Defeat to Ajax ended a run of three Champions League wins, days after Copa del Rey and La Liga hopes evaporatedToday is 6 March, Real Madrid’s birthday, but there is nothing to celebrate. This week has been the worst in their 117-year history: three ho…
• Gabriel Pires striker takes Leganes through on away goals• Pressure mounting on coach Zinedine ZidaneReal Madrid were eliminated from the Copa del Rey quarter-finals after a shock 2-1 defeat by Leganés at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Wednesday.Pl…
The former Chelsea striker was back among old friends and duly scored in the Copa del Rey last-16 game against Lleida EsportiuDiego Costa had been back for only five minutes when he scored his first Atlético Madrid goal in three and a half years but no…
The English goalkeeper landed a contract with Fuenlabrada after sending letters in gold envelopes to 48 Spanish clubs. On Tuesday he will join his team-mates at the Copa del Rey tie against Real MadridWhen Fuenlabrada’s bus rolls through the gates into…
Six years after escaping administration, Alavés take on mighty Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final. Captain and local boy Manu García describes the fairytale
Manu García runs his finger carefully down the long list of names, squinting slightly as he searches for his own. Sixteen years on, he knows where to look but there are 13,200 of them written in tiny white print on a blue and yellow background, covering every millimetre from top to bottom and left to right, so it is not easy to find. Eventually, he sees his father, hidden among hundreds of Garcías. And then, on the line below, he stops. “Here,” he says. “This is me.” MANUEL ALEJANDRO GARCÍA.
Related: Alavés return from the abyss and rebel against reality to tame Barcelona | Sid Lowe
