Barcelona today announced Tito Vilanova’s operation on his parotid gland had gone “as expected” as the 44-year-old began a second battle with cancer.

Barcelona boss Tito Vilanova does not believe the Primera Division title is won despite his side opening up a nine-point gap at the top of the table.

ON the final day, The Greatest League in the World (copyright: Spanish Football Federation) ended with a whimper, not a bang.

Barcelona 4 Valladolid 0

FIFTEEN months after celebrating the greatest spending spree in football history, Real Madrid fans are having to face the fact their club will almost certainly have nothing to show for it.

BARCELONA are sweating on the fitness of playmaker Lionel Messi ahead of their two huge matches this week.

Marseille defender Souleymane Diawara insists there was no malicious intent behind the tackle which has ruled Cristiano Ronaldo out for a month.

WOLVES manager Mick McCarthy now believes his €7.6m striker Kevin Doyle would benefit from playing 45 minutes against Australia at Thomond Park on Wednesday.

FORGOTTEN striker Bojan Krkic scored his first league goals of the season as Barcelona restored their six-point advantage over Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish Primera Liga with a 2-0 win at Almeria last night.

Bolton have signed Benfica striker Ariza Makukula on loan until the end of the season subject to the granting of a work permit, the club have announced.

NEW Real Madrid boss Juande Ramos says his side have nothing to fear in tomorrow’s highly-anticipated clash against Barcelona at the Nou Camp (9pm, live on Sky Sports).

UNDER fire Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster had few complaints about his side’s 3-1 defeat by Getafe on Saturday, admitting he felt from early on it was not going to be their night.

JOSE MOURINHO tightened his grip on Serie A and claimed bragging rights in his personal duel with Claudio Ranieri after Inter defeated Juventus 1-0 on Saturday.

CRISIS is an overused word in football. But when just five players turn up for training, and the manager is nowhere to be seen, it’s reasonable to assume that something isn’t quite right.

Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster has been given a vote of confidence by sporting director Predrag Mijatovic.

SPANISH football is known for the spectacular, but even by La Liga standards Saturday was extraordinary.

VILLARREAL came from behind to defeat a determined Aalborg 6-3 in a thrilling Group E Champions League match that saw a hat-trick from second-half substitute Joseba Llorente.

ARE Internazionale cracking? A title race that looked like being a procession for the second year running has been thrown into doubt after a week of results that reduced the gap at the top to four points.

JUST when Real Madrid seemed to be building an unassailable lead, with an unbeaten run stretching back three months, the champions have lost two away matches in a row, and suddenly the gap at the top has closed.

REAL MADRID’S 2-0 defeat at Almeria on Saturday night has to be the result of the season so far in Spain. Unbeaten in three months, the league leaders were expecting a straightforward three points.

BARCELONA warmed up for next week’s ‘Clash for the Title’ against Real Madrid with a timely 3-0 win in Valencia — and an ill-timed injury to their one irreplaceable player, Leo Messi.

Ivan Campo has signed a new two-year deal with Bolton on the day his old contract expired.

Valencia coach Antonio Lopez believes his former boss Rafael Benitez can outsmart Chelsea when his Liverpool side tackle the Londoners in the Champions League tomorrow.

Exeter City 0 Manchester United 2

London Irish coach Gary Gold believes his team have got “a tough hill to climb” in their quest for a European Challenge Cup quarter-final place.

London Irish will be without almost a quarter of their squad for tomorrow night’s tough European Challenge Cup second round tie against Pau in France.

RAFAEL BENITEZ insisted he was undaunted by the prospect of restoring Liverpool to the pinnacle of English football after being officially unveiled as the club's new manager yesterday.

REAL MADRID midfielder David Beckham was sent off in the 36th minute of his side's Primera Liga match against bottom club Murcia last night for insulting a linesman.

AC MILAN won the Italian league title yesterday after beating Roma 1-0 at the San Siro.

DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA go into tonight’s Champions League semi-final, first leg match at Porto knowing they will probably not be able to rely on another late, great comeback.

David Beckham has continued to pile the praise on his team-mate Zinedine Zidane following the Frenchman’s outstanding performance in Valladolid.

REAL MADRID reclaimed top spot in the Primera Liga yesterday after fighting back from two goals down to snatch a 3-2 win at Valladolid, thanks to a last-gasp strike from Ronaldo as both sides finished with 10 men.

ENGLAND assistant manager Tord Grip believes Nicky Butt’s international prospects would benefit from a move away from Manchester United.

AS ROMA and AC Milan leapfrogged Juventus to the top of Serie A with comfortable wins over Lecce and Modena respectively.

David Beckham swerved home his first free-kick goal in the Primera Liga as Real Madrid saw the best of the England captain in a 3-1 win in Malaga.

SPANISH international striker Raul, already his country’s top scorer in history with 34 goals, reached another landmark in Saturday’s 7-2 win over Real Valladolid in which he had a hat-trick.

JUVENTUS began the defence of their Italian league title in style with a thumping 5-1 home win over Empoli yesterday.

VALENCIA coach Rafa Benitez was scathingly critical of some of his players last night, on the eve of their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Inter Milan.

VICTORY for Ajax tonight against Valencia in Group B will secure the Dutch team’s place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

REAL Madrid may have been less than impressive in the Champions League, yet they are still strong favourites going into tonight’s clash with Borussia Dortmund, according to midfielder Santiago Solari.

JUVENTUS, who face Manchester Utd in the Champions League on Tuesday night, remain top of Serie A but only on goal difference from Inter Milan after the weekend’s action in Italy.

CELTIC star Stilian Petrov was still giving manager Martin O’Neill some concern yesterday as the midfielder battled to face Celta Vigo in the UEFA Cup on Thursday night.