Real Madrid desperate to recover from cup setback

 Real crashed out of the cup on a 3-1 aggregate against Mallorca.

 "What we have to do now," defender Fabio Cannavaro told Cadena COPE, "is to forget about tonight as soon as possible and start to think about Sunday."

   Real will be without Gabriel Heinze, Christoph Metzelder, Mahamadou Diarra and Arjen Robben.

 Atletico, in contrast, have few injury worries and are in good form.

 They proved this on Wednesday by scraping past Valladolid in the cup with a 1-1 away draw.

 Teenage sensation Sergio Aguero scored the crucial away goal and now is keen to run at the injury-hit Real defence.

 Atletico have not beaten Real since 1999. They are third in La Liga with 37 points, three fewer than Barcelona and ten fewer than Real.

 Later on Sunday Barca are at home to a Santander side that is dreaming of their first ever taste of Europe.

 Santander are sixth and on fire, as they proved on Wednesday with a 4-2 cup thrashing of Zaragoza.

 Barca's wayward star Ronaldinho finally returned to full training on Tuesday, but will probably be on the bench on Sunday.

 Also on Sunday, third-placed Espanyol are away to Valladolid, while crisis club Deportivo Coruna go to Almeria.

 Deportivo are second from bottom and in massive trouble. Defeat in Almeria would be the final nail in the coffin of hapless coach Miguel Angel Lotina.

 Lotina has suspended goalkeepers Gustavo Munua and Dudu Aouate for last week's infamous dressing-room punch-up, and he claims to have complete faith in youngster Fabricio Agosto.

 Sunday's other games are: Osasuna-Athletic Bilbao, Zaragoza- Murcia, Levante-Mallorca and Betis-Recreativo Huelva.

 The 20th round of matches - and the second half of the Liga programme - kicks off on Saturday with Getafe taking on Sevilla and Villarreal playing hosts to Valencia.

 Valencia have not won for two months in La Liga, but knocked out Betis from the cup on Wednesday without too many problems.

DPA