Barcelona - Seventh seed David Nalbandian completed a hat-trick of quarter-final placings at the Barcelona Open on Thursday as he beat Spain's Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-4.

The Argentine also reached the last eight at the Real club in 2004 and in 2007 but stalled in the third round a year ago.

The former Wimbledon finalist is more than likely to line up against king of clay Rafael Nadal if the world number 1 came through as expected later on Thursday in his third-round match with Belgian Christophe Rochus.

Madrid - Europe's economic crisis is hitting tourism in Spain, where overnight stays in hotels fell 16 per cent in the first quarter, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said Thursday.

In March, hotel stays declined by nearly 19 per cent from the corresponding period in 2008 to 15.6 million, the lowest in five years, despite hotel prices going down by 7 per cent.

The March results were, however, affected by the fact that Easter fell in March in 2008, increasing the number of tourists that year.

Madrid - Antonin Panenka, the man who won Euro 1976 for Czechoslovakia with an impudent chipped penalty, has criticized the bizarre attempt of Getafe's Francisco Casquero to imitate him.

Casquero absurdly tried to imitate Panenka's penaly, but instead floated a feeble chip straight into the arms of Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas on Tuesday night during Real's 3-2 victory.

"Yes, I have seen it," Panenka told Thursday's edition of the Spanish sports daily As.

Madrid  - Majestic Barcelona turned on the style once again, brushing aside third-placed Sevilla 4-0 Wednesday in a euphoric Camp Nou.

The latest exhibition leaves Josep Guardiola's sumptuous side six points ahead of second-place Real Madrid, who, in contrast, struggled Tuesday to beat lowly Getafe 3-2.

Barca now have 81 points from 32 games, while Real have 75.

Barca have won their last seven league matches without conceding a goal - and without their obvious superiority ever having been in doubt.

Madrid  - A 2-1 win away to Betis on Wednesday consolidates solid Valencia in fourth place in the Spanish Liga.

Valencia scored their fifth straight win thanks to two more goals from Euro 2008 top scorer David Villa, who now has 25 - just one less than league top hitman Samuel Eto'o of leaders Barcelona.

Villa struck first in the 66th minute of a dull game, flicking in a tempting near-post centre from fellow Spain striker Juan Mata.

14 minutes later Villa made it 2-0 after a clever combination between Joaquin and Edu.

Barcelona - The families of 30 Russian children who were among the 71 victims of a mid-air collision in 2002 are seeking 600 million dollars in damages at a Spanish court, judicial sources said Wednesday.

The Tupolev 154 passenger jet of Bashkirian Airlines and a Boeing 757 cargo plane collided over Germany, killing the 71 people aboard both aircraft.

The victims included 45 children who were going on holiday in Spain as a reward for their achievements at school.