LA LIGA STANDINGS (SPANISH LEAGUE)

LA Liga BBVA Standings:

Club	Pld	Pts	W	D	L	F	A
Real Madrid	29	75	24	3	2	95	26
Barcelona	29	69	21	6	2	84	22
Valencia	29	47	13	8	8	45	36
Málaga	29	47	14	5	10	44	41
Levante	29	44	13	5	11	41	40
Osasuna	29	43	10	13	6	35	42
Espanyol	29	40	11	7	11	37	39
Atlético Madrid	29	39	10	9	10	39	35
Sevilla	29	39	10	9	10	33	31
Getafe	29	39	10	9	10	32	37
Athletic Bilbao	29	38	9	11	9	44	40
Rayo Vallecano	29	37	11	4	14	42	49
Mallorca	29	36	9	9	11	31	37
Real Sociedad	29	33	9	6	14	32	44
Betis	29	32	9	5	15	33	43
Villarreal	29	31	7	10	12	40	42
Granada	29	31	9	4	16	26	46
Racing Santander	29	25	4	13	12	23	44
Sporting Gijón	29	25	6	7	16	28	54
Zaragoza	29	25	6	7	16	25	51

Colour coding: Green - Champions League; Blue - UEFA; Red - relegation

Rafael Nadal withdraws...

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Sony Ericsson Open prior to his semi-final clash with 2009 Miami champion Andy Murray. The Spaniard cited a left knee injury on Friday in a press conference.

“I waited until today in the morning. I did a lot of treatment yesterday,” said Nadal. “But I am not ready to compete today. I am very sorry for the fans. I'm very sorry for the tournament. I'm very sorry for everybody who was ready to watch the match on television… I cannot go on court and lie to everybody.”

South Africa wins the only T20

The poor Bowling attack showed the result To India even though they batted really win but didn't had luck as Kallis and Ingram Vanished Indian's Bowling Attack.


Only T20#South Africa vs India, Johannesburg
Top Story: SA won by 11 runs (D/L method)
South Africa: 219/4 in 20.0 overs | Ingram: 78
India: 71/0 in 7.5 overs | Gambhir: 49*


Note: The match was effected by rain so D/L applied

Another Sad News In the History of football

Stiliyan Petrov, the Aston Villa midfielder and club captain, has been diagnosed with acute leukaemia less than a week after complaining of feeling ill, following the defeat against Arsenal.  Aston Villa's Captain Stiliyan Petrov diagnosed with acute leukaemia. Petrov developed a fever shortly after the game at the Emirates and was sent to London earlier this week for extensive blood tests. The Bulgarian international was still hoping to be fit to play against Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday, while awaiting the results of the tests. As defeat against Arsenal last Saturday.

The 32-year-old club captain had been hoping to secure a new two-year contract with the club after telling manager Alex McLeish he still believes he can operateat the highest level until his 35th birthday, but now the hugely popular leader in the club dressing room faces a fare more daunting challenge.

His representatives Base Soccer Agency received a telephone call shortly after 12 noon on Friday afternoon and Petrov simply said: "I have got Leukaemia."That triggered a sequence of events with Villa executives being charged with the responsibility of handling the delicate situation regarding their captainand compiling an official statement to confirm the devastating news.

A statement issued on the club website confirmed: "The Villa Board received news today that our long-standing captain Stiliyan Petrov has been diagnosedwith Acute Leukaemia.

"Stiliyan developed a fever following the Arsenal game last Saturday and subsequently underwent tests conducted by Dr Ian McGuinness. Haematologyexperts confirmed the diagnosis today.

"We expect to learn more about Stiliyan's situation in due course and wehave moved quickly to support him and his family. During this time we ask thatStiliyan's privacy is placed ahead of all inquiries and trust that we willshare information as we receive it.

"Stiliyan is cherished by many and he will get from Villa every ounce oflove and support that we have to help bring this to a positive conclusion."

Petrov joined Villa in an £8m transfer from Celtic in 2006, when he becameMartin O'Neill's first signing as manager in and he was the central figure inguiding Villa to three top six finishes during the O'Neill era.

His existing contract with the club is due to expire in 2013 and his representatives werehoping to negotiate an extension at the end of the season, but are now chargedwith examining the details of termination of career payments and insurance payouts.

What A Pleasant Gift for Monaco Against The Fish

Monaco Defeated Mardy Fish Who is In top 10 rank And even though it was his Birthday And what a surprise  was it for him.Juan Monaco celebrated his 28th birthday in style Thursday, cruising into the Sony Ericsson Open semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 8 seed Mardy Fish.

The 21st seed dropped serve just once, and capitalized on five of his nine break point opportunities to dispatch the 2011 Miami semi-finalist in 83 minutes, moving ahead 3-2 in their FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series.

"It was unbelievable," said Monaco. "I think the way to celebrate my birthday, playing like this like I did today, [I] feel proud and very happy [to] be here on my birthday."

Monaco is through to his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final, having advanced to the final four at the Shanghai Rolex Masters in 2010 (l. to Murray).

The loss marked Fish’s first defeat in seven Masters 1000 quarter-final appearances.

"He did a lot of things well today," said Fish. "I think more than anything else, he shrunk the court extremely well with his movement, and that's why I think you saw a ton of errors from me."

The Argentine will look to reach the title match at Crandon Park when he plays defending champion Novak Djokovic or fifth-seeded David Ferrer on Friday.

"I'm feeling great, playing well," Monaco said. "They're both such good players. I have to see the match, [as] I'm a friend of these two guys."

Sharpova in the finals

4-6 6-2 6-4  win for Sharapova against Carloine Wozniacki sends her to 4th final of The Sony Ericsson Open.The Russian will play Agnieszka Radwanska in Saturday's final after the Pole beat France's Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-2 to reach the biggest final of her career.

Second seed Sharapova, who has lost in all three of her previous finals in Miami, will start as clear favorite after another solid showing against Wozniacki.

The Russian was ahead early but lost the first set after her serve disappeared, allowing Wozniacki to win five consecutive games and take command of the match.

But the Russian recovered in the second set, striking the ball with impressive power.

"I could have easily, after losing a few straight games, let concentration down, I could have easily just gone down in the second set," said Sharapova.

"But I really stepped it up again. I went out there and started being aggressive. I didn't stop after I put myself in a good position. I'm extremely pleased that I pulled it out today."

Wozniacki stuck at her task however and with Sharapova serving for the match at 5-3 she broke, forcing two errors out of the Russian after winning a rally with a magnificent backhand cross-court winner.

The Dane held serve and then faced Sharapova serving for the match again.

There was a controversial finish when Sharapova's serve at 40-15 was initially ruled out but the call was overruled by the chair umpire, who ordered the point to be replayed.

Wozniacki, whose return had found the net, protested the decision but with no challenges remaining she was stuck with the verdict and Sharapova subsequently wrapped up the win with a smart volley.

"Overall I'm pretty happy with my game," said Wozniacki, who beat Serena Williams in the quarter-finals. "This week I have been playing some really good tennis. And obviously you love to win and I didn't do that today."

Radwanska dominated from the outset against a determined Bartoli and took advantage of the 35 unforced errors from her French opponent.

The Pole was well set at 4-2 in the second set when the lights went out on stadium court and there was a 20-minute delay before play resumed and Radwanksa booked her place in the final.

Sharapova has won seven of the eight previous meetings with Radwanska.

Barcelona Upset from Milan's Pitch

Barcelona have complained about the San Siro pitch.Pep said:"Milan should take some measures," "We play where we are told to play, but I do not think that Inter and Milan want a pitch with these conditions."It is sad for the spectacle, but to be champions we must overcome all adversities. We have done this many times, although people say otherwise."A Barcelona statement has said:"FC Barcelona has lodged a complaint with UEFA over the state of the pitch at the Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro) stadium during the ChampionsLeague match,"Arsene Wenger also complained about the pitch.Ac Milan responded by saying:''With reference to the protest lodged by FC Barcelona regarding the condition of the pitch at the SanSiro, AC Milan wishes to communicate that:

''1) The watering of the pitch within an hour

before kick-off, as agreed in the organisational

meeting yesterday morning, was not done due to

the already high levels of humidity of the pitch.

''2) The general state of the pitch, which the

Barcelona team trained on the previous evening

without any problems, was declared to be

acceptable by the referees and the UEFA

delegates.''

Srilanka defeats England and lead series 1-0

Srilanka Defeated England and lead the series now by 1-0 in tests. Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath claimed a career-best match haul of 12 wickets to bowl Sri Lanka to a 75-run victory in the first test on Thursday as England slumped to their fourth defeat in a row.

The world's top-ranked side, beaten 3-0 by Pakistan in their most recent series and chasing 340 for victory here, were bowled out for 264. Man of the match Herath took six for 97 to add to his first-innings return of six for 74.

Jonathan Trott's century gave England a great chance to pull off an unlikely win until the match took a dramatic turn in the last 20 minutes before tea when they lost three wickets for seven in 24 balls.

They were 259 for eight at the interval and Sri Lanka wrapped up victory in seven deliveries after tea.

Herath's spin partner Suraj Randiv had James Anderson (5) caught behind before removing last man Monty Panesar for a duck with the next ball.

The 34-year-old Herath picked up his first 10-wicket haul in his 36-test career but Sri Lanka were indebted to three outstanding catches on Thursday.

Randiv had the defiant Trott (112) brilliantly caught low down at leg slip by Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Trott had mixed caution with aggression, hitting 10 fours in his 266-ball vigil.

LEADING EDGE

He survived a caught and bowled chance off Herath on 62 when the spinner failed to hold on to a leading edge.

Herath broke a threatening fifth-wicket partnership of 81 between Trott and Matt Prior (41) when he had the England wicketkeeper superbly caught at short-leg by Lahiru Thirimanne.

Prior attempted a sweep but the ball got stuck in the fielder's midriff and he hung on for the catch.

Samit Patel was then expertly caught for nine by Dilshan at cover and Herath followed up by trapping Graeme Swann lbw for one in the last over before tea.

Earlier, England lost Kevin Pietersen (30) and Ian Bell (13) in the morning session after resuming on 111 for two.

Sri Lanka struck in the third over of the day when Pietersen, stifled by tight bowling, went down the track to Randiv but only managed to spoon a catch to Mahela Jayawardene at short mid-wicket.

His dismissal ended a third-wicket stand of 70 with Trott.

Bell hung around for more than an hour before he was given out lbw to Herath despite playing forward at full stretch.

The ball dipped late and hit Bell low on his pads, a decision which he reviewed unsuccessfully as he trudged off convinced he had made contact.

The second and final test in Colombo starts on Tuesday.