thanks LuNo!

Depor 2:0 Madrid

beckham was a sub

You're welcome Ange

2- DEPORTIVO: Aouate; Manuel Pablo, Andrade, Arbeloa, Capdevila; Duscher, De Guzmán; Estoyanoff (Barragán, 88’), Riki (Juan Rodríguez, 78’), Cristian; and Arizmendi (Valerón, 89’).

0- REAL MADRID: Casillas; Salgado (Marcelo, 57’), Helguera, Cannavaro, Sergio Ramos; Reyes, Emerson, Gago (Ronaldo, 57’), Reyes; Guti (Beckham 10’); and Van Nistelrooy.

GOALS:

1-0, 9': Capdevila. Free-kick.

2-0, 55': Cristian finishes off a pass along the goaline by Arizmendi.

REFEREE:

Ramírez Domínguez, from the School of Referees of Navarra. Booked Salgado (11’), Riki (14’), Cannavaro (22’), Sergio Ramos (58’), Beckham (67’) and Ducher (85’).

HIGHLIGHTS: Matchday 17 of the Spanish League. Riazor Stadium. Higuaín, Robinho and Kiko Casilla were dropped from the 21-man Real Madrid squad list minutes before the start of the match. Míchel Salgado's booking is his fifth this season and it will make him miss next weekend's match against Zaragoza.

Beckham 'to leave Real in summer'

David Beckham will leave Real Madrid in the summer, according to the club's sporting director Predrag Mijatovic.

"Beckham will leave us, we will not renew his contract with the club," he told Sky Italia television.

The 31-year-old, whose current deal expires in June, has been linked with a host of clubs from England, Italy, Spain, France and the United States.

Beckham has started just nine times for the Primera Liga side this season under coach Fabio Capello.

The player's spokesman Simon Oliveira said he was surprised by the news after telling the BBC Sport website last week that a new two-year deal had been put on the table.

Oliveira told BBC Sport: "Nobody has said anything to us. As far as we're concerned, the offer is still there and a meeting is due this week."

Meanwhile, the Spanish club have opted, at this stage, not to back up their employee's claim.

"There is nothing official confirmed yet on Beckham's future," said a spokesman for club president Ramon Calderon.

Beckham, who signed for Real for £25m in July 2003, is one of six senior players to have been left out of Real's Copa del Rey game with Real Betis on Thursday.

The other 'Galactico' to have been omitted from the 18-man squad is Brazil striker Ronaldo, who was also tipped to leave the Bernabeu along with the former England captain by Spanish newspaper AS on Tuesday.

Beckham has found it difficult to secure a place in the first team this season with Capello often preferring Raul, Robinho and Jose Antonio Reyes on the wing.

The former Manchester United player was included in the starting XI for the league matches against Getafe, Sevilla and Recreativo Huelva, but Real lost all three games.

Beckham also started September's 2-0 Champions League defeat at Lyon.

In the nine matches he has started, Real have been defeated in all but two.

Thanks Aga

Beckham agrees to LA Galaxy move

David Beckham will leave Real Madrid and join Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy at the end of the season.

The 31-year-old former England captain will sign a five-year deal.

Beckham told Reuters: "This week Real asked me to make a decision regarding my future and the offer to extend my contract for a further two seasons.

"After considering several options to stay in Madrid or join other major British and European teams, I have decided to join LA Galaxy."

Beckham to leave Real Madrid and sign for LA Galaxy

MADRID, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Former England captain David Beckham will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and sign a five-year deal for MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy, he told Reuters on Thursday.

The 31-year-old, who joined Real from Manchester United in June 2003, is the most famous player to sign up for Major League Soccer since it began in 1996.

Beckham agrees to LA Galaxy move

David Beckham will leave Real Madrid and join Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy at the end of the season.

The 31-year-old former England captain will sign a five-year deal, reportedly worth £128m.

Beckham said: "This week Real asked me to make a decision regarding their offer to extend my contract.

"After considering several options to stay in Madrid or join other major British and European teams, I have decided to join LA Galaxy."

In a statement, Beckham continued: "I would like to thank the supporters and people of Madrid who have made my family and I feel so welcome in my time here, making this an extremely difficult decision to make.

"I have enjoyed my time in Spain enormously and I am extremely grateful to the club for giving me the opportunity to play for such a great team and their amazing fans.

"I am proud to have played for two of the biggest clubs in football and I look forward to the new challenge of growing the world's most popular game in a country that is as passionate about its sport as my own.

"For the rest of this season I will continue to give 100% to my coach, team-mates and fans as I believe manager Fabio Capello will bring this club and its supporters the success they truly deserve."

Real Madrid confirmed Beckham's departure in a statement, saying: "Both parties have agreed that Beckham will not extend his current contract, which ends on 30 June 2007."

Beckham left Manchester United in July 2003 to sign for Real, who paid £25m for the midfielder's services.

However, in the three-and-a-half seasons since his arrival, the Spanish giants have failed to win any major trophies.

This season has proved particularly disappointing for Beckham, who was dropped by England coach Steve McClaren and then fell out of favour with Real boss Capello.

BBC Sport website reveals LA Galaxy would like to sign David Beckham

How the BBC Sport website broke the news in November

LA Galaxy admitted their interest in signing Beckham in November, when general manager Alexi Lalas told the BBC Sport website of his admiration for the former England captain.

In an exclusive interview, Lalas said: "The Los Angeles Galaxy are looked upon as the jewel of Major League Soccer.

"We play in the best stadium we have had incredible success over the history of the league, we have had great individual players and great teams. There's a tradition of excellence.

"All of this leads to this race to become the first MLS super club, if you will.

"It is something we aspire to and in order to do that you have to have quality players, a direction and a passion, a good coach and you have to get credibility domestically and internationally.

"Signing players of Beckham's stature would be a wonderful step in the right direction not just for the Galaxy but for soccer in America."

Landon Donovan, Galaxy's star player, said Beckham's arrival would be a huge boost to MLS.

"I think it's hard to quantify what David Beckham being here would mean," he said.

"Marketing-wise it's a dream come true and it's not a 35, 36-year-old washed-up guy.

"It's a guy who can still play and a guy who still has a lot of appeal, probably the most famous soccer player in the world."

Yes, David is joining LA Galaxy.

I can't wait!

He's on GMA tomorrow!

DB to America? awesome

Beckham's departure signals death knell of Galactico era

David Beckham's decision to leave Real Madrid and further his career in the United States signals the death knell of the Galactico era in which the club signed a succession of the world's most glamorous players.

When Beckham joined Real from Manchester United in 2003 he followed in the footsteps of three of the biggest names in the sport: Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.

But, as it transpired, fate was to be unkind to the assembled greats whose collective brilliance somehow failed to land any silverware for three successive seasons. A fourth season without a trophy beckons.

Figo joined Real from arch-rivals Barcelona in 2000 as a result of what had been an audacious election-winning gambit by presidential candidate Florentino Perez.

Real won their first league title in four years after signing of the Portuguese winger and the move helped convince Perez that he throw the coaching manual out of the window and construct a winning team based on high-profile attack-minded players.

Zinedine Zidane was next on Perez's hit list, the Real chief first displaying his interest in the France playmaker when he passed him a note written on a napkin in a Monte Carlo restaurant.

In the end it took a world record $66 million to prise the midfielder from the grasp of Juventus.

The pay-off was immense, however, as the Frenchman went on to score a sublime winning goal as Real claimed a ninth European Cup with a 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League final in Glasgow in May 2002 at the end of his first season.

The following season Perez took advantage of Ronaldo's spat with Inter Milan coach Hector Cuper to make off with the striker after he had provided proof of his recovery from a career-threatening knee injury by firing Brazil to victory in the 2002 World Cup.

Like Zidane before him, Ronaldo took time to settle but even though the cracks were beginning to appear, the Brazilian steered Real to the league title by scoring 23 goals in the season.

Buoyed by yet more success, Perez turned down the requests for some defensive reinforcements and decided instead to sign Beckham, the jewel in the crown of his Galactico project.

But the truth was that Real were already on the decline when Beckham arrived at the Bernabeu.

The team went into meltdown at the end of Beckham's first season and have not managed to recover.

Figo was the first Galactico to spot the problems, opting to leave for Inter Milan at the beginning of last season after the club stalled over his contract renewal.

Worn down and frustrated by Real's constant failure to live up to their billing, Zidane decided to bring forward the date of his retirement to the end of last season.

Ronaldo began rocking the boat last year, making it clear that he was unhappy at the club following criticisms of his fitness and hinting that he wanted to leave.

In the end the Brazilian decided to stick it out, but his weight problems, frequent injuries, failure to produce the goods on the pitch and influence on the rest of the dressing room have made Real determined to offload him.

Beckham has announced his departure first, but Ronaldo could leave Real before him if the club gets it way.

The Galactico era is well and truly over.

Beckham exit signals generation change at Real Madrid

David Beckham's decision to leave Real Madrid signals the start of a rejuvenation of the club's squad, with Ronaldo likely to be the next player to leave.

A summit meeting on Monday between coach Fabio Capello, sporting director Predrag Mijatovic and president Ramon Calderon appears to have set the wheels in motion after a poor run of form saw Real lose three of their last four league matches.

"The coach has told me that it seems as though we need a radical change," Calderon told radio station Cadena Ser on Friday.

Capello's decision to leave Beckham, Ronaldo, Antonio Cassano and Michel Salgado out of the squad for Thursday's King's Cup match away to Real Betis was heralded in the press as a calculated move in a new direction.

Calderon appeared to back those assertions.

"The coach has shown that he believes some of the players of the old guard are surplus to requirements. Among those were Beckham," Calderon added.

"I have told Capello I have absolute confidence in him. He is very capable and has a great curriculum."

Out-of-favour Brazilian striker Ronaldo would appear to be the next player to be joining Beckham at the exit in the near future.

"At the moment there is nothing new in Ronaldo's possible move to another club. There are negotiations but there is plenty of time before Jan. 31," he said.

Press speculation has linked Ronaldo with moves to Italy, Saudi Arabia and to the United States.

Real brought experienced players in the summer such as Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, Brazilian midfielder Emerson and Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro with the idea of winning something quickly after three trophyless seasons.

Their purchase of little known youngsters Marcelo, Gonzalo Higuain and Fernando Gago for January was the second phase of a longer term plan to rejuvenate the squad.

But with performances flagging it appears that process has been accelerated to prevent another barren year. Rather than an experiment, Thursday's unfamiliar line-up could have been the shape of things to come.

Capello's plan could prove frustrating for the likes of those discarded such as Beckham.

He may be forced to watch from the sidelines over the last six months of his contract while the youngsters are blooded and may wish he had moved now rather than in June.

Real to miss Beckham's financial muscle

David Beckham had already lost his place in the first team so Real Madrid may not miss him on the pitch but the club will certainly notice his departure when they examine their accounts at the end of next season.

Beckham joined Real from Manchester United in June 2003 as the most marketable footballer on the planet and the former England captain certainly lived up to expectations.

His presence catapulted Real to top spot in the rich list of the world biggest clubs and allowed them to break into the all-important Asian market.

Real have admitted that a substantial part of the 292 million euros they made last season was due to Beckham's presence in the squad.

When he signed for Real, the midfielder agreed to grant the club a half share of his image rights and since then their income has increased by some 35 percent.

With fellow Galacticos Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane already having left the club and Ronaldo likely to leave before the end of the season, the sheen has been taken off Real Madrid's previously glittering image.

Arch-rivals Barcelona have now deposed Real as the most glamorous team on the continent and have reinforced that status with success on the pitch.

Real announced recently that they had signed a television rights deal worth an estimated 1,100 million euros ($1.43 billion) over the next seven seasons but their marketing income is almost certain to fall sharply.

They have spent 100 million euros on new players since last season and are getting little or no return from their former Galacticos.

Real's new project is based on a series of young South American players who may fit into coach Fabio Capello's plans on the pitch but will have minimal impact on the club's marketing income.

The key for Real now is to end their three-year trophy drought but new signings Fernando Gago and Gonzalo Higuain and Brazilian fullback Marcelo will all need time to adjust to European football.

Barcelona and Sevilla are above Real in the league and the competition in Europe is fiercer than ever, making a 10th European crown look an increasingly difficult prospect.

Real will always occupy a privileged position in Spanish football but the realities of life after the Galacticos may be tougher than expected.