5 things to know about the Copa del Rey semifinals

5 things to know about the Copa del Rey semifinals — Real Madrid and Barcelona are on the verge of meeting in the Copa del Rey final, they just need to avoid a hiccup in the return legs of their semifinals following first-leg victories that put both of them in control of their series.

Barcelona holds a slimmer advantage, of 2-0, going into Wednesday's return at Real Sociedad. Atletico Madrid's impressive season has come undone some since a 3-0 first-leg loss to Madrid, but it returns to the Vicente Calderon for Tuesday's return.

Real Madrid's Gareth Bale from Great Britain, right, in action with Villarreal's Jonathan Pereira, left, during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Bernabeu stadium stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Here are five things to know about the Copa del Rey semifinals, return legs:

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Atletico's Javier Manquillo, left, duels for the ball against Almeria's Dubarbier from Argen …

BALE-ING MADRID OUT

Gareth Bale marked his return from a two-game layoff with a sparkling performance in Saturday's 4-2 league win over Villarreal.

The Welshman's return was well-timed with Cristiano Ronaldo's league ban, though the Portugal forward can return for Tuesday's match. Jese Rodriguez also continued his good run, scoring for the fourth straight game against Villarreal.

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Barcelona's Lionel Messi, second left, and Sevilla's Diogo Figueiras, second right, fight fo …

Madrid is unbeaten in 23 matches overall, while Atletico has now lost two straight after having lost just once in its previous 36 games.

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NOT BAD FOR A BACKUP

Madrid backup goalie Iker Casillas is doing his best to ensure he leads Spain at the World Cup despite a lack of playing time with his club.

It's been 772 minutes since Casillas last conceded, which was to Galatasaray in a Champions League victory in November.

Casillas has gone eight games in the domestic cup competition without allowing a goal in, while watching teammate Diego Lopez start in league play.

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MESSI'S MYSTERY

Lionel Messi has been mercurial of late, but the Argentina forward reminded how effective he can be just when you start to wonder about his motivation.

Messi scored two goals as Barcelona beat Sevilla 4-1 in the league on Sunday, including his first league goal from open play since September.

Of late, Barcelona has been leaning on Alexis Sanchez, who has scored five goals in his past five matches for the Catalans, but Neymar could return after the Brazil striker practiced with the team on Monday.

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INJURIES MOUNT FOR ATLETICO

Atletico is in a tailspin for the first time all season, and injuries aren't helping its slide.

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Atletico's coach Diego Pablo Simeone from Argentina waits for the start of a Spanish La Liga soc …

Following the ill-tempered first-leg defeat against Madrid, Atletico lost 2-0 at Almeria to allow Madrid and Barcelona to tie it atop the Spanish league after holding the outright lead for just one matchday.

Midfielder Tiago Cardoso hurt both his right knee and left wrist against Almeria, when goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and back Filipe Luis did not play owing to injury.

Atletico is also without leading scorer Diego Costa because of a ban, with David Villa's availability uncertain.

"The only way to get out of this is hard work," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said, "and that's how we'll do it."

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DON'T BET SOCIEDAD

Real Sociedad's chances of overturning its first-leg loss to reach the cup final look slim.

The Basque club has only once come back from a first-leg deficit to win a Copa del Rey series, during the 1979-80 season.

Sociedad coach Jagoba Arrasate looked to put a positive spin on the team's performance following Sunday's scoreless league draw against Levante.

"It's an important match for the club and I'm confident that the opportunities we couldn't create against Levante we'll be able to produce (against Barcelona)," Arrasate said.

Sociedad last reached the cup final in 1988. ( AP )

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Messi eyes PSG return after avoiding serious injury

Messi eyes PSG return after avoiding serious injury - Lionel Messi underwent a special session at Barcelona on Thursday as he aims to recover from his hamstring problem in time for the Catalans club's Champions League semifinal second leg at home to Paris Saint-Germain next Wednesday.

Messi was withdrawn at halftime at the Parc des Princes after pulling up late in the first period, by which time he had already given Barca the lead in the first-leg match, which finished 2-2.

Thursday was a day off for the Barcelona squad, but Messi turned up for a double session with physio Juanjo Brau and is keen to play the return match versus PSG.

Messi eyes PSG return after avoiding serious injury

Tests on Wednesday revealed the problem to be less serious than the club had initially imagined, with the original prognosis estimating that the Argentine would be sidelined for around three weeks.

But Messi allayed fears as he wrote on his official Facebook page: "I will be back soon, luckily it [the injury] wasn't much."

The 25-year-old Messi will miss Saturday's match at home to Mallorca in La Liga, thereby ending his run of 19 consecutive rounds on the scoresheet. Messi has benefited from the Catalan club's calendar in that its match in Paris was played on Tuesday, with the return scheduled for Wednesday - an eight-day gap, as opposed to Real Madrid's six-day break between its two games against Galatasaray.

Adriano also has an outside chance of returning on Wednesday as well, as Barca hopes to bring back defenders to ease the current crisis, with Carles Puyol sidelined following a knee operation and Javier Mascherano stretchered off with ligament damage against PSG.
goal.com

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Ronaldo's Real double foils fighting Galatasaray

Ronaldo's Real double foils fighting Galatasaray - Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid, aiming to become kings of Europe for the 10th time, foiled a dramatic fightback by Galatasaray on Tuesday to reach the Champions League semi-finals.

Ronaldo, top scorer in the competition, took his goal tally for the season to 11 to make sure that Jose Mourinho's side went through to the last four 5-3 on aggregate despite losing the second leg 3-2 in Istanbul.

Mourinho praised the passionate support generated by the home crowd and the spirit of the Galatasaray players.

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (top) jumps over Galatasaray's Selcuk Inan during their Champions League quarter-final second leg soccer match in Istanbul April 9, 2013. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

"We always want to play in an atmosphere like the one in the stadium tonight," he told reporters. "I don't think our players were affected by it but the Turkish players were really affected.

"They used the atmosphere in the second half and played a fantastic match. They were knocked out but if only all clubs would go out in the same fashion - they put their heart and pride into it."

Real went ahead on the night when Ronaldo slid the ball in from two metres following a low cross from the right by Sami Khedira after seven minutes.

Emmanuel Eboue then galvanised Galatasaray into action with a piledriver of an equaliser from the edge of the area in the 57th minute.

Wesley Sneijder made amends for a glaring miss moments earlier when he added a second goal for Galatasaray by sending the ball between the legs of Real defender Raphael Varane before supplying a neat finish.

Didier Drogba, Chelsea's hero in last year's final, then sent the noisy crowd into raptures with a delightful back heel following a cross by substitute Nordin Amrabat.

ARBELOA DISMISSAL

Real substitute Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off in the closing stages for a second caution but Ronaldo settled his team's nerves by adding his second goal in stoppage time after good work by Karim Benzema.

The Madrid team, who romped to a 3-0 win in the first leg at the Bernabeu, were in complete command after Ronaldo's seventh-minute goal in Istanbul.

The Portuguese almost doubled the lead with a long-range drive that keeper Fernando Muslera did well to stop.

Real winger Angel Di Maria also missed an excellent opportunity after 24 minutes when a deft back-heel from Ronaldo sent him through on goal and Muslera kept the ball out with an instinctive save.

Despite the raucous support of the home fans, Galatasaray were unable to make much of an impression early on.

It was only in the latter stages of the first half the hosts began to exert any meaningful pressure.

Diego Lopez saved well when Sneijder fired in a shot from the edge of the area in the 38th minute and soon after Drogba just failed to latch on to a through ball that would have put him clear.

Umut Bulut then had another effort from the edge of the area that flew over the bar.

At the start of the second half nine-times European champions Real appeared content to sit on their lead but Eboue's goal transformed the atmosphere and it sparked a period of sustained pressure from the home team.

Sneijder dragged his shot well wide when he was unmarked eight metres out before the Dutch international struck Galatasaray's second goal.

An upset looked possible when Drogba made it 3-1 on the night but Ronaldo had the last laugh.

Coach Fatih Terim said he was delighted with the home team's second-half fightback.

"I gave my word to the fans that whether we won or lost, it would be with a Galatasaray team they could be proud of," he explained.

"Our fans were also magnificent. There was a fantastic atmosphere and when they enjoy the game, we do too." ( Reuters )

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Like looking in the mirror... Ronaldo poses with fan who is the spitting image of him

Like looking in the mirror... Ronaldo poses with fan who is the spitting image of him - Which one's the Real deal? Ronaldo poses with fan who is the spitting image of him... - Cristiano Ronaldo may have got a fright ahead of Real Madrid's Champions League quarter-final clash with Galatasaray after being stopped for a picture by his doppelganger.

The Portuguese star was driving but stopped to pose for a snap with a young fan, who happened to be a dead ringer for the former Manchester United winger.

The youngster had his idol's likeness down to a tee - complete with Real Madrid top, spiked and gelled hair and even a diamond earring like Ronaldo has been known to wear.

Mini-me: Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo (right) poses with a young fan who is a dead ringer for his idol

Jose Mourinho's men head into Wednesday's showdown at the Bernabeu as firm favourites to progress to the semi-finals.

Pointing the finger: Ronaldo (right) joked with team-mate Xabi Alonso as Real Madrid trained today (below)

Fighting fit: Keeper Iker Casillas (centre) attempts to hold the ball from Fabio Coentrao

All-seeing: Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho looks on his side training today ahead of the Galatasaray clash

But they will have to be wary of Mourinho's former striker Didier Drogba, who faced Ronaldo for Chelsea when the pair took turns in tearing up the Premier League.

Drogba starred in Galatasary's last-16 victory over Schalke, while Ronaldo' refusal to celebrate after scoring the winner at old stomping ground Old Trafford was one of the most enduring images of the last round. 

dailymail.co.uk : By Charlie Skillen : 12:07 GMT, 2 April 2013 | UPDATED: 12:14 GMT, 2 April 2013

READ MORE - Like looking in the mirror... Ronaldo poses with fan who is the spitting image of him