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Real Madrid lost their First knockout round Champions League tie against Liverpool FC on Wednesday night. Yossi Benayoun secured his team a 1-0 victory, heading a free kick past Casillas after being left completely unmarked in Madrid's box. Christoph Metzelder did not get a chance to play. The second leg match will take place on March 10.

Real Madrid earned three more championship points with a rather tedious 1-0 victory over Racing on Saturday night, Gonzalo Higuaín scoring the only goal for the home side in minute 48. Throughout the second half, the team from Santander seemed much closer to equalising than Madrid to extending the lead, but despite a fair number of chances, the score board remained unaltered. Christoph Metzelder, who hasn't been able to train with the team due to back problems for over a week, was left out of the squad for this match altogether.

Scoring his 307th goal for Real Madrid on Saturday against Numancia, Raúl González Blanco drew level with the club's record holder, Alfredo Di Stéfano. Los Blancos' captain put his team in front in minute 48, and Arjen Robben finished Numancia off only eight minutes later.

Christoph Metzelder was absent from the squad for the match in Soria due to back problems that had cropped up on Friday; it is unclear so far how long he will be sidelined.