Copa del Rey Semi-Final: Atlético smash four past Racing

Anything can happen in football, but whilst they may still be a glimmer of hope for Getafe in their second leg against Sevilla, Atletico Madrids emphatic 4-0 thrashing of Racing Santander pretty much has their name printed on that ticket to the final. The scoreline is harsh on Racing, but Atletico deserved the win, lead by a spectacular showing from Argentine forward Sergio Agüero. He didn't get on the scoresheet, but he played a huge role in Simaos cracking opener and ran the Racing defence ragged from then on, earning the second penalty of the night which Diego Forlán duely converted. The Uruguayans first penalty was an absolutely shocking decision from the ref, with the foul committed a clear metre outside the box (see below). Jose Antonio Reyes got the other goal, but his night ended prematurely when he was stretchered off with what appears to be knee ligament damage, although initial reports suggest he'll only be out for two weeks. Keeper De Gea and much maligned defender Perea also performed admirably, as the Vicente Calderon finally got something to cheer about.

Copa del Rey Semi-Final: Sevilla put one foot in the final

Sevilla stepped ever closer to the final of the Copa del Rey with a convincing 2-0 defeat of Getafe. Both teams have enjoyed solid runs in the cup in recent years, but only one will make it to the final in this years episode, and after tonights show, Sevilla are very much in the driving seat. It took a particularly unpopular decision from Manolo Jiminez to set Sevilla on the road to victory, as Alvaro Negredo was hauled off after 36 minutes to allow Romaric to steady the ship after a turbulent opening half hour where Getafe threatened to run riot. The substitution worked wonders with Luis Fabiano and and an own goal from Mario giving Sevilla a healthy lead to take to the Coliseum.

La Liga Winter Transfer Window 2010: Real Zaragoza break the bank

The protagonists of the 2010 Winter transfer window has been without a shadow of doubt, Real Zaragoza. Having released Ewerthon, López Vallejo, Songo'o, Roberto Ayala and Braulio, they have brought in Edmilson, Roberto, Jarosik, Eliseu, Suazo, Colunga and Contini, in order to arrest their slide into La Segunda for the second time in three years. Quite where they have found the funds for all these new signings remains to be seen, but the fans will at least be glad that the club have taken action after a horrific first half of the season, with the new signings making an immediate impact against Tenerife last weekend. The good news is that Jermaine Pennant has not only survived the axe, but has cemented his place in the side with some racy performances that have won over new coach Jose Aurelio Gay.

This weekend also saw the sacking of two managers in the shape of Ernesto Valverde and Jose Luis Mendilibar. Real Valladolid have already replaced Mendilibar with Onésimo, while Villarreal have placed Juan Carlos Garrido in charge of the Yellow Submarine until the end of the season.


La Liga Winter Transfer Signings 2009/2010

Atlético Madrid: Tiago (Juventus), Pacheco (Rayo), Salvio (Lanús)
Espanyol: Osvaldo (Bologne)
Getafe: Miku (Valencia)
Malaga: Walter* (Nástic), Caicedo* (Sporting Lisbon), Jordi Pablo
Osasuna: Echaide (Huesca)
Racing Santander: Iván Bolado (Free Agent)
Sevilla: Stankevicius*(Sampdoria)
Sporting Gijon: Smiljanic*(Espanyol)
Valencia: Chori Domínguez (Rubin Kazan)
Real Valladolid: Henrique Sereno (Vitoria de Guimaraes), Keko*(Atlético), Del Horno (Valencia)
Villarreal: Marcos Gullón (Villarreal B)
Xerez: Alustiza* (Chacarita Juniors), Vigneri* (Puebla)
Real Zaragoza: Edmilson*(Palmeiras), Roberto (Atlético), Jarosik (Krylya Sovetov), Eliseu (Lazio), Suazo (Monterrey), Colunga*(Recreativo), Contini (Nápoles)

* Loan Signing

Madrid press unleash dirty tactics on Barcelona

I find it hard to believe that the award-winning, best-selling sports daily in Spain, Marca, would resort to such childish behaviour in order to belittle their great rivals in Barcelona, but they have. All weekend we were shown images that appeared to show Pedro in an offside position when he received the killer pass from Andres Iniesta. What most didn't notice at the time was that Marca had used photoshop to get rid of the lines on the pitch, that clearly show Pedro to be onside.

They really need to accept that football is all about cycles, and right now it's Barcelona who are clearly in the ascendency. Real Madrid enjoyed their last golden period around the start of 2000 and they will no doubt reappear soon to take over at the top of the La Liga and dominate Europe once more. Maybe it hurts Marca that their flagship team spent an obscene amount last summer, only to see them lag five points behind at the halfway stage, but that's the way it is. It will take time for the newly-assembled team of galacticos to gather pace, and for me they've done superbly well to be only 5 points behind having missed Pepe, CR9 and Kaká for lengthy periods of time. And all this after a particularly nasty smear campaign aimed at Lionel Messi in an attempt to divert attention away from Ronaldos misplaced swing at Mtiligas nose. It's hard enough to accept that we have severe media manipulation in most walks of life, but in sport it certainly has no place. Shame on you Marca.