Barcelona's Copa del Rey semi-finals win against Real Madrid has been tempered by a growing injury list that will make their clash against Villarreal on Saturday harder.

Andres Iniesta and Alexis Sanchez both limped off in last night's 2-2 draw, which secured a 4-3 aggregate win.

That means Barca will head to El Madrigal missing six players in total, as David Villa, Ibrahim Afellay and Andreu Fontas are already injured, while Seydou Keita is at the African Nations Cup.

Football resumed in Spain after the short winter break, and it did not take long for the first upset of 2012 to occur, as a late equalizer from Espanyol in the Barcelona derby dented Barca's title hopes.

Real Madrid started off 2012 like they ended 2011, scoring goals. This week Madrid beat Granada 5-1 with Karim Benzema scoring twice and Cristiano Ronaldo hitting his 21st league goal of the season.

FC Barcelona won the match-up of the weekend, if not the season to date, with a thrilling 3-1 victory against arch-rival Real Madrid. Goals from Alexis Sanchez, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas helped the reigning champions erase Real Madrid's three-point hold on first place in La Liga (though Real Madrid still has a game in hand).

There are moments of true magic in the beautiful game of football. This year, perhaps no one knows this better than SSC Napoli in sizzling form in the Serie A, and now having sealed their spot in the final sixteen of the Champions League! Napoli's debut in the Champions League has been nothing less than a Cinderella story.

FC Sochaux-Montbéliard vs. Olympique Lyonnais,

Ligue 1 , Matchday 13.

It is time to pick up the pieces. Real Madrid redefined the words ‘Demolition Derby' for us these past few weeks. But more significantly, they've left Lyon on the verge of being knocked out from the Champions League after the group stages.

By Geoff Reid

Group A
Bayern Munich vs Napoli from the Allianz Arena, Munich
The Bavarian giants have been in such great form as of late, their manager Juup Heynckes believes that today's visitors from Italy should set up to counter attack them, and that's a fair point.

FELIZ MARTES!! The Champions League finally returns today and you'd better believe that Roberto Mancini loves David Silva as much as the Valencianos still do! There's nothing quite like some hair affection at a press conference and naturally, they picked David to face the Spanish media ahead of the City-Villarreal clash tonight.

Villarreal picked up their first win of the new La Liga season on Tuesday night, beating Real Mallorca 2-0. Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar scored early in each half although the hosts could have scored even more as they enjoyed a return to form at El Madrigal.

On another night Rossi could have had a hat-trick but it mattered little as the Yellow Submarine ended a winless start to the season that had seen them second from bottom at kick-off.

And....quickly:

Uche

5. La Liga: Oops, Wrong Scoreline

Levante took down Mourinho's Madrid in an unexpected win at home. Bigger? Granada with its first win in 35 years in La Liga by beating reeling Villarreal in a chippy affair that saw the recently-promoted El Graná survive seven yellow cards without a red attached.

By Geoff Reid

Group A
Manchester City vs Napoli from the Etihad Stadium, Manchester
This is going to be a special match for both clubs, as it's the first time they have both taken part in the European Cup in many, many years, and the first time under the reformed Champions League.

Okay, suspension of disbelief for just a second here.

Not sure why he's pointing at the sky here.....he's the deity on the pitch.

Also, let's forget about a little thing called the Champion's League.

I'm taking a fleeting glance here at another Lionel Messi Master Class here as Barca digs a heal into the necks of the Yellow Submarine's fans Yesterday it was Manchester United with a clinical dismantling of Arsenal and Manchester City running rampant over the Rednapps.

Villarreal will play in the Champions League group stages for the third time thanks in part to two second-half goals from Giuseppe Rossi against Odense.

For 50 minutes at El Madrigal it was the Stefan Wessels show as the goalkeeper did his utmost to preserve OB's 1-0 first-leg lead. Once Rossi scored for the sixth successive European home game, however, the hosts' momentum proved impossible to resist.

An 84th-minute goal from Hans Henrik Andreasen gave Odense an unlikely 1-0 win over Villarreal. The Danish side withstood heavy second-half pressure from Villarreal but held out for a memorable victory.

Odense started to game really well and created the best chances early on. First, Andreasen nodded just wide before more pressure nearly resulted in an own goal.

According to Giuseppe Rossi's agent the Villareal striker will not be moving to Barcelona despite rumors for weeks that the deal was nearly done.

Villareal head coach Juan Carlos Garrido has said that they would have to sell Rossi if a good offer came in and it appeared as if it did from Barcelona, but the striker who scored 18 La Liga goals for the Yellow Submarine will not be moving to the defending league and UEFA Champions League champions.

Giuseppe Rossi and Villarreal need somewhat of a miracle to keep their hopes of European silverware alive.

The Yellow Submarine enters Thursday's semifinal second leg against Porto down 5-1 after being trounced in the first leg in Portugal. If Villarreal can't pull off a large victory, the Europa League final in Dublin will be guaranteed to be an all-Portuguese event.

Villarreal have progressed to the Europa League semi-finals after dispatching Dutch side FC Twente ruthlessly 8-2 on aggregate, setting up a mouthwatering tie against newly crowned Portuguese champions Porto. Juan Carlos Garrido's team are on the up; they sit fourth in the La Liga standings and are on the verge of competing in the Champions League again, a competition they reached the last four in back in 2005-06.

On a weekend where the outcome of the Battle for the League Title has pretty much been decided for Europe's 3 Top Leagues: I find myself amongst like-minded Madridistas lamenting the fact that we are perhaps to be victims of fate. A 15-minute hat trick, complete with a swearing fit in front of camera from Manchester United pseudo-bad boy Wayne Rooney put Manchester United ahead by 8 points in England.

While the UEFA Champions League gets all the attention, it's the Europa League that is home to some of the best gems in European club football. For example, the first half of the Villarreal - Napoli match at the El Madrigal Stadium contained some of this week's most fascinating moments in football.
In the 17th minute, Hamsik headed in a beauty of a goal and several celebrating Napoli fans went tumbling to the sideline when the stadium guardrail broke:
As beautiful as that Hamsik goal was and as excited as the Napoli fans were, it was all for naught as Nilmar got the equalizer for Villarreal in the 42nd minute and then the Boy from Teaneck, Giuseppe Rossi, got the game winner for the Yellow Submarine:

Barcelona restored their five-point advantage over Real Madrid CF thanks to a 2-1 win against Athletic Bilbao.

Beaten in midweek by Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie, Barcelona took only four minutes to settle back into their stride at the Camp Nou. David Villa provided the finish, and although Athletic levelled five minutes after half-time through Andoni Iraola's penalty, Lionel Messi made the difference with his 25th league goal this season 12 minutes before the end.

Like the Champions League, the Europa League resumes again this week with the round of 32 matches.

The action kicks off on Tuesday with Manchester City FC's new front man Edin Džeko aiming to help the Group A winners ruin Aris Salonikai's 40-year unbeaten home record in UEFA competition in the first leg of their tie.

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.

Liverpool are once again being linked with a move for French international midfielder Blaise Matuidi.
The Times reported last week that the St Etienne player was being targeted as Liverpool struggle to agree a fee for Charlie Adam, with an €8 million move mooted.
Director of Football strategy at Anfield, Damien Comolli, is a known admirer of the player after holding a similar position at the Ligue 1 club.

Football chants are the metaphoric glue that bonds fans together in banter. For some players these are songs praising their talent, for others, well, it's best not to go there. Unfortunately there are some offensive corkers we had to leave out, but the ones we left in are equally class.

Giuseppe Rossi has agreed an improved contract with Villarreal which ties him to the Spanish team until 2016.

Rossi, who joined Villarreal from Manchester United in 2007 has become he club's all-time top scorer in La Liga with 44 goals. His 11 goals in 19 La Liga appearances this season have helped the third-placed Yellow Submarine to their best ever start.

Jozy Altidore received a rare start from Villarreal head coach Juan Carlos Garrido however the Yellow Submarine went down in defeat to Sevilla in the return leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal.

The TSG Sis is in from the middle of Nowheresville, Africa...so hiatus till Tuesday.

Your top 5 games for Americans to watch this weekend:

5. Saturday: Villarreal vs. Osasuna

The skinny: Yanks' fans always tune in to see if Jozy Altidore will play for the Yellow submarine, however Jersey-born

Rossi, ahead of most Americans abroad.

EUPHORIA: Kaka's goal, Real's 4th, giving us a 2-goal cushion - meant that all hope was lost for the sunken Yellow Submarine and that the 3 points were all ours..
Real Madrid 4 – Villarreal 2. What a match! There are very few matches that get people to talk up the possibility of having an attractive and utterly competitive game and actually live up to it: Last Night's encounter was one of those few times.

Cristiano Ronaldo kept Real Madrid within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona as his hat-trick helped Madrid beat Villarreal 4-2, on a day when Espanyol boosted their European ambitions by downing Real Zaragoza 4-0.

José Mourinho's men twice had to come from behind against third-placed Villarreal and on both occasions it was Ronaldo who restored parity, the Portuguese forward cancelling out Cani's cool seventh-minute opener just two minutes later before heading in on the stroke of half-time after Marco Ruben (18) had chipped the Yellow Submarine back in front.

Cristiano Ronaldo kept Real Madrid within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona as his hat-trick helped Madrid beat Villarreal 4-2, on a day when Espanyol boosted their European ambitions by downing Real Zaragoza 4-0.

José Mourinho's men twice had to come from behind against third-placed Villarreal and on both occasions it was Ronaldo who restored parity, the Portuguese forward cancelling out Cani's cool seventh-minute opener just two minutes later before heading in on the stroke of half-time after Marco Ruben (18) had chipped the Yellow Submarine back in front.

By AVI CREDITOR

Toronto FC announced a whole host of front office moves on Thursday, most notably officially introducing Aron Winter as its new head coach and technical director and Paul Mariner as its new director of player personnel.

Bob de Klerk, who worked with Winter in the Ajax Amsterdam academy system, will be the team's top assistant coach.