Copa Del Rey Last 16: Sevilla surprise Cup Holders whilst Atléticos nightmare continues

Recreativo de Huelva and Sevilla provided the cupsets of the round so far as they both finished the first leg ahead of their supposed superior rivals. In yesterdays tie at the Camp Nou, Barcelona and Sevilla both had grounds for complaint regarding the performance of referee Alfonso Burrull as Bojan and Diego Capel had goals incorrectly chalked off, whereas the penalty awarded to Sevilla appeared to occur outside of the box. Burrul is indebted to both coaches as they made no mention of his performance is their post-match interviews, with Guardiola even happy to take the blame for Barcas defeat. The highlight of the match was Ibrahimovics delightfully-taken goal. The big Swede is unplayable at the moment.

Atletico Madrid seem to be taking one step forward and two steps back right now. The win over Sevilla at the weekend was supposed to be a case of corner turned after a disastrous last half of 2009, but they faltered badly in Huelva and left 3-0 down on aggregate and in serious danger of being knocked out of the only competition they could still realistically win this season. Recreativo were dominant from start to finish and were already 1-0 up when Ujfalusi committed a recklessly high tackle which earned him a deserved straight red and left his teammates in the lurch for the remainding 70 minutes. The usually calm Quique Sanchez Flores was livid with his players lack of professionalism and made it clear that he would not persist with players who 'continue to dissapoint'. Other news to come out of the club was that midfielder Maxi Rodriguez  is on the verge of a move to English club Liverpool for a fee of about €1.5m. The second move of a clearout that has already seen Sinama-Pongolle shipped off to Sporting Lisbon.

Copa Del Rey Last 16 First Leg Results

Barcelona 1 - 2 Sevilla

Recreativo Huelva 3 - 0 Atlético Madrid

Celta Vigo 1 - 1 Villarreal

Valencia 1 - 2 Deportivo La Coruña

Alcorcón 2 - 3 Racing Santander

Hercules 2 - 1 Osasuna

Rayo Vallecano 2 - 1 Mallorca

Málaga 2 - 1 Getafe

La Liga Results - Matchday 16: Real Madrid stay second

Osasuna 0 - 0 Real Madrid

This was Real Madrids chance to put a marker down for 2010 and take advantage of Barcelonas 'shock' draw against Villarreal. The press had placed much emphasis on Madrids chance to go top, as if it could be a pivotal moment in the season. As it was, they found a stubborn Osasuna outfit who had as many chances to win the match as their illustrious visitors. The Reyno Navarro has been a happy hunting ground for the Bernabeu side in recent years, and was the scene of Real Madrids league triumph three years ago, but with Higuaín and Cristiano Ronaldo not enjoying their finest hour and the Osasuna defence utterly resolute, a 0-0 draw was probably a fair result. So it's as you were at the top of La Liga, with two points separating the leaders from Real. Will Madrid live to regret their failure to put Barca under a bit of early pressure?

READ ON FOR MATCH REVIEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS OF ALL SUNDAYS LA LIGA MATCHES

La Liga Results: Villarreal gatecrash Camp Nou Party

Barcelona 1 - 1 Villarreal
(1-0) 7' Pedro, (1-1) 50' Fuster

Whoever wrote the Camp Nou script for Barcelonas celebration of their six trophy bonanza, a draw with Villarreal surely wasn't part of it. That man Pedro got the hosts off to the perfect start after Thierry Henry had slammed a first time shot onto the bar, and he chested down to fire emphatically past Diego Lopez. From then on the Villarreal defence was heroic in the face of wave after wave of Barca attacks, and even after being turned down a nailed on penalty when Dani Alves felled Marcano, David Fuster was in the right place at the right time to slot in Cani's cross. If Real Madrid win tomorrow they go top. Not quite the New Year start Barca were looking for.

Valencia 1 - 0 Espanyol

(1-0) 92' Zigic

Espanyol fought tooth and nail for the away draw, but were undone by a fantastic Valencia move with practically the last touch of the match. Valencia battered Kamenis goal from start to finish with David Villa at the forefront, offering one mazy run in which he bamboozled one defender, nutmegged a second but found the goalkeepers legs with his shot. When Villa didnt find the Cameroon keeper in fine form, he found the woodwork and it looked like it would be Valencias day when in added time, Nicola Zigic headed a ball out wide to Joaquin, who put in a fantastic cross which found the rampaging beanpole who headed in past Kameni and sent the Mestalla into hysterics. 'Los Che' are flying high.

Atlético Madrid 2 - 1 Sevilla

(0-1) 44' Renato, (1-1) 48' Dragutinovic (o.g), (2-1) 94' Antonio Lopez

Antonio Lopez appeared at the front post to head in Simaos 94th minute free-kick and send the Vicente Calderon into raptures, giving Atlético Madrid a morale boosting start to 2010. The Atlético Madrid faithful deserved this last-gasp treat and whilst there were still a couple of signs of defensive frailty, especially just before giving away the corner which lead to Renatos opener, there were also signs that Atlético had improved upon their 2009 version. Quique gave starts to youngsters Ibrahim, Valera and Dominguez and they repaid their boss with fine displays which betrayed their young years. Sevilla were looking good up until half time but an unlucky rebound off Dragutinovic when Forlán had been clean through brought the hosts level and after Duscher had been sent off for a second yellow they gave away a needless free-kick on the edge of the area which was punished with Atleticos winner.

La Liga News: Sergio Sanchez withdraws from football

After the tragic deaths of Antonio Puerta and Dani Jarque, and the indefinite retirement from football by Ruben de la Red, Spanish football recieved another kick in the teeth with the news that Sevilla defender Sergio Sanchez has to withdraw from all footballing activity. The Andalucian club had carried out medical tests on all the whole first team squad, with the young defender returning results that showed he suffers from a heart problem, the exact nature of which is still unknown. Fingers crossed it's just a scare and that the talented youngster can return to football as soon as possible.