Real Madrid
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Madrid leads the standings with 38 points - four better than Barcelona, which welcomes its bitter rival to the Camp Nou on Sunday (1 p.m. ET) in the 155th league meeting between Spain's two biggest clubs.
Madrid leads the overall series by 66-58, but both teams feel good about improving their side of the statistic.
"I find myself feeling more confident for this classic than for many others in the past," Barcelona president Joan Laporta said. "I'm convinced we are going to win."
Madrid president Ramon Calderon went as far as calling the result, saying the Spanish champions would get a 3-1 victory.
Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero went the other way, predicting a 3-1 win for Barcelona, according to newspaper El Mundo Deportivo.
Madrid is unbeaten in its last seven games in all competitions, while Barcelona hasn't lost in five, and both teams won their Champions League groups.
However, Madrid is helped by the absence of Barcelona winger Lionel Messi.
The 20-year-old Argentina international scored a hat trick the last time the two clubs met - a 3-3 draw at the Camp Nou in March - and leads the Catalan club with eight goals.
At least striker Samuel Eto'o has returned to demonstrate his importance to coach Frank Rijkaard's attack, the Cameroon striker netting three goals in his last two games after missing more than three months with a serious thigh injury.
Eto'o, who once donned the whites of Madrid, has scored seven goals against his former club, including three since leaving Mallorca.
"He's a fundamental player for them and he is helping them recuperate a lot of the values of their game which they had not taken care of lately," Madrid striker Raul Gonzalez said. "But it's a very open game. In theory, the team that plays at home always has an advantage thanks to the ambience created there, but last year we showed in 90 minutes that we deserved the victory. I think they will remember that game."
Messi's injury-time goal denied Madrid only its second win in 20 years at the Camp Nou, where Barcelona has won all 11 games this season.
Thierry Henry's return for Barcelona after a two-week layoff from injury could pose the latest setback to Ronaldinho's playing time. The Brazil playmaker has come off the bench in three of the club's last five games and was an unused substitute for the first time in a 3-0 win at Valencia on Sunday.
"It's hard to imagine a game like this one without Ronaldinho," teammate Eidur Gudjohnsen said. "If he comes in, I think you'll see him more motivated than ever."
Madrid has a full roster after defenders Christoph Metzelder and Gabriel Heinze returned for the 1-1 league cup draw against Alicante on Wednesday, but coach Bernd Schuster is unlikely to alter his starting lineup much.
Regardless of the result, Madrid will hold on to the top spot heading into the two-week Christmas break, before the league resumes on the weekend of Jan. 6-7.
Atletico Madrid and Villarreal are in joint third place with 31 points. On Sunday, Atletico hosts Espanyol, which is unbeaten in its last 12 to sit fifth with 30 points, and Villarreal hosts Recreativo Huelva.
In Sunday's other matches, it's: Valladolid versus Real Betis; Levante versus Deportivo La Coruna; Osasuna versus Mallorca; and Athletic Bilbao versus Murcia.
On Saturday, Valencia plays Zaragoza, Almeria faces Getafe and Sevilla sees sixth-placed Racing Santander.
The Spanish champions enjoy a four-point cushion atop the league and are a perfect 9-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu in all competitions this season.
Madrid leads Group C with eight points — the same total as Olympiakos, which hosts Werder Bremen. Bremen has six points while Lazio has five.
The nine-time champions will advance out of the group stage for the 11th straight year, as long as they don't lose.
"It will be a "final" because if we don't win or if we earn a negative result we may be out of the Champions League," midfielder Jose Maria "Guti" Gutierrez said. "A club like this one can't afford for that to happen."
Madrid has underachieved in Europe in recent years, one of the reasons president Ramon Calderon hired Bernd Schuster. Calderon is no doubt expecting his German coach to fetch top spot in Group C.
"Winning and going through as group leaders are the two important things to achieve in the game against Lazio," Guti said. "We haven't had the chance of having the home advantage in recent years. We are convinced of being able to win if we play as we have so far (this season)."
Though Lazio twice rallied for a 2-2 draw against Madrid at the Rome's Stado Olimpico in October, Madrid has only lost once in its last 24 European home dates. Only a victory will assure progression for the Roman club.
"These are the games you dream about when you're a kid," defender Sanchez Emilson Cribari said. "We're going to put everything we can into this and try to obtain something that seems impossible. Because nothing is impossible in soccer. Let's see what we can do."
Lazio needs to win by two goals or else it will have to rely on Olympiakos beating Bremen if the difference is a single score.
Lazio sits 12th in Serie A on the heels of a 2-0 win over Catania on Saturday.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, who should start despite hurting his calf in Madrid's 1-0 win against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, and strike partner Raul Gonzalez have combined for 111 Champions League goals and the hosts are 10-0 when Raul scores.
Center back Christoph Metzelder is Madrid's sole question mark, with defender Gabriel Heinze ready to return after a month on the sidelines.
Olympiakos, which comes in on the heels of a 4-0 win over Levadiakos, hasn't reached the knockout stages since 1999. All it needs is a draw.
"We will give it all in order to qualify," said Konstantinos Mendrinos. "With strength, passion and individual quality we will get what we want out of the match."
Despite road wins over Bremen and Lazio, the Greek champions have two draws to show at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium.
Bremen was edged 4-3 by Hannover 96 over the weekend to trail leader Bayern Munich by two points in the Bundesliga. It lost to Olympiakos 3-1 in October.
Carlos must wait for Chelsea move
Roberto Carlos will have to wait until a new Real Madrid president is elected before he makes any move away from the club.
Chelsea have been constantly linked with signing the defender, as they look to match there dominance of the Premiership with success in the European Champions league. The Brazilian is also thought to favour a move to the West London club, but will now have to until the beginning of July when the elections for the next Madrid president will take place.
Real Madrid’s Vice-President Emilio Butragueno commented on the situation saying, “It's logical that the next President and his advisors should decide if they want Roberto. We'll see how they feel about him and Chelsea and a definite decision will be taken on his future.”
Adding, “We believe it would be better not to decide anything until after the elections on July 2.”
The left back has played for Palmeiras and Inter Milan before joining Real Madrid and has won both the World Cup and the Champions league.
Ronaldo aims to score his way into history
Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo said that he hopes to be able to repeat his feat of scoring eight goals achieved at the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan/South Korea at next month's finals in Germany.
Speaking at the launch of his new website - www.worldofronaldo.com - in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday (May 10), Ronaldo said: "I hope to repeat what I achieved in the Cup in 2002. It's not going to be easy, but the preparation is essential for the World Cup. My concern now is to look after myself. I hope to be better by then, we have a week and a half left to train. At the end, I hope to be a part of history."
Brazil won the 2002 final 2-0 against Germany with Ronaldo scoring both of the goals to confirm himself as the leading scorer of the tournament, but he emphasised that Brazil's success in this year's competition would be more important than his own personal achievements.
"In any case, being the top goalscorer in the World stadiums isn't the principal aim, although it would be an honour if I achieved it, but the main aim is to win the World Cup and if I manage to score three or more goals I'll be twice as happy," he said.
Ronaldo's future at Real Madrid remains a topic of speculation although he said he would be happy to stay at the Primera Liga club.
"As I've said a thousand times, I'm very happy in Madrid. I'm very happy with Real Madrid and I want to triumph here. But if the people don't want me, well obviously, I don't want to be a problem," he said.
The striker appeared to be on his way out in February when, after being whistled by a section of fans, he said he would consider his future at the end of the season.
Florentino Perez then quit as club president to be replaced by Fernando Martin, who in turn was ousted by the board last month.
A presidential election is due to be held at the end of the season although the result is not expected to be known until early July.
Ronaldinho Ends Beckham's 3-Year Stint Atop Soccer's Rich List
Ronaldinho, the world footballer of the year who calls himself ``ugly but nice,'' ended David Beckham's three-year tenure as soccer's richest player, according to France Football magazine's annual rich list. The buck-toothed Brazilian playmaker's earnings more than tripled in the last year to 23 million euros ($28.5 million), 5 million euros more than Beckham's, the magazine said. Ronaldinho, 26, is earning more from advertising as his trickery with the ball -- described last week as ``incredible'' by former Germany World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer -- helps achieve success for Barcelona. England captain David Beckham, who turns 31 next month, hasn't won a trophy since joining Real Madrid three years ago. Ronaldinho's growing endorsement portfolio includes PepsiCo Inc., Nike Inc., Cadbury Schweppes Plc and Groupe Danone. He got 14 million euros from 15 advertising contracts, 8.5 million euros in salary from Barcelona and a 500,000-euro bonus the last year, according to France Football. His relative youth and success will mean his appeal to advertisers will keep growing, Omnicom Group Inc.'s BBDO said March 31 after putting his brand value at 47 million euros, 2.1 million euros more than Beckham's. Ronaldinho is on the verge of leading Barcelona to its second straight Spanish league title and, if it defends a 1-0 lead against AC Milan, a place in the Champions League final. He'll also seek to help Brazil win its second straight World Cup from June 9-July 9. Worst Run A follower of fashion married to a former Spice Girls pop singer, Beckham is set to see his stint at Real Madrid coincide with its worst run in 53 years, and the England captain may play at his last World Cup this year. Vodafone Group Plc, the world's largest cellular-phone company, last July said it wouldn't renew its three-year endorsement accord with Beckham. He continues to endorse sporting-goods maker Adidas-Salomon AG and perfume maker Coty Inc. among other companies. Beckham's earnings dropped to 18 million euros from 25 million euros in the last year, according to France Football. Figures are in millions of euros:
PLAYER SALARY TOTAL
1. Ronaldinho 8.5 23.0
2. David Beckham 6.4 18.0
3. Ronaldo 6.4 17.4
4. Wayne Rooney 5.2 16.1
5. Christian Vieri 4.0 16.0
6. Zinedine Zidane 6.4 15.0
7. Alessandro del Piero 4.2 11.5
8. Frank Lampard 7.2 9.8
9. Thierry Henry 4.5 9.8
10. John Terry 5.9 9.7
11. Steven Gerrard 6.7 9.2
12. Oliver Kahn 6.0 9.1
13. Rio Ferdinand 7.2 9.0
14. Raul Gonzalez 6.4 8.9
15. Michael Owen 5.0 8.7
16. Ruud van Nistelrooy 6.4 8.5
17. Francesco Totti 5.6 8.4
18. Michael Ballack 5.5 8.4
19. Harry Kewell 5.7 7.9
20. Patrick Vieira 5.0 7.5
Zidane to retire after World Cup
Zinedine Zidane has announced his decision to retire after the World Cup soccer finlas in June, bringing down the curtain on a glittering career.
The French midfielder, who'll be 34 in June, was the architect of France's victories in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, and the scorer of a sublime winning goal in Real Madrid's triumph in the 2002 Champions League final.
FIFA's three-time world player of the year is still the most expensive signing in the history of the sport, having been signed by Real Madrid from Juventus five years ago for 66-million US dollars.
Real Madrid will Soon Have New Coach
Real Madrid president Fernando Martin said he will be signing the club’s coach for next season within "two or three weeks." Martin’s comments indicate that caretaker coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro will not be kept on after the season despite an improvement in Real’s fortunes.
"We'll soon have a new coach, probably in two or three weeks," Martin told Canal Plus TV.
Martin gave no indication of who will be Madrid's sixth coach since it last won a trophy in 2003, but the Spanish press are reporting that AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti is a strong possibility even though his contract with Milan runs through 2007. He favors the open and attacking style of football that Real has preferred in recent seasons and is rumored to want a new challenge after five seasons at the San Siro. Other reported candidates include Juventus Turin’s Fabio Capello, Liverpool’s Rafa Bentitez and Italian coach Marcelo Lippi.
Martin took charge after Florentino Perez resigned on February 27 and will be facing presidential elections in June or early July.
Becks Believes in Comeback
David Beckham is convinced Real Madrid have the players needed to pull off a Champions League great escape at Highbury.
Arsenal took a massive step towards the last eight of Europe's premier tournament with a 1-0 win at the Bernabeu.
A breathtaking solo effort by Frenchman Thierry Henry gave Arsenal the edge for the return leg in a fortnight.
The England skipper knows the Spanish giants have it all to do, but believes a quarter-final place is possible for the galacticos.
"It's going to be hard. I have played at Highbury a number of times and I know how difficult it is to play there," Beckham told Sky Sports News.
"But it's possible - we've got the players. If we get one goal and then two, we're through, but we have made it very hard for ourselves."
The 30-year-old admitted Arsenal were worthy winners, but felt his side failed to match the improved standards they have set in recent weeks.
"After five minutes you could tell it was a different performance to what it has been for the last two or three months.
"It's disappointing because it was a huge game."
Being underdogs allowed Arsene Wenger's side to relax, according to Beckham, who added: "They enjoyed the game, they passed the ball well.
"When they have got players like Thierry up front, they are going to capitalise on mistakes and our whole team didn't perform."
Beckham himself missed Real's best opportunity of the game when he was through on goal with only Jens Lehmann to beat so he will be doubly determined to make amends in the make-or-break return leg at Highbury.
Woody Injury Being Evaluated
Real Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate will have further tests on his injured left leg on Wednesday as his club seek to determine the extent of the damage.
Woodgate, whose two seasons in Spain have been plagued by injuries, had to leave the field in the ninth minute of Real's 1-0 Champions League defeat at home to Arsenal.
Los Merengues were unable immediately to reveal how long the 26-year-old might be sidelined.
A statement on the club's website read: "At the end of the match, the Real Madrid medical services confirmed that the English central defender (Woodgate) has a strain in the rear part of his left (leg) muscle.
"On Wednesday it will be examined, and a decision will be taken on his ailment. At this time it's being evaluated.
"From the moment the time that the player will be out is known it will be made known via realmadrid.com."
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