Madrid showdown marks return

Bernabéu showdown 
The spotlight at the start of the new year in Spain falls on the Santiago Bernabéu stadium where Real Madrid CF play champions Valencia CF. Madrid's victory over Sevilla FC in a rearranged match on Thursday was their fourth in succession in the Primera División and lifted them to second position - five points behind unbeaten leaders Real Sociedad, but two clear of Valencia.

Cañizares doubtful 
A knee injury means Valencia may miss goalkeeper Santiago Cañizares and his absence would not help a defence attempting to neutralise the in-form Raúl González, scorer of seven goals in his last five games.

Derby in Galicia 
Away from Madrid, leaders Real will be without the injured Xabi Alonso and Javier De Pedro for Málaga CF's visit to the Anoeta, while fourth-placed RC Celta de Vigo travel to sixth-placed RC Deportivo La Coruña for Saturday night's Galician derby.

Mostovoi missing 
Depor have doubts over captain Fran while Celta are definitely without Aleksandr Mostovoi, the Russian having failed to return to Spain following the winter break. At the Camp Nou, meanwhile, FC Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal can ill-afford another setback when his side, currently sat tenth in the table, take on bottom club RC Recreativo de Huelva.

Romance of the cup 
While league action also resumes in Greece and Cyprus, in England all the talk is of the romance of the cup. The FA Cup third round traditionally brings together the game's Davids and Goliaths and the 131st edition is no different. Holders Arsenal FC welcome third division Oxford United FC to Highbury while Everton FC are away to Shrewsbury Town FC of the same division, a side managed by their former FA Cup-winning captain Kevin Ratcliffe.

All-Premiership ties 
Among the most intriguing ties is the meeting of first division leaders Portsmouth FC and Manchester United FC at Old Trafford, while the all-Premiership ties include Chelsea FC's home match against Middlesbrough FC (a repeat of the 1997 final), Tottenham Hotspur FC's trip to Southampton FC and Liverpool FC's visit to Manchester City FC.

Houllier hope 
A run of ten league games without victory has prompted Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier to concede defeat in the title race while asking his players to "stick together and work harder". The Frenchman said: "This is the time to sharpen our commitment to what we want to achieve and check out who is able to come through and deliver for us."

Anelka threat 
Houllier will hope that Michael Owen and Emile Heskey shrug off injuries to play. He will also pray that striker Nicolas Anelka - released by the Reds last summer but now scoring goals for City - does not come back to haunt him.

French Cup 
There are cup matches in France too. Pick of the French Cup first-round draw is Olympique de Marseille versus SC Bastia, the only tie between Ligue 1 teams. Bastia coach Gerard Gili was born in Marseille and has twice coached his hometown club - from 1988-91 and again from 1995-97. The sides met in the 1972 final, Marseille winning, but more vivid are the memories of their ill-fated semi-final 20 years later as 18 people were killed when a temporary stand collapsed at Bastia's Armand Cesari-Furiani stadium.