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Fabio Coentrao was not selected for the Real Madrid squad that faced Espanyol on Saturday, yet he still took a seat on the bench anyway. When his teammates who were supposed to be there caught on to his mistake, they had Iker Casillas inform him. Coentrao gave him a blank stare before laughing at his error.

Reports out of Spain say that Arsenal have reached an agreement with Real Madrid for striker Gonzalo Higuain. The transfer fee is said to be close to €22m and is conditional on Arsenal finishing in the top four this season.

Madrid announced last week that Huguain would be leaving at the end of the season, but the consensus then was that he was heading to Juventus.

For a club that has reached the Champions League semi-finals in each of the last three years, this promises to be a summer of upheaval at the Bernabéu.

We all know that Jose Mourinho is heading back to the Premier League and Chelsea, and today Madrid general manager Jose Angel Sanchez told L'Equipe that Gonzalo Higuain will leave Real Madrid also this summer.

Borussia Dortmund have reached their second Champions League final despite losing 2-0 to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu as they prevailed 4-3 on aggregate.

Needing a huge turnaround from the first leg last week Real seemed to have run out of steam after Gonzalo Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil had passed up early opportunities However, after Robert Lewandowski had smashed the underside of the bar and Diego Lopez prevented Ilkay Gundogan with an incredible save from close range, Madrid were given a lifeline in the 83rd minute when substitute Karim Benzema swept home Ozil's low cross.

By DAN KARELL

After 170 minutes of quality soccer, Borussia Dortmund nearly gave it all away in the final ten minutes of the tie.

Two goals, and many skipped heartbeats later, the German side had gained entry to the UEFA Champions League final with a 4-3 aggregate victory over Real Madrid.

After a 1-4 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-final first leg, Real Madrid will look to come out of the gates in full-force this week at the Santiago Bernabeu. Both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich asserted their German dominance over the coveted Spanish counterparts of Madrid and Barcelona and will look to do so again in the second leg as well.

Once again the top three in La Liga all registered wins at the weekend. Despite making hard work of beating Levante, Barcelona remain 13 points clear of Real Madrid with only 18 more points to play for.

With their impending Champions League semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich on his mind, Barca coach Tito Vilanova again rested key players and his depleted side struggled to break down a stubborn Levante at Camp Nou.

Lionel Messi was on target for an 18th consecutive Primera Liga game as Barcelona maintained their 13-point Liga lead over Real Madrid with a 3-1 win against Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou. David Villa's first-half opener set Barca on their way before Messi stole the show with a brace. Raul Tamudo reduced the deficit for Rayo, but his first goal of the season was no more than a consolation.

For the second time in a week, Real Madrid emerged victorious from El Clasico as the form of runaway leaders Barcelona continued to stutter. The Blaugrana's lead over Atletico was reduced to 11 points as Los Colchoneros were held at Malaga, while Los Blancos are now just two points behind their city rivals.

What Real Madrid could take from El Clasico for Man Utd - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Real Madrid players, manager and support staff must be sporting an ear-to-ear grin after completing the demolition job of Barcelona in a comprehensive manner, that too, twice in successive weeks.

Morata celebrates after providing an excellent assist for Benzema's goal

What Saturday's game showed was even without their first choice players, Jose Mourinho's outfit can tear apart any top European squad.

In the second Clasico of the last five days, Real Madrid picked up right where they left off in their 3-1 second-leg win at Barcelona on Tuesday to advance to the Copa del Rey final. Karim Benzema opened the decidedly less important La Liga edition with a goal in the sixth minute, but Lionel Messi was able to snap his inexcusable streak of one whole match without a goal by scoring in the 18th minute.

As part of their sponsorship of Real Madrid, Audi give cars to all the players and hold media days where they are encouraged to race against each other.

It turns out that giving a group of competitive young men powerful sports cars is not a great idea, as Karim Benzema has been caught speeding at 135mph in his Audi RS5 4.

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, who was caught driving at speeds of up to 216km/hr (in an area with a speed limit of 100km/h) in Madrid on February 3rd, has requested that his trial date be postponed because of this weekend's crucial el clasico rematch.

The Frenchman was due to testify in court on Tuesday, but there isn't really much to argue about if you've already broken the speed limit!

New Granada boss Lucas Alcaraz should retire now as it is all downhill from here. In his first game in charge at Granada, Alcaraz saw his side pulled off a shock victory over Real Madrid at the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes.

Osasuna's win over Celta Vigo earlier today meant Granada had dropped into the bottom three by kick-off, but they climbed out again thanks to an own goal from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Any faint hope that Real Madrid fans of retaining the La Liga title ended today as they lost 3-2 at Malaga. The defeat, combined with Barcelona's early 3-1 win at Valladolid, means that Jose Mourinho's side will enter the Christmas break an unbelievable 16 points behind Barca.

For some strange reason, Mourinho dropped/rested Iker Casillas from his starting line-up, but it did not seen to matter in the first half as they totally dominated possession.

With poor domestic form and persistent rumors of behind-the-scenes conflict, Real Madrid may not be the most pleasant organization to work for right now, but that hasn't stopped the internetz having some lighthearted LOLZ at their expense.

The folks at Marca have unearthed a ROFL-tastic clip of Jose Mourinho busting out his favorite hip-hop moves with assistant coach Aitor Karanka, while our friends at 101GG have brought a fantastically surreal Christmas song based around Muslim striker Karim Benzema to our attention.

Real Madrid showed their mettle as they twice came from behind to win at Real Valladolid, while Málaga moved up to fourth in the Liga after beating Granada 4-0.

Eight points behind the Liga leaders, Real Madrid are still clinging to Barcelona's coat-tails, but twice needed to battle back from behind to snatch a 3-2 victory at Real Valladolid.

Karim Benzema of Real Madrid (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Chelsea have been linked to numerous big names, and Real Madrid's Karim Benzema is now another. While Radamel Falcao was a hot commodity throughout Europe especially in the Barclays Premier League, Chelsea have now set their sights on Benzema.

By Alan Duffy

Manchester City 1-1 Real Madrid Champions League 21st November 2012

Manchester City failed to make the Last 16 of the Champions League for the second season in a row after they could only draw with Real Madrid at the Etihad.

The visitors were ahead after just 10 minutes when Karim Benzema was left unmarked to score from close range.

By Chris Wright

FIFA have taken it upon themselves to announce their 23-man long shortlist/short longlist of nominations for this year's Ballon d'Or prize.

Here it be (in alphabetical order) as put out by award originators and overseers France Football...

Sergio Aguero (Argentina, Man City)
Mario Balotelli (Italy, Man City)
Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, Juventus)
Sergio Busquets (Spain, Barcelona)
Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea/Shanghai Shenhua)
Radamel Falcao (Colombia, Atletico Madrid)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Milan/PSG)
Andrés Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona)
Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona)
Manuel Neuer (Germany, Bayern Munich)
Neymar (Brazil, Santos)
Mesut Özil (Germany, Real Madrid)
Gerard Pique (Spain, Barcelona)
Andrea Pirlo (Italy, Juventus)
Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal Real Madrid)
Wayne Rooney (England, Man Utd)
Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast, Man City)
Robin van Persie (Holland, Arsenal/Man Utd)
Xabi Alonso (Spain, Real Madrid)
Xavi (Spain, Barcelona)

The long/shortlist will be further whittled down to just three names (the short shortlist) at the tail end of November, with the winner being announced at FIFA's annual jolly in Zurich on January 7th of next year.

Karim Benzema of Real Madrid (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Arsenal has been struggling to score as many goals as they need to make the most of their season so far. Missed chance has been a struggle as has a lack of creativity at times in the forward positions. According to TalkSport on Oct.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo matched each other blow for blow at the Nou Camp tonight, scoring two goals apiece as Barcelona and Real Madrid battled out an entertaining draw in the first Clásico of the La Liga season.

Heading into the game, Real Madrid trailed Barcelona by eight points, so this was billed as must-win win for the champions.

By Chris Wright

The best of the goals from last night's Champions League to-doings...

1. Eliseu (Malaga) vs Anderlecht...

2. Stephan El Shaarawy (Milan) vs Zenit St. Petersburg...

3. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) vs Ajax.

By Alan Duffy

Real Madrid 3-2 Manchester City Champions League 18th September 2012

In this clash of two sides dripping in cash, it was Real Madrid who dominated for the majority of the contest. However, despite being second best for most of the game, it was City who took the lead, when sub Edin Dzeko finished off a break from the always magnificent Yaya Touré.

By Chris Wright

Lacombe: Ladies man

Former Lyon player and coach Bernard Lacombe, who now serves as an unofficial "specialadviserto club president Jean-Michel Aulas, has done a whoopsie by telling a female caller on a live radio phone-in to, in essence, "get back in the kitchen where she belongs".

Bernard Lacombe started his career as a striker with Olympique Lyon, and masterminded several Champions League campaigns as manager of the club after retiring. The 1984 European Championship winner is now an adviser to club president Jean-Michel Aulas, and is credited with bringing in several key signings in recent seasons.

FIFA and France Football has announced the candidates for the FIFA Ballon d'Or and for the FIFA World Coach of the Year. As expected the list is dominated by players who play in La Liga.

The winners of all of the awards, which will be decided by the captains and head coaches of the men's national teams as well as by international media representatives selected by France Football, will be announced at the FIFA Ballon d'Or gala on 7 January 2013.

Spain took the honours on the opening night of the UEFA Champions League as Real Madrid beat Manchester City 3-2 in a thriller while there was a spectacular debut for Málaga.

City were the visitors to Madrid in the most highly anticipated game of the first matchday and although the hosts had the better of the chances, Edin Džeko opened the scoring midway through the second half.

Karim Benzema of Real Madrid (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

The Barclays Premier League currently has a multitude of transfer rumors ranging from last place QPR to the big spenders of Manchester City. All teams throughout the Premier League will be full of transfers, releases and rumors coming at the media left and right.

Karim Benzema en équipe de France (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Arsenal to Get Benzema If Real Land Falcao

Arsenal have been linked with a summer move for French striker Karim Benzema, who could be available at a knockdown price if Los Merengues decide to sign Atletico Madrid goal machine Radamel Falcao.