Soccer / Football : Spain : Primera Liga 2009/2010

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has failed to recover from injury in time for the visit of his former club Lyon in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. The Frenchman has not played since Real suffered a shock 1-0 loss at Lyon in their last-16 first-leg match on February 16. Benzema has since been struggling with a groin problem and was left out of coach Manuel Pellegrini's squad on Tuesday along with the injured Royston Drenthe and Pepe, and suspended Marcelo and Xabi Alonso.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola and Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic have received one match bans for their red cards in the 2-2 draw against Almeria at the weekend. The referee sent Guardiola to the stands for arguing with a linesman, while Ibrahimovic got a straight red for a foul on Almeria defender Cisma. Both are set to miss Sunday's game against third-place Valencia, but Barcelona will appeal against their suspensions.

Real Madrid recovered from two down to beat Sevilla 3-2 and replace title rivals Barcelona at the Primera Division summit with 62 points on goal difference after the Catalans drew 2-2 at Almeria. A goal from Rafael van der Vaart two minutes into added time earned Real a dramatic victory, while Barcelona twice came from behind to draw with Almeria thanks to a double strike from Lionel Messi.

Valencia are third with 46 points and can strengthen their position with a win at home to Racing Santander on Monday. Mallorca swept aside Gijon 3-0 and joined fourth-placed Sevilla on 43 points. Despite having a better goal difference, Mallorca are fifth due to their inferior head-to-head record with Sevilla. Deportivo La Coruna remain sixth after a 3-1 comeback victory at home to lowly Tenerife.

Real Madrid became the first team in any sport to post revenues in excess of €400m in a single year, according to the annual survey of the richest football clubs by accountancy firm Deloitte. Real generated €401.4m in the 12 months ending last June 30. European and Spanish champions Barcelona with €365.9m overtook Manchester United, who were hit by the weak pound, to move to second. United generated €327m but would have continued in second place had the pound's value against the euro not dropped by another 7 percent over the year.

The top 10 is as follows: 1 - Real Madrid: €401.4m, 2 - Barcelona: €365.9m, 3 - Manchester United: €327m, 4 - Bayern Munich: €289.5m, 5 - Arsenal: €263m, 6 - Chelsea: €242.3m 7 - Liverpool: €217m, 8 - Juventus: €202.3m, 9 -Inter Milan €196.5m, 10 - €Milan: 196.5.m. The top 20 was little changed from last year, with Werder Bremen and Manchester City replacing Stuttgart and Turkish club Fenerbahce. The list was again dominated by European clubs, with seven English clubs, five from Germany, four from Italy, and two each from France and Spain.

Lionel Messi's 17th goal of the season gave Barcelona a 2-1 win over Malaga to stay top of the Primera Division on Saturday after Real Madrid had earlier won 5-1 at Tenerife to temporarily top the standings. Real's sixth straight victory briefly sent them a point clear at the top on 59 points from 24 matches before the Catalan club restored their two-point lead.

Striker Diego Forlan netted twice as improving Atletico Madrid trounced nine-man Valencia 4-1 in the Primera Division on Sunday while Sevilla also had a player dismissed and were held 0-0 at home to Athletic Bilbao. Valencia are 13 points behind Real on 46 in third and Sevilla are fourth on 43, three ahead of Mallorca, who won 2-1 at struggling Valladolid.

Barcelona has signed defender Gerard Pique to a three-year contract extension that ties him to the European champions through 2015. The former Manchester United player's previous contract was due to expire in 2012 but he was "really happy" to tie his future to the Camp Nou club, who have inserted a reported €200m release clause into the new agreement. Coach Pep Guardiola says "there is no other player in Europe with his skill at his age".

Striker Luis Fabiano and winger Diego Capel will miss Wednesday's UEFA Champions League match at CSKA Moscow due to injuries sustained at the weekend. Fabiano finished Saturday's 3-1 Primera Division win at Mallorca complaining of muscle pain in his chest, while Capel was replaced in the 55th minute also suffering from a muscular problem. On a brighter note, Frederic Kanoute has been included in the squad after recovering from a thigh strain.

Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Real Madrid to a 6-2 victory over Villarreal that moved them two points behind Barcelona. The Primera Division leaders crushed Racing Santander 4-0 to move on to 58 points from 23 games. Real have 56 and third-placed Valencia, who host Getafe on Monday, have 43. Sevilla are fourth on 42 points after a 3-1 victory at Mallorca, who lost their perfect home record.

Mallorca slipped to sixth with 37, one behind Deportivo La Coruna, who beat bottom club Xerez 2-1. Seventh-placed Athletic Bilbao remain firmly in the hunt for a berth in UEFA club competition next term thanks to a 4-1 home victory against Tenerife. Inconsistent Atletico Madrid, who last weekend were the first side to beat Barcelona in the league this season, fell 1-0 at Almeria.