Villarreal, Spain  - Arsenal are well placed to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, after battling out a valuable 1-1 draw away to old enemies Villarreal on Tuesday.

Arsenal edged Villarreal out of the 2006 final and are poised to eliminate the Spaniards again, after a superb strike from Emmanuel Adebayor cancelled out an early goal from Marcos Senna.

Villarreal went into the quarter-final first leg without broken leg victim Santi Cazorla. Arsenal, in contrast, had key men Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas fit again.

Madrid - Struggling Spanish Liga club Betis announced on Tuesday evening that striker Sergio Garcia will be out of action for around a month.

Garcia suffered a bizarre injury in Saturday's heart-stopping 3-3 draw at home to Numancia, twisting the ligaments in his right knee whilst wildly celebrating a goal.

Garcia - who was a reserve for Spain at Euro 2008 - will be out of action until early May.

Madrid - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced a sweeping cabinet reshuffle and restructuring Tuesday in response to the country's deepening recession.

Public Administrations Minister Elena Salgado was appointed economy minister in replacement of Pedro Solbes, who had been accused of downplaying and being slow in responding to the crisis.

Salgado was also made second vice-premier after Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, who retained her post.

Santander, Spain  - A court in the northern Spanish city of Santander has ordered the release of suspected swindler Jose Perez Diaz, dubbed the Spanish Madoff, who was captured in Mexico after 18 years on the run, the court announced Tuesday.

The charges against Perez Diaz, known as Pepe el del Popular, 57, had come under the statute of limitations, the court said.

Perez Diaz was one of Spain's most wanted fugitives, with media referring to him as an "early Madoff" - after confessed US financial fraudster Bernard Madoff.

Madrid - Valencia midfielder Manuel Fernandes played 75 minutes with a broken leg against Getafe in La Liga, the Portuguese player said Monday based on medical tests that confirmed the fracture in the fibula bone.

"I could finish the game because it was not hurting a lot," Fernandes explained. "The truth is it was not hurting a lot, but today (Monday) I underwent a medical test and they saw I have a fracture."

Madrid - The Spanish government on Monday criticized North Korea's firing of a high-altitude rocket, describing it as a "provocation which seriously weakens the regional security environment."

Sunday's missile launch also "contradicts the will expressed by the (North Korean) government to find solutions through dialogue," the Foreign Ministry said in a communique.