MADRID, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- There is no time for rest for the eight sides remaining in the King's Cup knockout competition in Spain as the tournament moves into the quarter-final stage this week.
The current format of the competition presents sides which progress with a packed fixture calendar, with the four teams who reach the semi-finals playing six midweek matches between the start of January and the first week in February.
The effects of such a packed schedule was easy to see on some during the last round of Liga Santander matches at the past weekend as many clubs involved in the last 16 of the Cup, such as Atletico Madrid, Villarreal and Athletic Club Bilbao produced under-par displays, while Real Madrid saw their 40-game unbeaten run come to an end in Sevilla, (who had been their rival in the Cup).
Madrid will take heart from the fact that Wednesday sees them back in action with a home game against Celta Vigo.
Cristiano Ronaldo was rested for the return leg in Sevilla a week ago, but with the final growing ever-closer, Zinedine Zidane is unlikely to rest key players this time around, although he may carry out some squad rotations, with players such as Mateo Kovacic having a chance in midfield and Kiko Casilla playing in goal.
Celta are one of the best footballing sides in Spain and will be looking to keep the tie alive for next week's return leg in the Balaidos Stadium and forward Iago Aspas, the current top-scoring Spaniard in LaLiga will be the man to watch.
Wednesday also sees second division Alcorcon entertain Alaves, who on Sunday conceded their first away goal in over 450 minutes football and are a tough-well-organized outfit.
Meanwhile Thursday's matches see Eibar visit an Atletico Madrid side that has swapped flair for defensive solidity, while Barcelona have to play away to Real Sociedad in the Anoeta Stadium, where they have not won a league match in 10 years.
Germany's players pose with the World Cup trophy after the final match between Germany and Argentina of 2014 FIFA World Cup at the Estadiodo Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro vans slip on dames , Brazil, on July 13, 2014. Germany won 1-0 over Argentina after 120 minutes and took its fourth World Cup title on Sunday.
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Three-time world champions Germany vans toy story nederland , who humiliated hosts Brazil 7-1 in the semifinals, edged two-time winners Argentina 1-0 in the extra time of their 2014 FIFA World Cup final here on Sunday.
Germany became the first-ever European side to win the World Cup in the Americas.
Germany have played a tournament-record eighth World Cup finale, having won four and lost as many. Argentina, who last reached this stage 24 years ago vans toy story kopen , had two wins and three losses.
German substitute forward Mario Goetze, 22, was the hero. In the 88th minute, Goetze replaced veteran striker Miroslav Klose as the crowd - both Argentina and Germany supporters - rose to give the all-time World Cup scoring leader of 16 goals a round of applause.
In the 113rd minute vans sk8 hi wit , Gotze did brilliantly to control another substitute forward Andre Schurrle's cross with his chest and hit it one-time past German keeper Manuel Neuer. The ball found side netting at the far post. Gotze was elected the Man of the Match.
Lionel Messi, the eventual Golden Ball winner, played sharply but failed to score. His free-kick, possibly Argentina's last chance to equalize vans sk8 hi zwart , sailed high over the bar on 120 minutes.
Germany boasted 60 percent of possession and 7 attempts on target against Argentina's two.
Germany's first scoring chance came in the last seconds of the first half as defender Benedikt Hoewedes' powerful header on a corner hit the post.
The best chance for Argentina came in the 23rd minute when German midfielder Toni Kroos made a poor header backwards, intended for Neuer, but forward Gonzalo Higuain was the first to get to it and clear in on goal. Unfortunately, Higuain hit wide.
After seven minutes vans sk8 hi leer wit , Higuain slotted in a cross from the right in a fast counterattack, but he was later adjudged to be in offside position.
Argentina midfielder Angel Di Maria failed to return to the starting lineup. The Real Madrid midfielder sustained a thigh injury in Argentina's quarterfinal win over Belgium missed the semifinal against the Netherlands.
Germany midfielder Sami Khedira pulled out of the final shortly before kick-off due to a calf injury, with Christoph Kramer taking his place in the starting lineup.
The loss of Khedira was a huge blow to coach Joachim Loew given the Real Madrid player's impressive display in the semifinal win.
Khedira was named in Loew's original starting 11, which was unchanged from the 7-1 semifinal win over Brazil vans sk8 hi leer zwart , only for the German Football Association (DFB) to confirm the change moments before the teams came out of the tunnel at the Maracana.
Kramer didn't last long, suffering from the knock to the head he took earlier on, and Loew was forced to make a change early on in the first half.
The second half witnessed good spells of ball possession in the 70th minute as Howedes, Ozil and Kroos linked up well to create space on the left side. Howedes' service though was off the mark and went out for a goal-kick.
In the 75th minute vans sk8 hi pro zwart , Messi looked to create some space on his own and dribbled across the edge of the area until he had enough room to shoot but he couldn't curl it enough and it missed wide of the target.
In the 78th minute, Argentine forward Rodrigo Palacio came off the bench to replace Higuain.
Great build-up from Germany in the 82nd minute saw Lahm find Ozil on the far side who looked up and saw Kroos alone at the top of the area. The Bayern Munich man's low shot missed just wide.
For the third time in a row, the World Cup grand finale went into extra time after neither side could find a winner.
<. Cheap Bears Jerseys Cheap Vikings Jerseys Cheap Titans Jerseys Cheap Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys Cheap Seattle Seahawks Jerseys Cheap Washington Redskin Jerseys Cheap Los Angeles Rams Jerseys Wholesale Raiders Jerseys Wholesale New England Patriots Jerseys Wholesale New York Jets Jerseys