The greatest player the world has possibly ever seen turned 82 today, and the Real Madrid Foundation threw him a surprise birthday party to celebrate. Don Alfredo di Stéfano said goodbye to an unforgettable year, which included a worldwide tribute organized by Real Madrid on 17 February.

When he arrived at the Santiago Bernabéu this mornig, little did Alfredo di Stéfano know that hours later he would be attending his own birthday party in one of the balconies. Several Real Madrid employees, including Director General to the Presidency Miguel Ángel Arroyo, Sporting Director Pedja Mijatovic, and Foundation Director Teresa Mogin surprised the President of Honor with a cake and all to celebrate his 82nd birthday.

Miguel Ángel Arroyo excused the absence of President Ramón Calderón, who currently is not in Madrid. Arroyo relayed a heartfelt congratulations on Calderón's behalf, although the President later telephoned Di Stéfano.

Pedja Mijatovic offered some words during the celebration, during which he considered Di Stéfano "a role model to be followed." Alfredo Di Stéfano is a symbol for Madridismo, having won eight league titles and five European Cups, and for bringing the Real Madrid name to the forefront of world football.

It wasn't just the club who honored Di Stéfano last February. UEFA was also present at the worldwide tribute, where Michel Platini bestowed the Presidential Award on the Blond Arrow for his contribution to the sport.

Surrounded by friends on his 82nd, Don Alfredo's only birthday wish was for a tenth European Cup. It's what the king of football wants, and what he wants, he gets. Happy birthday, Don Alfredo! 

More than half the people surveyed by 'La Sexta' are behind Iker Casillas' bid to win the much coveted Golden Ball, with worldwide favourite Cristiano Ronaldo a mere fifth...

A survey conducted by Spanish television station 'La Sexta' has revealed that 55.5% of its participants believe that Real Madrid keeper should be the first keeper since Lev Yashin to win the Golden Ball. Coming in at second place in the poll was Lionel Messi, who won the Olympics, with 13.8%, with Fernando Torres, who scored more than thirty goals last season for Liverpool, picking up bronze with 8.5%. Xavi, named the player of Euro 2008 by UEFA, had to settle for fourth with 5.3%, while hot favourite Cristiano Ronaldo, who has modestly declared himself the best player of last season, could only finish in fifth, with 3.5% of the votes. Having been instrumental in both his club's league triumph and his country's victory at the Euros, there are not many who would argue were 'St. Iker' awarded the precious trophy. Goalkeepers, however, are often not considered glamarous enough for the prize. It remains to be seen whether the trend will continue.

Football returned to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium with an encounter between two classic sides of the Spanish league. The match lived up to expectations and to the achievements of both Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.

Bernd Schuster came up with an offensive line-up. Robben returned to the starting eleven and Van der Vaart, Sneijder and Gago took on midfielder duties. Heinze took Fabio Cannavaro's spot as centre back with Pepe and Marcelo played as left back. Míchel Salgado flanked them on the right wing. Higuaín played as a striker with Raúl due to Ruud van Nistelrooy's suspension.

The first minutes indicated that Real Madrid would end up dominating the match. Sneijder came close from scoring with a 50-metre shot. Five minutes later, Higuaín scored from a cross by Robben, but the goal was disallowed due to a non-existent offside. Athletic also tried their best and left back Balenziaga became their strongest man in attack and Salgado cleared a cross of his that was clearly looking for Llorente inside the box.

The match slowed down and Real Madrid failed to find a clear way to reach Iraoz's goal until Heinze found Sneijder between Athletic's lines and served him the ball. The Dutchman didn't falter in the one-on-one against the Basque keeper and scored from a beautiful crossed shot with his left foot before the 15-minute mark. Bilbao didn't loose face and looked for an equaliser with long passes. Llorente came close to netting a header, but Casillas' incredible reflexes saved the day.

Athletic grew impatient and the Madridistas, guided by an all-powerful Gago and an omnipresent Sneijder, began to hurt them in defence. Higuaín penetrated into Athletic's ranks and, after leaving two defenders behind, passed the ball back to Sneijder, whose subsequent hit one of the posts.

The Whites finally found the way to hurt Bilbao and HIguaín tried to score his team's second strike with a beautiful lobbed shot that wasn't on target. Real Madrid played their best football during thoise minutes. Gago's playmaking skill was latent, Sneijder did what he wanted with the ball and Higuaín dominated inside Athletic's area, as proven by the team's second goal. Sneijder served the ball to Van der Vaart, who in turn passed it with his heel to Raúl, who distracted the defenders before assisting Higuaín to score.

The fans started to relax and to enjoy their team's lead, but a fast, confusing and messy play in which Iraola fell on the ground in pain distracted the team, alowing Etxeberria to defeat Casillas. The Whites' beautiful game gave way to Bilbao's imprecission and straightforward football. Eventually, just before half-time, the Basque's scored again thanks to an unfairly awarded penalty on Llorente.

Real Madrid played much better at the start of the second half. Higuaín had a chance with a crossed shot. Heinze tried to score one minute later, but his shot hit the crossbar. In the end, Higuaín scored the victory goal thanks to a brilliant pass from Gago, who saw his run way back in midfield.

Athletic grew powerless against the Madridistas, who wanted to finish them off with another goal. Guti and Diarra came on for Van der Vaart and Raúl -respectively- to freshen up the team's attack. Llorente came close to scoring an equaliser in the final minutes, but in the end Real Madrid won the game. They haven't lost at the Bernabéu in more then one and a half years...

Lineups

Klaas Jan Huntelaar has stated his preference for playing in England in the future, thus temporarily ending the rumours of a possible move to Real Madrid...

While Real Madrid are linked with just about every player worth anything during some point in their careers, Klaas Jan Huntelaar is one name who has been consistently linked with Los Blancos, possibly more than anyone else, with the obvious exception of one Cristiano Ronaldo. It came as a shock to some, therefore, when the Dutchman insisted that he had no desire to move to the Spanish capital in the years to come. Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Huntelaar said, "It would be great to play in England. The atmosphere in the stadiums is incredible. I am currently very happy at Ajax, but I definitely have the desire to play in England in the future." There was much speculation that Huntelaar, who scored 33 goals in 34 games last season, had been the subject of a bid from Real Madrid in the summer, but this was frankly denied. "I knew there was in interest in me," Huntelaar claimed, "but there was never a concrete offer." While it is clear that the Premiership is Huntelaar's preferred eventual destination, there have been many players in the past who claimed not to be interested in Real Madrid, only to be seduced when a contract was floated their way. It would be foolish to rule this one out just yet.

Arjen Robben does not think that Real Madrid should worry about losing to Juventus because they can go back to the top of the group by defeating the Italians in two weeks.

Los Merengues were beaten on Tuesday evening and were leap-frogged at the top of Group H by their victors after Alessandro del Piero and Amauri scored for the hosts.

Despite the reverse, Robben is unconcerned and felt that Madrid were always likely to struggle in Turin but is already looking forward to the second meeting between the sides in a fortnight.

"It is always difficult to play against Italian teams away from home, although I think in the second half we played better than we did in the first and could have drawn," the Dutchman said.

"On a personal level I am happy and now want a run without injuries and to recover my confidence."

Robben was pleased to have been given a chance to play again and now hopes that Bernd Schuster gives him a regular run in the team after recovering from his latest setback.

"In two weeks we play Juventus at home and if we win we will go back to the top again, so nothing too serious has happened," he continued.

"It was good for me to play this game, but Schuster did not want me to start. It was important for me to play again and not to suffer any problems. Losing is nothing special."

Juan Villalonga believes that the best players in the world should be playing for Real Madrid and plans to reintroduce the Galácticos scheme if he wins the club presidency next year.

The impresario is set to stand for the top job at the Bernabéu against current incumbent, Ramón Calderón, and is planning to copy the plan laid down by previous chief Florentino Pérez.

Under Pérez, Madrid signed such star names as Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo and Villalonga believes that Madrid should once again be looking to sign stars of a similar stature.

"Players such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Kaká should be at Real Madrid," he told COPE radio. "I will copy the model that Florentino used.

"I have called Florentino and I expressed my desire to stand and use his ideas, but it will be on my own terms.

"I have a lot of respect and admiration for Florentino and I think we should continue the good work that he did."

While Pérez coined the phrase Zidanes and Pavónes to describe his idea of combining star names with homegrown players, Villalonga has tweaked that idea.

"If I do win then I would like to introduce a system of Zidanes and Butragueños. We have to call upon the talent from the youth teams and combine them with world class players," he added.

Injured striker Fernando Torres has turned down the opportunity to watch Liverpool's Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid from the luxury of a VIP seat at the Vicente Calderon...

A hamstring tear has denied Torres the sensational homecoming that was planned for him by UEFA's Champions League draw.

The 24-year-old, who moved from Atleti to Anfield last year, was forced from the field early in Spain's World Cup qualifier against Belgium last week, and tests confirmed that he would be out of action for up to 15 days.

Thus, Torres will not face his former team-mates in Wednesday night's blockbuster in the Spanish capital, where he plied his trade for six years after graduating from Atletico's youth system in 2001.

'El Nino' was given the chance to view the game in style, however, as los Rojiblancos offered their former idol a place in the Calderon's VIP section.

But Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez told the Daily Mail: "We talked with the doctor and physios, and with the player himself, and we decided it was important for him to stay here and continue with his recovery."

Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has requested for his club to launch an appeal to have his red card against Atlético Madrid overturned.

Van Nistelrooy struck Real Madrid’s opening goal after just half a minute into the derbi clash against Atlético at the weekend, before going on to net a second which appeared to be wrongfully disallowed by the referee.

However, that was the last action of his run-in with the match official as, five minutes before the break, he was given his marching orders after a crude sliding challenge on Maniche.

Still, the Dutchman believes that the offense only warranted a yellow card and, as such, he has personally requested that the club launch a formal appeal to the Competition Committee to have the red card rescinded in order to play against Athletic Bilbao at the Bernabéu next weekend.