Atletico Madrid earned a 1-1 draw away to Girona in a chaotic and entertaining Copa del Rey last 16 first-leg match on Wednesday, leaving the tie finely balanced.
Real are third in the league standings with 54 points after 28 games, two behind second-placed Atletico Madrid who visit Athletic Bilbao later on Saturday and nine points behind leaders Barcelona who play at Real Betis on Sunday.
Maria Sharapova marched into the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open after crushing Australian Samantha Stosur 6-3, 6-2 on Friday to set up a last four meeting with fellow-Russian Vera Zvonareva.
The Cincinnati Open claimed two more high-profile victims on Thursday with Grand Slam champions Li Na and Petra Kvitova crashing out, while Russian pair Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva crunched their opponents en route to the quarter-finals.
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Caroline Wozniacki celebrated in defeat on Wednesday after injured Russian Maria Sharapova's withdrawal from the season-ending WTA Championships made sure the Dane would end the year as World No 1.
'They were better than us for some spells and we know what awaits us over there' Valverde pointed to his team's sensational exit from last year's competition to AS Roma after a 4-1 cushion from the first leg and said they would be taking nothing for granted in Tuesday's return game at Anfield.
Fourth seed Vera Zvonareva bundled Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova out of the Pan Pacific Open with a 7-6, 6-0 victory on Friday to book a place in the Tokyo finals. The Russian faces Agnieszka Radwanska for the title on Saturday after the Pole beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 under a setting sun in the second semi-final.
Russia's Maria Sharapova will face Serbia's Jelena Jankovic in the Cincinnati Open final after the pair enjoyed solid victories in their semi-finals on Saturday. Sharapova recovered from a poor start to beat fellow-Russian and world number two Vera Zvonareva 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach her fourth final of the season while Jankovic beat Germany's Andrea Petkovic 7-6, 6-1.
Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina advanced to the pre-quarter-finals of the Madrid Open with a come-from-behind win over the eighth seeded Czech team of Iveta Benesova and Barbora Strycova Zahlavova. The unseeded Indo-Russia combination scored a 3-6, 6-1, 10-2 win over their opponents in the first round of the euro 3,500,000 clay-court event.
Two surprise Grand Slam final appearances have given Vera Zvonareva the world number two ranking and the confidence to go one better at the Australian Open, but remarkably, the Russian remains saddled with the 'dark horse' tag.
French Open champion Li Na played like a 'junior' while Vera Zvonareva, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova were all also sent packing after rusty performances in the third round at the Toronto Cup on Thursday.
Agnieszka Radwanska won the biggest hard court title of her career when she upset world number three Vera Zvonareva of Russia 6-3 6-4 to win the San Diego Open on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Champion Serena Williams has withdrawn from January's Australian Open as she struggles to recover from a foot injury, which has sidelined her since July, organisers said on Thursday.
Vera Zvonareva was a shock finalist at Wimbledon last year but 12 months on it would be no surprise if the Russian repeated her feat at the All England Club over the next fortnight.
Serena Williams let victory slip from her grasp but gained plenty in defeat at the Eastbourne grasscourt tournament on Wednesday while sister Venus continued her winning return after a five-month injury layoff.
It ended a woeful few days for reigning champions Croatia. They left with two losses.
The Spaniard, who has never gone beyond the quarter-finals in a grand slam, grew in confidence in the second set, however, with the backing of the home support on the Manolo Santana court and saved two break points before forcing a decider.
Images from Day 8 at the French Open in Paris, on Sunday.
Samantha Stosur's win over world number one Caroline Wozniacki was not the only surprise for an unsuspecting crowd at the WTA Championships, where music, dance and even a frightened feline vied with the tennis for attention.
Novak Djokovic says his unbeaten run is down to his special, gluten-free diet and now Sabine Lisicki hopes she too will benefit in the long run after discovering she is allergic to wheat products.
Belgium's Kim Clijsters wasted little time in flattening second seed Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3 with an awesome display of power tennis to reach her second Australian Open final on Thursday.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki survived an early scare to win 10 straight games and crush German Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday for a spot in the last four of the Stuttgart Grand Prix.
As far as people like Kamala Harris are concerned, it's okay to share a culture, but wrong to play domestic Indian politics during American elections,' notes Vir Sanghvi.
Tata Steel's European arm, Corus, the second-largest steel maker on that continent, has appointed Citibank to help find a suitable buyer for its beleaguered Teesside Cast Products factory in northeast Britain.
Sania Mirza qualified for the singles main draw of the Family Circle Cup, a WTA event, after scoring a straight sets win over Ukraine's Olga Savchuk.
Dane Wozniacki avenged defeats in her last two meetings with Marion Bartoli by thrashing the Frenchwoman 6-1, 6-1 while second seed Zvonareva battled past fifth seed and former world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki reeled off 12 successive games to ease into the semi-finals of the Qatar Open after a 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Italian Flavia Pennetta on Thursday.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki moved into the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russian Nadia Petrova but third seed Francesca Schiavone was upset by China's Peng Shuai on Wednesday.
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As 2016 came to an end, countries across the globe rung in the new year. Hello, 2017 -- here we come!
Russian Vera Zvonareva, Czech Petra Kvitova and Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova -- names that are barely household names in their native towns let alone in the wider world -- earned their golden tickets to the semi-finals after a day of topsy-turvy tennis at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Rafael Nadal and Kim Clijsters swept into the Australian Open third round on Thursday as Serbia's Jelena Jankovic became the first top-10 player to exit the tournament. After three days of scares but no upsets at Melbourne Park, former world number one Jankovic, the seventh seed, was dumped out 7-6, 6-3 by Chinese upstart Peng Shuai.
Spain's new coach Luis Enrique said on Thursday that his tenure in charge of the 2010 world champions would be all about 'evolution, not revolution' but the former Barcelona manager also promised plenty of surprises in his first squad.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki's preparations for the Australian Open suffered a major setback when she was knocked out of the Sydney International in her first competitive match of the year on Tuesday.
Kim Clijsters captured her third US Open singles title after thrashing Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-1 in Saturday's final.
Cristiano Ronaldo, fired up by rival Lionel Messi's midweek hat-trick for Barcelona, struck four goals in 26 second-half minutes as Real Madrid crushed Celta Vigo 7-1 at the Bernabeu on Saturday.
Samantha Stosur underlined her credentials for next month's French Open by crushing Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-0, 6-3 in Sunday's final of the Family Circle Cup to claim her second WTA Tour title.
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