Athletic Bilbao midfielder Oscar de Marcos insists his side will show Mirandes total respect on Tuesday night as the two clubs clash in the Copa del Rey semi-final.

Athletic, whose record of 23 Copa titles is second only to Barcelona (25), are favourites heading into the semi-final second leg after earning a 2-1 lead from last week's first meeting at Mirandes' Anduva stadium.

By Chris Wright

Athletic Bilbao tonked third-tier side Albacete (bit of trivia: Andres Iniesta is the club's majority shareholder) 4-0 in the Copa del Rey at the San Mames last night, with the third goal of the night being scored by forward Gaizka Toquero a man who, to quote Wikipedia, is 'blessed with few technical skills but is a tremendous hard-worker'.

Every Wednesday, we round up the offbeat stories in football for you! This week, read what Xabi Alonso & Diego Forlan's women have to say and watch Hope Solo as she waltzes across the ballroom.

Nagore Aranburu, also known as Xabi Alonso's beautiful and intelligent wife (classy as Mrs.

By Elizabeth Hanchett, writing from Toronto

Athletic Bilbao is famous among football circles for being the only club in the world that insists on signing only local players to their team. Athletic was formed in 1898 in Lamiako (now part of the town/municipality of Leioa, about eight kilometers north of Bilbao), Bizkaia by British industrial workers living in the area.

What's this tipos,... Black Sunday?! No, it's just Madrid and Barca fighting it out in black to see who comes up tops in the Spanish league! And they're both tied in first spot with Levante after a 4-0 (Madrid) and 1-0 (Barca) victory respectively.

The preparations are underway for Saturday's Champions League extravaganza! Cameras are being set up around the stadium, players are arriving in London (boyband swagger and all geez!) and the trophy is probably being polished in a fancy factory somewhere. Unless you're an annoyed Basque supporter (many of them are ready to annoy the living daylights out of the Catalans and Madrilenos), you have exactly two days to make your predictions.

ANDER HERRERA scored the winner for the U-21 Spanish Football Team yesterday against Denmark in their International Friendly. The 21 year old has also been signed by Athletic de Bilbao from Real Zaragoza for next season for 8M€ making the young promise the 2º nd highest paid for a player by Athletic de Bilbao.