Iniesta sidelined by calf injury

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta could miss next week's La Liga clash with Celta Vigo and the Champions League tie against Ajax Amsterdam after injuring himself against Real Madrid on Saturday.

Iniesta has had plenty of highs and lows during his career but will quickly want to forget a nightmare 'Clasico'.

Not only did he commit the howler that led to Real's third goal in a 3-1 comeback win at the Bernabeu but he was also forced off with a calf injury in the 71st minute.

Tests on Sunday confirmed damage to the calf muscle in his right leg.

"How the injury develops will determine when he'll be able to return to training with the group," Barca said on their website (www.fcbarcelona.es) on Sunday.

Sevilla go joint top, Atletico win

Sevilla moved joint top of La Liga alongside Barcelona as two late goals from Denis Suarez and Carlos Bacca gave them a 2-1 win over Villarreal on Sunday.

Champions Atletico Madrid also moved to within two pointes of the leaders as they were 1-0 victors at 10-man Getafe thanks to Mario Mandzukic's first-half goal.

Villarreal seemed set to take all three points when substitute Luciano Vietto clipped home Cani's pass to open the scoring 11 minutes from time.

However, Suarez slotted home a loose ball inside the area two minutes from time and Bacca converted from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time after Giovani Dos Santos had upended Benoit Tremoulinas.

Victories for Sevilla and Atletico leaves the top five separated by just two points.

Villarreal enjoyed the better of the play in the first period at the Sanchez Pizjuan, but it was Sevilla who came closest to breaking the deadlock when Gerard Deulofeu's corner came back off the post.

Sevilla 'keeper Beto was forced to make a point-blank save from Ikechukwu Uche just before the break and the Nigerian striker should have done better when he fired wide 11 minutes into the second-half.

Uche's replacement Vietto was more clinical when handed the chance to give Villarreal the lead as he raced onto Cani's through ball to lift the ball over the advancing Beto.

However, Villarreal couldn't withstand the late waves of Sevilla pressure as Suarez pounced to hook the ball into the far corner following a scramble inside the area.

And Dos Santos then stupidly brought down Tremoulinas as he tried to run the ball out from inside his own area to allow Bacca to seal the three points with his seventh goal of the season.

Atletico made it three wins and three clean sheets in a week as they won a bad-tempered Madrid derby at Getafe.

The visitors were the better side in the opening 45 minutes but had been largely restricted to shots from distance as Vicente Guaita saved from Antoine Griezmann and Raul Garcia.

However, they made the breakthrough in controversial circumstance five minutes before halftime when Mandzukic turned the ball home from close range with his marker Alexis Ruano lying on the ground claiming to have been fouled by the Croatian.

The pair's dispute continued into the second period and Alexis was dismissed for a punch on Mandzukic off the ball on 55 minutes.

Atletico failed to build on their numerical advantage, though, and were grateful to see substitute Baba Diawara flash a shot just wide with his first touch.

Earlier, Malaga moved up to seventh with a 4-0 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano, while Espanyol and Deportivo la Coruna played out a 0-0 draw.

Lowly Cornella in the path of Real juggernaut

When third-tier Cornella were drawn to play holders Real Madrid in the last 32 of the King's Cup, players and officials from the Barcelona-based club celebrated wildly what they called "winning the lottery".

Wednesday's first leg match will be played at the nearby stadium of top-flight Espanyol and will provide some welcome extra revenue for tiny Cornella, whose annual budget of around 1 million euros (1.3 million US dollars) is dwarfed by Real's income of more than half a billion.

Real are likely to rest some of their big guns but with the team on a high after Saturday's 3-1 win at home to Barcelona in the La Liga 'Clasico', Cornella will probably become the latest team crushed by the Real juggernaut.

Speaking after this month's draw, Real director Emilio Butragueno warned against underestimating sides like Cornella, perhaps with a famous Cup defeat to third-tier Alcorcon at the same stage in 2009 in mind.

"There have been a lot of surprises in the Cup over the years and we will have to be very focused," Butragueno told reporters.

"They (Cornella) are in mid-table in their division but playing Real Madrid is always a great challenge and a huge motivation," added the former Spain and Real forward.

"They will be a dangerous opponent and we will very much have to be on our guard."

If Real get through to the last 16 as expected, they are likely to meet 2013 winners Atletico Madrid, with Barcelona, who Real beat 2-1 in last season's final, the probable opponents in the last eight.

All but two of the last-32, first legs take place at the beginning of December but Real's has been brought forward because of the European champions' participation in the Club World Cup in mid-December.

Due to the disruption to the La Liga calendar caused by the tournament in Morocco, Sevilla have also had their King's Cup first leg brought forward and meet second-division Sabadell on Wednesday. The return legs are at the beginning of December.

Sevilla, level on points with Barca at the top of La Liga after nine matches following Sunday's 2-1 win at home to Villarreal, last won Spain's domestic Cup in 2010.

Pardew backs Newcastle to push on

Alan Pardew believes Newcastle United's first away win of the season will prove to be a springboard for the club.

Pardew's side followed up their first victory of the campaign at home to Leicester with a 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday to record their first Premier League victory on the road since early March.

And after seeing his side move out of the bottom three thanks to goals from Sammy Ameobi and Ayoze Perez, the under-pressure manager believes the tide has turned in the north-east side's season.

Pardew's position has repeatedly been called into question during a dismal run this calendar year with some supporters organising demonstrations and campaigning for his dismissal.

But after Newcastle's win at White Hart Lane, Pardew said: "We find ourselves out of the relegation zone tonight and that is a massive relief for this football club, because the spotlight was very much on us and the pressure effects everybody, not just the players playing but our staff and everybody connected with the football club.

"In a way, that has been a great victory today.

"You've got to win games in the Premier League. Back end of last year we struggled and the start of this year, with our new players not quite settling, we struggled again.

"I have not hidden from that, and I have not hidden from the criticism. We still have a lot to do in this Premier League season. But today I am going to smile, and I am going to enjoy this victory because it's a big, big win for us."

Newcastle were trailing to Emmanuel Adebayor's 18th minute goal and reached half-time having been out-played.

Pardew revealed there had been some plain speaking during the break.

"There were a few strong words. We just said to them after, it's not nice as a manager to go in and bark out orders but sometimes it's necessary just to shake people up because we needed shaking up."

Pardew made a double substitution at the break and one of the replacements -- Ameobi -- equalised within six seconds of the restart.

Perez added a second 12 minutes later and Pardew admitted he was thrilled by the performance of the Spaniard who was called in at the last minute when Papiss Cisse pulled out with a knee injury.

"Papiss was due to play but his knee blew up two hours before kick-off as a reaction to yesterday's (Saturday's) training," Pardew explained.

"Ayoze came in and did really well. He is a really great individual talent. He hasn't quite got the strength and power that you associate with the Premier League but that will come to him."

Tottenham suffered a third home league defeat of the season and manager Mauricio Pochettino criticised his team's lack of concentration after the restart.

"The (first Newcastle) goal was a shock. It was a shock because after that it all changed in this moment," he said.

"Seven or six seconds before, all was happiness and there was good energy in the stadium," added the Argentinian, who joined north London club Spurs from Premier League rivals Southampton in pre-season.

"But in this moment, I think it was difficult to manage in our head. Our heads had gone and we started to take rash decisions on the pitch.

"It was difficult because 12 or 14 minutes later, we conceded again another goal. At 2-1, it was difficult. It's hard to explain why.

"I think it is better when you see the action in the changing room. It is difficult to explain with words.

"It is impossible to go to the pitch not ready to start to play. I think there was a lack of concentration from us.

"We need to work hard on our mentality because it is not tactical, physical -- it is concentration and mentality and this is our challenge to improve.

Fergie hits back at 'insulting' squad claims

Alex Ferguson has described suggestions he bequeathed an "ageing" Manchester United squad to hapless Old Trafford successor David Moyes as "insulting".

Moyes took over from his fellow Scot following the retirement of Ferguson -- British football's most successful manager -- after the end of the 2012/13 season.

Some pundits said former Everton manager Moyes's already difficult task had been made harder by a lack of succession planning on the part of his illustrious predecessor.

But Ferguson said Moyes, who was sacked less than a season into his time at Old Trafford after United failed to qualify for the lucrative European Champions League, had made a mistake in not retaining former assistant manager Mike Phelan in his backroom staff.

"It is an insult to say that I left an ageing squad," said Ferguson during an interview with actor and United fan James Nesbitt at London's Drury Lane Theatre on Sunday to publicise his updated autobiography.

"Chelsea have seven players over 30 but nobody talks about them being an old team.

"It is easy to defend myself against all of that because all the statistics are there.

"I think he should have kept Mike Phelan, he was a United man; loyal, hard-working and a good judge of the players. "My advice to David was that he should maybe keep Mike Phelan.

"I was always supportive of David, whenever he called I gave him the advice I would have wanted when I was manager. "But David will do well in the future: life doesn't end when you leave United."

Meanwhile Ferguson reiterated his support for new United manager Louis van Gaal, who on Sunday oversaw the club's creditable 1-1 draw with Premier League leaders Chelsea at Old Trafford.

"He has that philosophy, stubbornness and determination to succeed, I've got every faith he will be a success," said Ferguson of the veteran Dutch boss.

"I have absolute faith that he's the right man for the job."

Ferguson added van Gaal, whose team are currently eighth in the table --10 points behind Chelsea -- had been hampered by a succession of injuries, particularly in defence.

"It's been one step forward and two steps backward for them so far this season, in terms of injuries," Ferguson said.

"(Radamel) Falcao looks a player and (Angel) di Maria will do well," he added of two of van Gaal's high-profile signings.

"Once he (Van Gaal) can get people fit and a settled, regular back-four, then that's the first route to progress.

The real Fellaini is finally standing up

Written off last season as a sub-standard misfit with a comical haircut, there are signs that Marouane Fellaini is finally beginning to feel comfortable in a red Manchester United shirt.

The Belgian powerhouse, signed at the start of the ill-fated David Moyes era for 27.5 million pounds, was a convenient scapegoat last season as United endured their worst season in the Premier League, finishing a distant seventh.

There seemed no way back for the rugged midfielder who most United diehards – spoilt by years watching the likes of Paul Scholes, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Roy Keane – thought not fit to sweep the changing room, let alone be put in charge of United's creative department.

Yet, with Louis van Gaal appearing to understand exactly what a fired-up and confident Fellaini can offer his team, the Afro-haired battering ram is beginning to flourish.

Not that the season started particularly well.

He was a substitute for Van Gaal's opening Premier League match, a home defeat by Swansea City that would have revived bitter memories of last season when a large proportion of the home jeers were directed his way.

An ankle injury then sidelined him for a month and when he returned he again found himself benched by Belgium.

Something clicked, however, against West Bromwich Albion last week when Fellaini came on for Herrera at halftime and promptly scored a wonderful goal from outside the area - his first goal for United - and added some much-needed bit to his side's display in a 2-2 draw.

Van Gaal was suitably impressed, so much so that Fellaini started against Chelsea on Sunday and arguably had his best game for United against the best team in the country.

Helping shore up United often-creaky backline at one end, he also displayed his trademark strength at the other end to ruffle Chelsea's back four as United pressed for an equaliser.

That came in stoppage time when he thumped a header that was parried by Thibaut Courtois with the rebound being hammered home by Robin van Persie.

Late goals in "Fergie time" were United's stock in trade during the glory years under Alex Ferguson, but this one was greeted with as much fervour as any.

After some of the humble surrenders of last season when Old Trafford was not so much a fortress but a house of horrors, a 1-1 draw with Jose Mourinho's table-toppers represented a big step in the right direction.

While the balance may not be right and there are still plenty of question marks in defence, the old never-say-die spirit at least seems to have returned.

Van Gaal will know that United are a work in progress, but with so much ground to make up he can hardly overlook any of the club's supposed assets and Fellaini could yet prove to be the signing United thought they had made last season.

Colombian Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria may be more in the traditional United thoroughbred mould, but Fellaini is the man to do the dirty work needed if the Reds are to reclaim their place in the Champions League.

According to official Premier League statistics Fellaini covered 12.17 kilometres against Chelsea – more than any teammate – and made 70 'high-intensity' runs.

It was more like the player who once ripped up the midfield at Everton and Van Persie certainly benefited from the physical presence supporting him in United's route-one attacks.

"@fellainiM was fantastic," the striker said on Twitter. "He did a great job on Fabregas. He is strong on the ball and in the air."

High praise indeed, although it will take a few more such performances of similar stature from the Everton man to completely win over the Old Trafford sceptics.

Harry wants Villa scalp

Harry Redknapp has urged the Queens Park Rangers faithful to roar his side to victory against Aston Villa on Monday.

QPR are bottom of the Barclays Premier League with four points from eight matches on their return to the top flight. Last season's Championship play-off winners came agonisingly close to adding to that points tally last Sunday against Liverpool, when they twice drew level in the closing stages before being consigned to a 3-2 defeat.

But Redknapp was keen to take positives from the performance, as well as the role played by Rangers' vocal home support.

"I've been pleased with our home form," Redknapp told qpr.co.uk. "We were excellent against Liverpool and we'll need another performance like that again against Villa on Monday.

"The quality and the spirit we showed on Sunday was excellent from the first minute. The fans were bouncing, Loftus Road was loud - and we need that again on Monday under the lights. I'm still confident we will be fine this season."

QPR revealed that Adel Taarabt will miss out against Villa due to a bout of illness, while fellow midfielders Joey Barton and Jordon Mutch continue their recovery from hamstring injuries. Sandro could bolster Redknapp's options in the middle of the park if he is able to overcome a groin problem and defender Nedum Onuoha (hamstring) is also in line for a late fitness test.

Villa manager Paul Lambert must run the rule over defensive duo Philippe Senderos (thigh) and Nathan Baker (hamstring), while the Scot has pressing issues of a different nature at the other end of the pitch. Following an impressive start to the campaign, Villa are looking to end a sequence of four consecutive losses, a dismal run in which they have failed to score a single goal.

Former Chelsea and England midfielder Joe Cole made his Barclays Premier League debut for Villa from the bench in the closing stages of last weekend's 3-0 loss at Everton. Cole joined Villa on a free transfer during the close season and although fitness issues initially hindered his progress, Lambert is delighted with the application shown by a player he believes can supply a much-needed creative spark.

"We've got a really good player, someone who can unlock things,” Lambert told avfc.co.uk. “He's getting up to speed. "He's been good as gold. He's a great trainer, he does extra work after training so he's been good, really good. He's done great in training and he's great about the place. I think he can certainly create things for us."

Villa will be without Fabian Delph after Lambert confirmed the England midfielder's rehabilitation from surgery on a dislocated shoulder will rule him out for the rest of the year.

QPR (from): Green, McCarthy, Murphy, Caulker, Dunne, Ehmer, Ferdinand, Hill, Isla, Onuoha, Traore, Yun, Fer, Henry, Hoilett, Kranjcar, Phillips, Sandro, Wright-Phillips, Austin, Vargas, Zamora.

Aston Villa (from): Given, Guzan, Bacuna, Baker, Clark, Herd, Hutton, Lowton, Okore, Senderos, Vlaar, Cleverley, Cole, Grealish, N'Zogbia, Richardson, Sanchez, Westwood, Agbonlahor, Bent, Benteke, Burke, Weimann.