Real Madrid and coach Manuel Pellegrini were on the business end of some damning newspaper headlines on Wednesday after their humiliating exit from the King’s Cup at the hands of third-tier Alcorcon.

In the build-up to the match, Kaka suggested pride and the club’s history would inspire the players to a dramatic comeback from the 4-0 away defeat in the first leg.

But Real only managed to win 1-0 on the night at the Bernabeu and crashed out to the tiny Segunda B side, who play in the same division as Real’s youth team and have an annual budget more than four hundred times smaller than the La Liga giants.

Even the Madrid-based sports papers showed no mercy, as club and fans woke up to the fact that their expensively assembled squad can no longer match the title treble of Champions League, La Liga and King’s Cup achieved last season by their arch rivals Barcelona.

“Complete disaster,” screamed the headline in As.

“Unprecedented farce,” bellowed Marca above a picture of the celebrating Alcorcon players. The paper said it refused to put any photos of Real on the front page as they did not deserve it.

Fans chanted for Pellegrini to quit when he brought on defender Marcelo for midfielder Lassana Diarra with around 20 minutes left and the Madrid papers focused much of their ire on the hapless Chilean.

Why were the uninspiring midfield pair of Mahamadou Diarra and Fernando Gago included in the starting lineup and striker Karim Benzema and creative midfielders Xabi Alonso and Guti left out of the squad altogether, asked Delfin Melero in Marca.

“The final whistle made possible an unprecedented situation,” Melero wrote. “The Bernabeu booed its own team and coach and gave an ovation to Alcorcon, a team with spirit that demonstrated to Madrid that without pride and without a plan you’re going nowhere.”

Tomas Guasch, writing in As, said it was “completely unacceptable” that Pellegrini had changed the starting lineup he used for the previous three matches and was beginning to gel.

“And that there wasn’t a single forward on the bench is absolutely unacceptable too,” he added.

El Mundo columnist Orfeo Suarez noted that Real president Florentino Perez was not known for his loyalty to coaches and said the spectacle of the fans calling for Pellegrini’s head did not bode well for the Chilean.

“Madrid will make an effort to back the coach and quickly turn the page but wounds left behind can fester,” he wrote.

Many papers did not miss the irony of an appearance by Perez on television earlier on Tuesday in which he played down the club’s trophy expectations this season.

“We are at the start of a new project. We are giving it stability,” the construction magnate told Cuatro. “We aren’t going to get nervous because it hasn’t all come together perfectly in the first year.”

PHOTO: Real Madrid’s Kaka reacts during their King’s Cup soccer match against Alcorcon at the Bernabeu stadium in Madrid November 10, 2009. REUTERS/Juan Medina

Gonzalo Higuain reminded Manuel Pellegrini of his worth at the weekend, scoring both goals for 10-man Real Madrid in their 2-0 victory over Getafe.

The Argentine youngster was Real’s top scorer with 22 league goals last season, but was making only his third start in nine league games on Saturday.

Higuain has found his chances limited with the arrival of president Florentino Perez and his new batch of Galacticos including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema.

He also has to compete with the experienced heads of Raul and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

“We’ve had to integrate Benzema, Ronaldo and all the others into the team,” coach Manuel Pellegrini said after the Getafe game.

“I am sure that this season Higuain will have a major role to play again. For me he is a fundamental player.”

Higuain has pace, loves to run at defenders, and is not afraid of shooting from distance, but against Getafe he showed one of his most valuable assets which is a gutsy ability to score important goals in high-pressure situations.

The Getafe game was a tense affair at the Bernabeu where defeat could have signalled the end for Pellegrini, and the team had to endure a disgruntled home crowd after their humbling 4-0 King’s Cup defeat to third-tier Alcorcon.

Last season, in the same fixture, Higuain scored a screamer in time added on to give Real a 3-2 victory. His strike came as scuffles broke out all around him following Pepe’s spectacular loss of control that led to him getting a 10-match ban.

In 2008 he scored the goal that delivered Real’s 31st league title, when Bernd Schuster’s side came back with 10 men to beat Osasuna 2-1 away.

The year before that, he completed the remarkable comeback from 3-0 down against Espanyol, netting in the last minute for a 4-3 win that proved to be a psychological turning point in Fabio Capello’s title winning campaign.

After being overlooked by Argentina, Diego Maradona finally threw him on for his first cap against Peru last month and Higuain rose to the challenge scoring the first in a 2-1 win.

Higuain may not sell as many shirts around the world as the players in front of him at Real Madrid, but his fighting spirit should keep them on their toes.

PHOTO: Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain (R) fights for the ball with Getafe’s Cata Diaz during their Spanish First Division soccer match at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid October 31, 2009. REUTERS/Dani Cardona

One swallow does not make a summer, but Sevilla’s bristling 2-1 victory over Real Madrid on Sunday offers hope that the answer to the question posed in Thursday’s blog is ‘no’.

Three teams can challenge for the La Liga title this year.

Manolo Jimenez’s side inflicted a first defeat on Real with a vibrant, attacking display that was reminiscent of their performances under Juande Ramos when they won back-to-back UEFA Cups.

Sevilla are now level on 15 points with Real, though third due to their inferior goal difference. Barcelona are top with 18 points from six games.

Wingers Jesus Navas and Diego Perotti did the damage at the Sanchez Pizjuan, truly testing Real Madrid’s defence for the first time this season, but it was a strong all-round team performance.

They have strength in depth, are solid at the back and club president Jose Maria del Nido boasts: “the best strike force in Europe” with Frederic Kanoute, Luis Fabiano and Alvaro Negredo. They have now won seven on the trot in all competitions.

Real were without top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo due to an ankle strain, but it was the absence of first choice left back Alvaro Arbeloa that may have been more telling as Navas made a fool of his replacement Marcelo.

Once again, Real lacked fluidity in their play and it was the familiar figure of Iker Casillas who was their outstanding player, pulling off a couple of magnificent saves.

“Real reveal their shortcomings in the first serious test of the year. They have CR9 dependency. They continue to rely excessively on their stars,” Marca wrote on Monday.

Barcelona remain unbeaten after shaking off Almeria 1-0, but the Andalucians made life extremely difficult for them at the Nou Camp with their man-marking of midfield creators Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

“It wasn’t marking, it was an obsession,” Xavi said of Almeria midfielder Chico’s work on Saturday. “All he did was watch me. I felt very important. I told him ‘Why don’t you go and mark Messi?’”

It may not be pretty but it was effective, and as Espanyol and Chelsea showed last year an asphyxiating pressure on the midfield can throw Barca off their game.

“I hope it is a blueprint for a way to play against a team as powerful as Barcelona. I hope they respect my patent,” Almeria coach Hugo Sanchez said.

After six rounds of matches, La Liga could be about to get a bit more interesting with both Real and Barca showing chinks in their armour. Maybe it won’t be the most boring league in Europe after all…

PHOTO: Real Madrid’s Kaka (top) falls over Sevilla’s Didier Zokora during their Spanish First Division soccer match at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville October 4, 2009. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo

A few days ago, Real Zaragoza president Eduardo Bandres said: “The Spanish league will be a matter totally and absolutely between two teams, among other things because the system for distributing television rights determines that it will be this way. It is unique in Europe and because of this the Spanish league is one of the most boring in Europe.”

The television channels would beg to differ, as they regularly run adverts or open their coverage of matches from La Liga claiming it is the ‘best league in the world’ with clips of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi running in the background.

But Bandres has a point. Five games in, and the table has an all-too familiar look about it. There are only two clubs left with a 100 percent record – Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Who has scored the most goals? Real and Barca with 16 apiece.

Who has conceded the fewest? Real with two. Barca have let in three.

Which clubs have the most money? Real and Barca are both working on budgets of over 400 million euros, three to four times greater than their nearest rivals. They rake in around half of the money earned from La Liga’s television rights, which are not negotiated on a collective basis.

At least Valencia’s David Villa bucks the trend in the individual goal-scoring charts, topping the rankings with six, but second behind him with five each are Ibrahimovic, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

There are four clubs expected to be mixing it at the top and competing for Spain’s other two Champions League qualification places: Sevilla, Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal.

Atletico and Villarreal are in the bottom three without a win from their opening matches, and are already 12 and 13 points adrift of Real and Barca respectively. Valencia have slipped down to seventh without a win in their last three outings.

Only Sevilla are putting up a fight, and they lie third with 12 points from a possible 15. They have a squad that boasts Frederic Kanoute, Luis Fabiano and Alvaro Negredo up front, with the likes of Jesus Navas, Diego Capel and Diego Perotti providing the bullets.

They have won six on the trot in all competitions and will provide Real Madrid with their stiffest test yet when Manuel Pellegrini’s side visit the Sanchez Pizjuan on Sunday. As things stand, this is Real’s most difficult league clash of the season outside of their home and away battles with Barca.

A victory for Sevilla could signal the start of a genuine challenge from the Andalucians, and add some much needed spice to the title race. A defeat would leave more people agreeing with Bandres.

PHOTO: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi celebrates his goal against Real Madrid, May 2, 2009. REUTERS/Juan Medina

Spain’s qualification for next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa has brought a welcome distraction to a nation suffering more than most of its European peers from the economic crisis.

Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Estonia put the European champions through as Group Five winners and Vicente del Bosque’s highly-fancied side will be competing in their ninth straight finals since 1978 and attempting to win the World Cup for the first time.

The Spanish FA (RFEF) opted to play the Estonia qualifier in the ancient Roman city of Merida, capital of the struggling Extremadura region, and the local fans gave star players like Fernando Torres, David Villa and Iker Casillas a hero’s welcome.

Hundreds turned out in the blazing sunshine to welcome the players at their hotel on Tuesday afternoon and the 15,000-seater Estadio Romano was packed with boisterous fans for both Tuesday’s evening’s training session and the match.

Unemployment in Extremadura, the dusty region between Madrid and Portugal, is running at more than 20 percent compared with around 18 percent in Spain as a whole and the scores of empty shops in Merida, which boasts some of the world’s best-preserved ancient Roman ruins, are a stark reminder of economic hardship.

“We want to use the Estonia match to promote Merida and Extremadura,” city mayor Angel Calle said. “We will welcome the players as if they were 21st-century gladiators.”

The RFEF policy of playing matches away from major centres like Madrid and Seville is much appreciated by Merida locals, who rarely, if ever, get a chance to see star players in the flesh.

“I’ve never seen anything like this here in my life,” said 82-year-old fan Juan Jose Garrido Carroza outside the stadium on Wednesday. “This is a really big event, it’s hugely important for sure.”

The Spanish national side is not as popular in regions like Catalonia and the Basque Country but the cries of “Espana! Espana!” that rang out around the stadium at the final whistle in Merida are proof that in Extremadura at least they will always be welcome.

PHOTO: Spain’s Cesc Fabregas celebrates after scoring against Estonia during their World Cup qualifier at the Romano stadium in Merida, Sept 9, 2009. REUTERS/Jose Manuel Ribeiro

Arjen Robben arrived in Munich and passed a medical exam on Friday, scored two goals after coming on in the second half with his new teammate Franck Ribery on Saturday, and then left his new home town on Monday to meet up with the Dutch international team in Enschede.

It was a remarkable weekend trip to the Bavarian capital. In just 27 minutes Robben and Ribery — Munich’s new dynamic duo quickly dubbed “Robery” by German headline writers — combined for two spectacular goals to lead Bayern to their first win of the season, 3-0 against defending champions VfL Wolfsburg.

“Robery” managed to dissipate the gloom surrounding the success-spoiled Bayern fans in just 27 minutes following the agony of their month-long “Fehlstart” — just two points from their first three matches in August and an incredible 16th place in the table before Robben arrived.

“I couldn’t have wished for a better start,” said Robben, who also rejuvenated Ribery after months of controversy over his apparent efforts to get a transfer to Real Madrid. “I’ve haven’t scored two goals in many matches before and never in my first match. But this is just the start. I came here to win matches and titles.”

Bild newspaper columnist Franz Josef Wagner usually writes about German politics. But he couldn’t resist devoting his page 2 column in Germany’s best-selling daily on Monday to Robben: “We’ve seen football the way Mozart or Rembrandt would have it played… What wonderful choreography with Ribery. Full-risk football, courageous football. Arjen Robben is worth every cent of the 24 million euros Bayern paid. Three cheers for Uli Hoeness. He’s invested the money in an artist and not a thug.”

PHOTO: Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery celebrate during Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga victory over VfL Wolfsburg, August 29, 2009. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

At last, Real Madrid have got their man. Liverpool agreed on Tuesday to sell Xabi Alonso, a Real target going back at least six years, for a reported 30 million euros.

It’s decent money for a player Rafa Benitez appeared happy enough to consider selling 12 months ago but Alonso is the sort of assured holder and passer of the ball who is hard to replace at any price.

Certainly, anyone Benitez has his eye on will be a risk. Latest reports say Roma’s Alberto Aquilani could be the man, while other names mentioned include Stephen Defour of Standard Liege and Valencia’s David Silva.

Real Madrid fans will certainly happy. I’m just back after a couple of weeks in Spain and the papers were full of editorials praising Alonso to the skies and saying how lost Real would continue to be without him.

Alonso will be expected to pull the strings in midfield for Real … but were Liverpool right to sell him?

PHOTO: Xabi Alonso takes a penalty during the Champions League final against AC Milan in Istanbul May 25, 2005. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

If your first reaction on hearing about the Samuel Eto’o-Zlatan Ibrahimovic deal was “How much?” then I can assure you you weren’t the only one.

To land Ibrahimovic, who is due to be presented this evening at the Nou Camp, Barcelona will not only hand over the Cameroon international striker but will also give Inter Milan a reported 45 million euros and the loan, for one season, of Aleksandr Hleb.

According to Marca, who are not exactly fans of Barcelona it must be said, that makes the total cost of the Swedish striker at least 87.5 million euros (with Eto’o valued at 35 million, and Hleb for a season at 7.5).

So how on earth is Ibrahimovic worth close to 90 million euros? How on earth is he valued at double Eto’o, one of the world’s top strikers?

Ibrahimovic is the sort of striker coaches love. Tall and strong, he is happy playing with his back to goal and therefore gives the team a target man. He scores goals too, of course, and he has contributed to six league title-winning campaigns with Ajax and Inter.

But Eto’o is no mean player himself. The Cameroon international is also strong but relies more on his skill and explosive pace to get past defences. After signing for Barcelona in 2004 he proved to be the missing piece in the puzzle, joining forces with Ronaldinho to get the team back to title-winning ways.

Eto’o scored not only in the 2006 Champions League final win over Arsenal, but also in this year’s victory over Manchester United and he will leave Barcelona with a record of 130 goals in five seasons.

I think it goes without saying that Ibrahimovic is not really worth 40-45 million euros more than Eto’o, so it looks like yet another case of Barcelona letting a player go at far less than their market value, and for reasons other than simply their value to the team.

It happened with Schuster, Stoichkov, Romario, Kluivert, Rivaldo and Riquelme and now coach Pep Guardiola says he’s happy for Eto’o to go for no reason other than a “feeling”, even thought they’re getting next to nothing for him.

Why is it so many big names seem to leave Barcelona in such circumstances? Why have they never mastered the art of selling?

And looking to the future, can you see Ibrahimovic living up to the inflated price tag the Spanish press have put on him?

PHOTO: Barcelona’s new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Sweden poses in front of a FC Barcelona sign at the team headquarters in Barcelona, July 26, 2009. REUTERS/Gustau Nacarino

Florentino Perez is on course for an unopposed return to the Real Madrid presidency on Monday, and is promising to set in motion a major spending spree to build a “spectacular sporting project.”

Speculation on who might be arriving has reached fever pitch in the Madrid-based media, and the architect of the ‘Galacticos’ policy has done everything he can to stoke their enthusiasm, short of naming names.

“We are going to have great players to continue increasing the club’s income in as short a time as possible,” he told sports daily Marca.

“We will go a bit further into debt because I think we have to make up for lost time by doing in one year what should have been done in two or three.”

He told radio station Cadena Ser he expected to make five or six signings.

With a war chest of up to 300 million euros being spoken about in the Spanish media, they have moved quickly to fill in the gaps.

With Arsene Wenger, Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho slipping off the radar, Villarreal’s Manuel Pellegrini has now emerged as a surprise front runner for the coaching role.

As for players, all the usual names are present. Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, AC Milan’s Kaka and Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery top the shopping list, along with Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso, and Valencia trio David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata.

But where do Real really need strengthening if they are win back the initiative from treble-winners Barcelona, and bring the spectacle back to the Bernabeu?

Iker Casillas will continue between the posts, but Fabio Cannavaro’s departure for Juventus leaves them short of a partner for Pepe in the centre of defence. The injury-prone Christoph Metzelder cannot be relied upon.

Left back has also been a problem position with first-choice Gabriel Heinze struggling.

The area where they have suffered most this year is in midfield, where they have lacked the quality and pace to open up defences in the big games.

Arjen Robben spends too much time on the treatment table, the ageing Guti flickers only intermittently, while Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Marcelo and Royston Drenthe have failed to step up when needed.

In attack, Ruud van Nistelrooy missed most of the campaign with a knee injury and will be 33 by the start of next season. Raul will be 32. Gonzalo Higuain and Klaas Jan Huntelaar are not yet finished articles.

Where would you splash the cash?

PHOTO: Perez speaks during the presentation of his presidential candidature for Real Madrid, May 28, REUTERS/Susana Vera

Pep Guardiola’s superb Barca side four clear at the top with five games left to play. Champions Real in second on a run of 17 wins and a draw in 18 matches since a 2-0 loss at the Nou Camp in December and refusing to capitulate. The nation’s arch soccer rivals locking horns. Spain versus Catalunya.

The stage was set for my first “Clasico” at the Bernabeu.

I had read about the great matches of the past and seen the headlines: “The match of the century!”, “The greatest show on earth!”.

It was time to experience it for myself.

I hopped off the bus near the stadium and fought my way through the throng of Real faithful, already in good voice and enjoying the evening sunshine more than an hour-and-a-half before kickoff.

A policeman waved me through the barriers holding back the crowds and I collected my accreditation and took the lift up to the press tribune on the fifth floor.

It was oddly quiet inside the mammoth arena, a few photographers and officials milling about by the pitch, and the muted sound of the boisterous supporters outside punctuated by the occasional firecracker and police siren.

Fabio Cannavaro, Arjen Robben and a few other Real players strolled out on to the pitch for a few minutes and Royston Drenthe posed for some photographs as I leafed through the media notes.

Biggest home defeat for Real in “El Clasico” 5-0 way back in February 1974, four days before I was born. Probably won’t be needing that particular stat.

When the spectators were finally allowed in, the atmosphere quickly warmed up and any attempt at singing by the small knot of Barca fans high to my right was met with a chorus of whistles and hoots.

The volume of noise was rising all the time and reached a crescendo as the two teams marched on to the pitch and the spectators held up pieces of card that turned the stands white. Game on.

“You don’t want to do that,” I thought as Sergio Ramos gave the ball away to Lionel Messi in a dangerous position in the first minute, perhaps a sign of things to come.

The Real faithful went nuts when Gonzalo Higuain grabbed the lead but it wasn’t long before Barca asserted themselves and Real’s chances of defending their league title were fast receding.

As the goals rolled in, a colleague in the press box, a lifelong Real fan, was growing increasingly despondent and the invective issuing from the mouth of the Spanish journalist behind us, mostly directed at the referee, was increasingly extreme.

When Messi scored to make it 5-2 with around 15 minutes left, waves of shell-shocked Real fans started heading for the exits.

The referee did not prolong the agony, ending the match on 90 minutes, and I quickly filed my first take and a rapid update before dashing down to the press conferences with a beaming Guardiola and a glum Juande Ramos.

Eight goals scored by some of the most exciting players around, tons of chances, plenty of controversy, passionate fans in a stunning soccer arena and a famous result in one of the most intensely contested fixtures in world sport.

The kind of match you don’t forget in a hurry.

PHOTO: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (L) celebrates his goal against Real Madrid during their match at the Bernabeu, May 2, 2009. REUTERS/Juan Medina