::: Robinho: I was not valued at Real Madrid :::

*AC Milan attacker Robinho has admitted that he did not feel valued at Real Madrid during his last year at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Brazil international joined Madrid from Santos in the summer of 2005, but left the club forManchester City three years later after falling out of favour at Los Blancos.
The 28-year-old attacker confessed that althoughhe had his good periods at Madrid, the manner of his departure still hurts him.
"I had some great moments there, but my farewell was a disappointment. Real wanted to buy someone else [Cristiano Ronaldo] and all of a sudden they were no longer interested in me," Robinho said to band.com.br .
"I feel really sorry for the way I left Madrid, but the fans don't always understand what happens in these cases. The deal eventually fell through and the club was not happy. I did not feel valued and wanted to leave."
Robinho joined Milan in the summer of 2010 afteran unsuccessful one-and-a-half season spell at Manchester City

::: Nine-man Madrid stumble at El Madrigal :::

Marcos Senna's late strike earned Villarreal a valuable 1-1 draw against nine-man Real Madrid, with Jose Mourinho's men opening the door for Barcelona in the Primera Division title race.
Cristiano Ronaldo's brilliant strike looked to have sealed all three points for the visitors, only for Senna to cancel his effort out with a free-kick. Mourinho, Sergio Ramos and Mesut Ozil were all sent off as Los Blancos lost their discipline late in the contest.
The league leaders remain six points clear of Barca at the summit with a trip to Camp Nou to come next month, meaning the race for La Liga looks far from over.
Real Madrid created the first real opportunity of the game in the ninth minute when Xabi Alonso's drifted an inviting free-kick towards the back post. Pepe was on cue to send a header along the goalmouth with several white shirts lurking, yet Cristian Zapata managed to somehow deflect the ball over the bar from close range.
However, Villarreal were creating chances themselves. Marcos Senna's clever pass appeared to have picked out Marco Ruben yet the Argentine striker was marginally beaten to the ball by the Iker Casillas, who smothered his shot.
Then on 19 minutes, Mario's innocuous ball looked to be under the control of Sergio Ramos but Nilmar was on hand to rob the defender on the edge of the box, before seeing his low drive well blocked by Casillas.
The home faithful felt they had a strong claim for a penalty with 31 minutes on the clock as Senna'scorner was directed wide by Nilmar who was clearly off balance after Alvaro Arbeloa had been holding onto his shirt.
Despite Villarreal's impressive play it could have been Mourinho's men 1-0 up heading into the break. Xabi Alonso's free-kick found an unmarked Pepe in the box, only for the Portuguese centre-half to inexplicably head the ball straight at Diego Lopez from six yards out.
Madrid needed a moment of inspiration to take the lead and it arrived from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 62nd minute. The Portuguese attacker playeda wonderful one-two with Ozil before rounding the keeper and slamming home for his 43rd goal of the season.
The visitors appeared to be heading for a crucial victory but conceded a costly 83rd minute equaliser. Marcos Senna stepped up to curl a free-kick into the bottom corner of the net, past the outstretched hand of Casillas, for what could be a pivotal goal at both ends of the table.
Mourinho was furious with the award of the free-kick and was duly sent to the stands, joining Blancos coach Rui Faria who had earlier been sent away, in four minutes of madness for Madrid.
Referee Jose Paradas Romero had been guilty of questionable decisions for much of the match, and the official then awarded two red cards; Sergio Ramos' late lunge on Nilmar earned the defender a second yellow card, while Ozil's reaction to his team-mates' dismissal also saw him awarded another caution as Madrid finished with nine men.
Madrid entertain Real Sociedad on Saturday, afterBarcelona have faced Mallorca in the early kick-off. Villarreal will be looking to carry the momentum of earning a point against the league leaders into their away fixture versus Rayo Vallecano the following day.

::: Liverpool 3-0 Everton: Stunning Gerrard hat-trick settles Merseyside derby to give Reds first league win in four :::

*Liverpool ended their Premier League losing streak as Steven Gerrard struck a hat-trick in a comfortable 3-0 victory over city rivals Everton at Anfield on Tuesday night.

The Reds opened the scoring just past the 30-minute mark, as Gerrard placed the ball over Tim Howard in the Everton goal from the edge of the area following a drive into the box from Martin Kelly.

Their captain got the second five minutes after the restart, hammering in after good work down the right by Luis Suarez, and he secured his hat-trick in injury time to become the first player to score three in a Merseyside derby at Anfield in over 76 years.

Liverpool made four changes from the weekend defeat against Sunderland, with Sebastian Coatesbeing replaced by Jamie Carragher in defence, Gerrard coming in for Charlie Adam, Dirk Kuyt dropping out for Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll starting in favour of Craig Bellamy.

With the upcoming FA Cup tie against Sunderland clearly in the back of David Moyes’ mind, Everton made six changes from the team which beat Tottenham. Nikica Jelavic, Tim Cahill, Phil Neville, Leon Osman, Royston Drenthe and Jonny Heitinga all took a place on the bench, with Denis Stracqualursi, Victor Anichebe, Tony Hibbert, Jack Rodwell, Steven Pienaar and Phil Jagielka taking their respective places.

It didn’t take long for the hosts to assert some serious pressure on their visitors, as first Gerrard, and then Jordan Henderson went close inside the first seven minutes.

Gerrard burst into the penalty area before looking to slide the ball into the bottom far corner, but Howard got his left hand to it, and just when Henderson looked to smash the ball goalward, Rodwell threw himself in the way of the shot.

The match continued at break-neck speed as Everton went straight down the other end and almost opened the scoring themselves. Leighton Baines marched down the left, beating Kelly before playing the ball through Henderson’s legs but, after cutting the ball back to Pienaar, the South African blasted over.
 
 It was fairly clear that both teams were insistent on getting the ball down and playing, but it was the link-up play between Carroll and Suarez that made the next chance. The big striker did well to flick on a long ball to the Uruguayan with his head, but Howard saved his left-footed shot well.
Although the flow of chances slowed a little, after much back and forth, Liverpool took the lead through their captain just past the half-hour mark.
Kelly found space on the right and drilled a shot at Howard before attempting to pounce on the rebound, but the ball eventually came back to Gerrard on the edge of the area and he casually lofted the ball over the helpless Howard and into the back of the net.
Two minutes later Kelly was at it again as he got away from his marker down the left, getting on the end of a pass into the area, but his clipped effort went just wide of the far post. Stracqualursithen went close at the other end with a well-timed header, but Pepe Reina dealt with it as the half fizzled out with Liverpool 1-0 up.


However, it didn’t take long after the break for Liverpool to get their second, and it was Gerrard once again. Suarez did well down the right, getting down to the goal line, beating Sylvain Distin and fortuitously over-running the ball into Gerrard’s path, who smashed into the roof of the net.
The same almost happened again just two minutes later on the other side of the goal as Suarez this time cut the ball back for Carroll, but the England international put his effort wide of the far post.
With half-an-hour left to find a way back into the match, Rodwell almost gave Everton a lifeline.
Baines charged down the left and played a clever pass into the area for the midfielder, but his side-footed effort was stopped before it got to the goal by Jose Enrique, who slid in and cleared at the last second.
Liverpool visibly took their foot off the proverbial pedal, clearly suspecting they had already done enough for the three points, but Everton weren't giving up as Moyes threw on Royston Drenthe, Nikica Jelavic and Leon Osman.
The changes created more urgency in attack for the visitors, but they were still struggling to create chances, with Rodwell's blocked effort from range the closest they came to getting a goal back, before Liverpool soon got a third.
Gerrard broke through the centre, charging down on the Everton penalty area before passing to Suarez to his left, and receiving the ball back from the Uruguayan to knock into an empty net, securing the win.