By Chris Wright

"Shhh!!! Don't look at him. If we're quiet, he may go away"

Despite leading 2-1 from the first-leg and going a further two goals ahead by half-time in the second through Pedro and Dani Alves, Barcelona still found themselves fretting at the Camp Nou as Real Madrid staged a late-ish comeback attempt that saw Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema draw Los Merengues level on the night though it was to be in vain, as Barca eventually held out for the aggregate win that sealed them a berth in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.

By Chris Wright

We'll have a few more bits and bobs from last night's second-leg El Clasico shenanigans over the course of the morning, but for now you'll have to make do with this Dani Alves' angled, first-time, top-corner screamer to put Barca two goals up on the night and three up on aggregate.

By Chris Wright

We'll have a few more bits and bobs from last night's second-leg El Clasico shenanigans over the course of the morning, but for now you'll have to make do with this Dani Alves' angled, first-time, top-corner screamer to put Barca two goals up on the night and three up on aggregate.

Barcelona advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa Del Rey after a 4-3 aggregate win (2-2 draw on the night) over Real Madrid with goals by Pedro and Dani Alves proving decisive. In an absolute humdinger of a match, it was Madrid, down 2-1 from the first leg, who got off to the better start [...] Related posts:

1. Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona: Copa Del Rey QF 1st Leg Video Highlights
2. Malaga 0-1 Real Madrid; Copa Del Rey Video Highlights
3. Real Madrid 1-3 Barcelona: El Clasico Video Highlights

Barcelona [2 : 2] Real Madrid
No. of Yellow Cards : 9
No. Of Red Cards : 1

Somewhere beneath this 'Blaugrana Happiness Pile' lies Pedro, who scored the opening goal in Barca's 2-2 draw with Real Madrid at the Nou Camp last night.

Whenever Jose Mourinho (who notwithstanding anything, is still the best coach in the world) loses a match, he blames the referee. Do not mind the other team has played great football, or that some tactical choices have been wrong. No, the referee is to blame! So when it actually happens, it just seem like yet another lame excuse of "cry ref".

25.01.2012 - Con goles de Pedro (´43) y Dani Alves (´47), Barcelona empató (2-2) con Real Madrid (C.Ronaldo ´67 + Benzema ´71) en el Camp Nou y se clasificó a semifinales de la Copa del Rey 2012.
El más esperado, cotizado y comentado del mundo (120 medios de 27países acreditados) fue digno de la expectativa: altísima tensión, fútbol de primera jerarquía, dominios alternativos, carácter, esquemas y trifulcas en un atestado Camp Nou (95.

Just several weeks into the summer transfer window Juventus sealed the deal for Swiss defender Stephan Lichtsteiner from Lazio for a fee of 10 million euros. Although the other summer signing, Andrea Pirlo, has received most the praise so far this season, Lichtsteiner has arguably been the more consistent of the two.

It's been an incredible eighteen months for Gareth Bale and a period that has ended with our Welsh left winger being named as the only British player in UEFA's team of 2011.

Bale took his place among the likes of Barcelona's Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi as well as Real Madrid's Cristinao Ronaldo, Iker Casillas and Marcelo.

El equipo ideal del año fue monopolizado por los españoles, que situaron a seis jugadores entre los 11 seleccionados. El llamado "once mundial" quedó compuesto por Iker Casillas en el arco; Dani Alves, Gerard Piqué, Nemanja Vidic y Sergio Ramos en defensa; Andrés Iniesta, Xabi Alonso y Xavi en el centro del campo; Messi, Wayne Rooney y Cristiano Ronaldo en ataque.

Iker Casillas
Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Nemanja Vidic, Dani Alves
Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Xabi Alonso
Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi.

"Rooney and Vida In FIFA World XI" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

Forget Lionel Messi, it was all about Homare Sawa's kimono (traditional Japanese costume) at the FIFA Ballon D'or awards in Zurich last night! The captain of the Japanese women's team and winner of the FIFA Women's Ballon d'Or lit up the stage with that outfit which should make her countrymen and women extremely proud today.

At this point only World Cup success eludes him. But Leo Messi has done enough to earn himself a place in the pantheon of the greats. He was awarded the trophy by O Fenomeno looking none the worse for wear for someone recently recovering from dengue fever.

Messi beat out Cristiano Ronaldo, the Liga's top scorer last season, and his Barca team mate Xavi.

Las clasificaciones siempre van a dar de que hablar, generan polemica, hasta las que hace la FIFA.
Por eso aquí están los 11 mejores jugadores del año según el máximo mandato en el futbol mundial. Fueron anunciados en la gala del dia de hoy.
Los futbolistas del Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso e Iker Casillas, no viajaron a Zúrich porque mañana enfrentan al Málaga por la Copa del Rey.

09.01.2012 - De final anunciado, la celebración y entrega del Premio Balón de Oro (2011) coronó a Lionel Messi como el mejor jugador del mundo (por tercera vez consecutiva).
Con 55 goles en 57 partidos y 5 títulos con Barcelona (Liga de España , Champions League , Mundial de Clubes, Supercopa de España y Supercopa de Europa, el año de Messi volvió a romper récords y felicitaciones.

Lionel Messi was voted World Player of the Year for the third year in a row with Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi a distant second and third respectively. Barcelona's Pep Guardiola won the manager of the year awrd having guided Barcelona to a unique double of La Liga and Champions League titles, Sir Alex ferguson who received an award for services to football was second and Jose Mourinho third in the Manager's list.

As if Lionel Messi needed any more evidence to prove that he is greatest player in the world.

Messi captured the Ballon d'Or for the third consecutive year, beating out Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi to add yet another item to his trophy case. The 24-year-old Barcelona maestro received 47.

The debate whether or not he's the greatest ever may never be resolved, but he is certainly well on his way to being the most decorated. The gentleman from Rosario won his third consecutive Ballon d'Or at the ripe old age of 24.

And he did it showing up in purple velvet.

Welcome to Offbeat Wednesday... our weekly special! In the jovial spirit of the week, let's start with Alvaro Negredo's wedding which took place on Christmas Eve. The Sevilla striker married the mother of Aitana, his ten-month old daughter in his hometown.

Long before Sara Carbonero... there was Mamen Sanz! She's the equivalent of Victoria Beckham when it comes to the Spanish Mega Wag status (eye-rolls all across the town again, we see) but there's a lot more to her than meets the eye. Raul has been linked to a high money-making move to Qatar next season, and the worried German press who want him to stay at Schalke, it seems has declared that his wife has the final say it all of this.

FC Barcelona World Champions (Photo: Getty Images)

Another scintillating performance by Leo Messi saw Barcelona dismantle Brazil's Santos 4-0 to claim the FIFA Club World Cup Championship.

Barca enter the record books as the only club to ever win the tournament twice, giving Pep Guardiola his 13th trophy since taking over at the helm in 2008.

Santos - FC Barcelona0:4 (0:3)
FechaSede / EstadioHoraAsistencia
18 diciembre 2011 Yokohama / International Stadium Yokohama19:3068166Goles marcadosLionel MESSI (BAR) 17', XAVI (BAR) 24', Cesc FABREGAS (BAR) 45', Lionel MESSI (BAR) 82'Santos
[1] RAFAEL CABRAL (GK) [2] EDU DRACENA (C) [3] LEO [4] DANILO (-31') [5] AROUCA [6] DURVAL [7] HENRIQUE [9] BORGES (-79') [10] GANSO (-83') [11] NEYMAR [14] BRUNO RODRIGO En el banquillo [12] ARANHA (GK) [23] VLADIMIR (GK) [8] ELANO (+31') [13] BRUNO AGUIAR [15] ANDERSON CARVALHO [16] VINICIUS [17] FELIPE ANDERSON [18] IBSON (+83') [19] ALAN KARDEC (+79') [20] Wason RENTERIA [21] PARA [22] DIOGO Entrenador Muricy RAMALHO (BRA)
FC Barcelona[1] Victor VALDES (GK) [2] DANI ALVES [3] Gerard PIQUE (-56') [4] Cesc FABREGAS [5] Carles PUYOL (C) (-85') [6] XAVI [8] Andres INIESTA [10] Lionel MESSI [11] THIAGO (-79') [16] Sergio BUSQUETS [22] Eric ABIDAL
En el banquillo [13] PINTO (GK) [25] Oier OLAZABAL (GK) [7] David VILLA [A] [9] Alexis SANCHEZ [14] Javier MASCHERANO (+56') [15] Seydou KEITA [17] PEDRO (+79') [18] Jonathan DOS SANTOS [19] MAXWELL [21] ADRIANO [24] Andreu FONTAS (+85') [27] Isaac CUENCA Entrenador Pep GUARDIOLA (ESP)
Amonestaciones
Gerard PIQUE (BAR) 39'
, Javier MASCHERANO (BAR) 71'
, GANSO (SAN) 73'
, EDU DRACENA (SAN) 74'
Expulsiones
Cuerpo arbitral del partido
ÁrbitroRavshan IRMATOV (UZB) Assistant Referee 1Abdukhamidullo RASULOV (UZB) Cuarto ÁrbitroYuichi NISHIMURA (JPN) Assistant Referee 2Bakhadyr KOCHKAROV (KGZ) Quinto ÁrbitroToru SAGARA (JPN)
Santos (BRA )EstadísticasFC Barcelona (ESP)8Disparos163Remates a puerta90Goles413Faltas cometidas1311Faltas recibidas132Saques de esquina41Tiros libres ejecutados (al arco)10 / 0Lanzamientos penales (Goles/Remates)0 / 00Fueras de juego60Goles en propia meta02Tarjetas amarillas20Segunda tarjeta amarilla y tarjeta roja00Tarjetas rojas018Tiempo real de juego4529%Posesión del balón71% Gracias por tu visita Estadísticas de Fútbol

Not pictured: Him tapping the tips of his fingers together and/or petting a white cat.

Don't sweat yet another defeat in the biggest game on Earth, Mr. Mourinho. We've got ten ideas for how to win the return leg that will appeal to your evil genius side.1. Get Carvalho back and once again play Pepe as a rearmost midfield destroyer, hoping his physicality can throw off the Barca rhythm just as Real's pressing did in the opening minutes.

Dani Alves may not qualify.

Meanwhile, Andres Iniesta's ghostly spirit rides the Tokyo underground. The man couldn't tan on Mercury he'd probably do really well as an actor in the Asian horror movie scene.

Till the start of Yesterday El Clasico I was naming Mourinho as the best coach in our planet today. However, after yesterday defeat, I am doubting that statement, and at least might give that title to Guardiola.
Coaches today play chess, and it was apparent that after the first 30 minutes, Guardiola touches on the game, and how he reacted to very difficult start was impressive.

By Alan Duffy

Turning their attention away from silly little issues like racism, the international footballing authorities have announced their 55-man shortlist for the FIFPRO World XI 2011. (FIFPRO is the Federation Internationale des Associations de Footballers Professionnels, by the way)

Six players from good old Blighty have made the list, with Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale worthy of their places in the elite list.

On Wednesday night Milan will entertain Barcelona in the Champions League in a match that will decide which team will take pole position in Group H. In terms of stature and prestige it is the biggest game of the season so far, no doubt. However, with both teams' passage to the next phase already secured, [.

Big news today from the defending Spanish and European champions that Andres Iniesta will miss the huge champions league tie with AC Milan on Wednesday with a thigh injury.

A statement on the club's website confirmed that the midfielder will not travel to Italy as "a precaution", joining the suspended Dani Alves and injured duo Adriano and Ibrahim Afellay on the sidelines.

FELIZ terça-feira! Brazil defeated Egypt 2-0 last night and Jonas netted in both goals for Mano's men ("quão legaaal" for the Valenciano!) By all accounts, the selecao were expected to win this match anyway and despite all his attempts, Hulk wasn't able to score from any of his best chances upfront.

Bem-vindo to Day 3 of Selecao Bootcamp! These Brazilian caras are still in Libreville, Gabon where they're scheduled to play a friendly as part of the inauguration of the newly-built 'Friendship stadium' below today. As we mentioned, the guys have been training hard and Menezes just announced his starting line-up with Hulk and Jonas leading the attack today.

By Eric Beard

Still only 19 years old, Neymar, alongside his agent and his club, persistently fought transfer talk throughout the summer transfer window, but ultimately he stayed in Brazil. Could he be playing every Sunday in front of hundreds of millions of viewers right now?

TUDO BEM?!! Welcome to Day 2 of the Selecao Bootcamp, brought to you by the "Caras Novas" or newbies of the Brazilian team - Alex Sandro, Bruno Cesar, Dudu, Kleber and Willian! Many of them are from the winning U-20 Brazilian national side and were picked based on those performances.

BEM-VINDO aaao Selecao Bootcamp, a tradition we have on the Brazilian National Team. There are only two ways to get by the next few days soldier on and take it like a man (boring) or spice it up and go crazy, David Luiz style! Of course, everybody prefers the second one, especially when they'd rather be at home doing gloriously fun things like barbecuing on Anderson's front porch in a sarong (here's looking at you, Fabio!

Fabregas goal not enough for win against Bilbao (Photo: REUTERS/Felix Ordonez)

It was one for the ages, as Barcelona and Atletic Bilbao battled to a thrilling 2-2 draw under torrential rain in Spain's Basque Country.

Despite the gloomy conditions and sodden pitch, Barca were able to quickly settle into their grove, stringing together passes and creating chances.

"El 'loco' que Pep lleva dentro"

We've been remiss in posting our weekend TV guides the past couple weeks. This weekend we offer a belated and truncated version, consisting of a single match that's kicking off in just a few hours: La Liga's late match on Sunday, Athletic Bilbao hosting FC Barcelona, kicking off at 8pm in "la Catedral de futbol" Estadio San Mamés (which corresponds to 2pmET; televised in the US on ESPN Deportes, and also available via ESPN3.

Messi is the main contender and one of eight players from the Spanish league in contention for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award to be announced on January 9, 2012.
Éric Abidal (France), Sergio Agüero (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dani Alves (Brazil), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Cesc F bregas (Spain), Diego Forlán (Uruguay), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Müller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Özil (Germany), Gerard Piqué (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Luis Suárez (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).

They've got the World Cup, the European Championship, lots of little youth tournament trinkets and it currently is home to Ol' Big Ears, the Champions League trophy, so logic would dictate the Ballon d'Or shortlist to have a great Spanish influence. It does, but far more than possibly expected: 15 of the 23 played at least part of the year in La Liga.

Last year three Barcelona players shared the stage at the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala and that remarkable scene could be repeated this year as eight Barcelona players have made the 23-man Ballon d'Or shortlist, with Lionel Messi odds on favourite to win the award for the third year in succession.

Just four players from the Premier League have been included in the short list for this year's Ballon d'Or, two of them from Manchester United, Nani and Rooney.

Interestingly enough, Rooney is the only Englishman mentioned.

Eric Abidal (France), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dani Alves (Brazil), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).

Feliz Martes! The FIFA Ballon d'Or preliminary list of 23 men has been finalised and although the final 3 names will be announced on December 5th, you have an entire month to gloss over this. There haven't been many surprises and we've highlighted whom we think will probably and predictably make the cut based on the votes and if it doesn't work out, they can still make this into a Ballon d'Or reality TV show!