The Bernabeu faithful have never taken Gareth Bale to their hearts with injury problems and a perceived lack of integration into the side often used as sticks to beat him with.
Premier League-based trio Diego Costa, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla were among a high-profile list of absentees when Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque named his provisional 25-man squad for Euro 2016 on Tuesday. Costa injured his hamstring against Liverpool in Chelsea's penultimate game of the season. Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres was also absent from the squad despite his improved form towards the end of the season, as were Arsenal midfielder Cazorla and Valencia forward Paco Alcacer, Spain's top scorer in their qualifying campaign.
Lionel Messi became the first player to win 10 La Liga crowns with Barcelona and only the third player from any club to do so.
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Benzema to stand trial in sex tape case, says lawyer.
Mourinho's side failed to turn their domination into more goals and things got edgy late on when Saville's shot evaded Gazzaniga who seemed slow to get down.
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has escaped a three-game ban after his red card against Liverpool was overturned. 'At an independent Regulatory Commission hearing today, a claim for wrongful dismissal from Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard was upheld,' the FA said on its website.
The difference in fortunes since Liverpool won 3-0 away to Manchester United in March was illustrated when Louis Van Gaal's team reversed that scoreline on Sunday.
Chelsea skipper John Terry has insisted that the season's Premier League title race is down to three teams, which they would like to win by Christmas.
Juergen Klopp's side remain seventh, six points behind the Champions League places, after only their second defeat in the 12 games since the German took over in October
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Lionel Messi has become the first player to win Europe's Golden Shoe award for three straight years after his nearest challenger Kylian Mbappe failed to score the four goals he needed in Paris St Germain's final league match of the season on Friday.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said striker Diego Costa will start against Liverpool in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday despite being left out of the Spain squad for this month's international matches because of persistent injuries.
Chelsea could be without Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis for clash against Manchester City
Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur can cement their status as the top dogs in the capital if they end an eight-year wait and defeat Arsenal in the North London derby on Sunday.
UEFA have ordered Spanish league club Atletico Madrid to play their next two Champions League matches away from home following crowd trouble earlier this month against Marseille.
After falling 2-0 down on the night, substitute Marcos Llorente struck twice in extra-time and Alvaro Morata added a late third to ensure a famous victory for Diego Simeone's side against a Liverpool team unbeaten in their last 25 home games in European competition.
IMAGES from the Champions League matches played on Tuesday
Bolton Wanderers moved off the bottom of the Premier League and out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 home defeat of Manchester City on Sunday. A poor game was settled by two late goals, the first a close-range effort from Ricardo Gardner and the second an own goal from City defender Richard Dunne.
Three consecutive defeats by direct rivals in the Primera Liga has left Atletico Madrid coach Javier Aguirre under pressure to get a good result against Liverpool at home in the Champions League.
Managerless Tottenham Hotspur face a long trip to Ukraine for a meeting with former boss Juande Ramos after being drawn against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the last 32 of the Europa League.
Liverpool were beaten 1-0 away to Atletico Madrid in their last-16 first leg on Tuesday.
Frank Lampard controlled his inner turmoil and scored with a brilliantly taken penalty to put Chelsea within sight of their first Champions League final on Wednesday. The 29-year-old England midfielder, whose mother Pat died at 58 from pneumonia last Thursday, then let his guard down and wept with emotion while his celebrating team mates swamped him. The goal, after 98 minutes of a pulsating semi-final second leg against Liverpool, turned the match Chelsea's way.
Defender Per Mertesacker expects Granit Xhaka to set the tempo from the Arsenal engine room this season and described him as the 'perfect signing' for the club.
Crystal Palace heaped more misery on Liverpool when they came from behind to win 3-1 in the Premier League on Sunday, six months after effectively ending the northern club's title hopes when they drew 3-3.
Pat Lampard, mother of Chelsea midfielder Frank and wife of former West Ham United player Frank Senior died on Thursday, Chelsea said in a statement.
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Zidane plays down Ronaldo injury; Liverpool's Gomez sidelined after surgey
IMAGES from the Champions League 2nd semi-final first leg match between Barcelona and Liverpool at Nou Camp on Wednesday
A night of wholesale team changes for the 11 Premier League sides in action produced one notable upset with top flight Stoke City losing 2-0 at second-tier Bristol City.
Serie A leaders Juventus scored twice in the last five minutes to win 3-2 at Inter Milan, who had earlier come from behind to lead despite playing with 10 men in an extraordinary match on Saturday.
'ou need to find courage to beat this fear and I generally manage to do so. That's why I feel much stronger than people who say they are never scared'
Liverpool's dream run was demolished in the most unlikely fashion by strugglers Watford on Saturday in what must be considered the most extraordinary reverse of the entire Premier League season. On the evening when the European champions were expected to complete the best sequence in the history of English football's top-flight with a 19th straight league victory, they were instead hammered 3-0 by the team lying one from bottom. Images from the EPL matches played on Saturday.
Arsenal have the players and qualities to challenge for the Premier League title and their failure to do so is frustrating, striker Alexis Sanchez has said.
The final against Liverpool in Athens, a rerun of the 2005 final, which Milan lost on penalties is their third in five years.
'I think they're in a big fight now'
Conte said his team could face a more daunting task against the five-time European champions at the Nou Camp.
Lee Bowyer will serve a three-match ban after his claim for wrongful dismissal against Liverpool was rejected
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Old rivals Real Madrid will play Bayern Munich for the 17th time in European competition in the Champions League first knockout round.
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