth-round victory over Murcia on Wednesday. After a scoreless first leg, Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero curled Pedro Leon's pass into the top of the goal from long range in the fourth minute to put his team [.

Ajax 0-4 Real Madrid ( Karim Benzema, Alvaro Arbeloa, Cristiano Ronaldo*2) A brace from Cristiano Ronaldo and goals from Karim Benzema and Alvaro Arbeloa gave Real Madrid a 4-0 win over Ajax Amsterdam in the Champions League on November 23, 2010. The result ensures that Real Madrid will top Group G, while Ajax have now been eliminated [.

Real Madrid 8-0 Levante ( Karim Benzema *3, Cristiano Ronaldo*3, Mesut Ozil, Pedro Leon) Spanish Cup game- Last 16- December 22, 2010. Hat tricks from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo helped Real Madrid crush Levante 8-0 in the first leg of their Spanish Cup ( Copa Del Rey Game). Real Madrid vs Levante 8-0 Goals [.