Beckham expected to face Mallorca

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MADRID, Spain (Reuters) -- David Beckham trained with Real Madrid again Friday and is expected to start in the title-deciding match against Mallorca -- his final game before joining the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The 32-year-old England midfielder appears to have recovered sufficiently from a sprained ankle to make coach Fabio Capello's starting line-up for Sunday's league finale at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Madrid are level with Barcelona at the top of the league with 73 points. Sevilla have 71 going into Sunday's final round of games.

Madrid will secure a record 30th league title -- but first in four seasons -- with a win, even if Barcelona beat bottom team Gimnastic Tarragona, because Real have the head-to-head advantage.

Madrid are undefeated in the 11 games since Fabio Capello reinstated Beckham to the line-up in February.

Capello benched Beckham after he signed a five-year deal with Major League Soccer's LA Galaxy in January.

After his spell on the sidelines, Beckham's outstanding performances also earned him a recall to the England team. He had been dropped after last year's World Cup.

Real hoped to have Robinho and Mahamadou Diarra back in the line-up but both also had international commitments.

Robinho trained with the team on Friday but had still not been given the go-ahead by Brazil to play, despite reportedly being cleared by FIFA.

Brazil wanted him for training ahead of the Copa America, which begins on June 26.

"I would like to be here for this moment, which is so important to the club," Robinho said in Spanish daily As.

"I have a lot of respect for the national team ... but I have faith I will be on the field to play against Mallorca. It would be sad if I couldn't play."

Mali team-mates Diarra and Sevilla striker Frederic Kanoute were cleared by FIFA to play, but only Kanoute had returned from Mali by Friday.

Negative reaction

Marca reported that Diarra, the Mali captain, missed the overnight flight back to Madrid fearing a negative public reaction to missing the African Cup of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone on Saturday. It said he was expected to reach Spain on Saturday.

Mallorca will be without joint top scorer Serbian Bosko Jankovic. Argentine playmaker Ariel Ibagaza is suspended.

Kanoute's Sevilla team-mate, goalkeeper Andres Palop, is doubtful for the match against Villarreal after spending two nights in hospital battling a fever.

Defenders Ivica Dragutinovic and Javi Navarro are suspended. Russian striker Alexander Kerzhakov, midfielder Jesus Navas and goalkeeper Andres Palop are all injury doubts.

Brazilian midfielders Renato and Adriano Correia are ruled out with injury.

Sevilla's visitors, sixth-placed Villarreal, are chasing a UEFA Cup place but are deprived of top scorer Diego Forlan, who is on international duty with Uruguay.

Midfielder Matias Fernandez is with Chile and defender Juan Manuel Pena with Bolivia. The UEFA Cup champions are preparing to play without defender Daniel Alves, who remains in Brazil training for the Copa America.

If Barcelona miss out on silverware for the first time in three years, the two-time defending champions can only rue missed opportunities.

"It's unlikely Madrid will lose the championship," Barcelona midfielder Deco told As. "We can't go back (in time) now, and we've probably lost the opportunity. We haven't won when we should have."

Barcelona's Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjohnsen will miss the trip to face relegated Gimnastic Tarragona with a knee injury, but have Brazilian forward Ronaldinho back from suspension.

Seventh-placed Atletico Madrid, who visit Osasuna, are also in the hunt for a UEFA Cup place but will be without suspended French midfielder Peter Luccin and defender Pablo Ibanez. Center-back Luis Perea is on international duty with Colombia.

Sacking

Following the sacking of coach Luis Fernandez after the 5-0 home defeat to Osasuna, youth team coach Paco Chaparro has to guide Real Betis away from relegation at Racing Santander.

The side are 16th, level on points with 17th-placed Athletic Bilbao, one ahead of Celta Vigo and three ahead of Real Sociedad.

Celta's bid to avoid relegation is hindered by the suspension of Brazilian top scorer Fernando Baiano when they host King's Cup finalists Getafe.

International call-ups have deprived them of Uruguayan midfielders Pablo Garcia and Fabian Canobbio.

Second-bottom Sociedad's battle against relegation is not helped by the absence of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo who is away with Chile. They visit Valencia.

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