For the past several seasons, Real Madrid treated the Copa del Rey as a nuisance and a burden
rather than a competition worth winning. José Mourinho has changed that mentality. One Taça
de Portgual with FC Porto, two Carling Cups and an FA Cup with Chelsea, and a Coppa Italia with
Inter Milan signals Mourinho's intentions of taking the domestic cup as seriously as the domestic
league and the European competitions.
With the league title slipping away from Real Madrid's hands, their two cup competitions, the
UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey, could be the tournaments that they can realistically
expect to win. Real can stamp its name in the final of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night if
they can navigate a more than tricky second leg tie against the current holders of the cup,
Sevilla.
Expo 2008 was held in the city of Zaragoza, and one of the striking structures built for the
expo was the Torre del Agua, shaped to represent a droplet of water. Photo courtesy of Salvador
Bru.
Round 23 of 38 might be a little too early to mention relegation six-pointers, but with teams
twelfth to twentieth a within a slender five points of each other and the gap widening between
these teams and the first eleven of La Liga, a three-point win should not be underestimated as time
snowballs downward to the end of the campaign.
The Passeig des Born, a picturesque promenade in the heart of Palma de Mallorca, is lined with
high-end shops coupled with quaint pavement cafés while hosting numerous festivals and fiestas
throughout the year.
La Liga officially begins the second half of its season this weekend, and FC Barcelona has
continued its stellar form with a staggering fifty-two points out of a possible fifty-seven points,
a Spanish record for the opening half of any campaign.
The Palau Reíal Major in Barcelona was the home for counts of Barcelona and later the Kings of
Aragon.
Espanyol's surprising start has not only stretched to this juncture of the season but has also
improved from a club that only garnered points at home to a team that can win the tough matches
away from home.
The Fundación Picasso, an organization whose purpose is to promote the works of Pablo Picasso,
headquarted at Picasso's birth home on the Plaza de la Merced in Málaga.
Two of the most active clubs in the January transfer window meet together this weekend in an
Andalucian derby at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán between Sevilla and Málaga.
