Coaches eye Copa lifelines

Atletico Madrid coach Gregorio Manzano finds himself in the spotlight as Los Rojiblancos attempt to avoid an embarrassing early Copa del Rey exit at the hands of third tier side Albacete this week. The pressure has been steadily building on Manzano following an inconsistent start to the season and reports in Spain suggest the former Sevilla and Real Mallorca coach could be living on borrowed time following yesterday's home league defeat to Real Betis. That was Atletico's third loss in their last four games and, while Manzano insisted after the match he would not be resigning, several names are already being touted in the media as possible replacements for the 55-year-old. One of those three losses was a 2-1 away defeat to Segunda Division B Albacete in the first leg of the Copa del Rey last 32, and 2010 runners-up Atletico will try to overturn that in Wednesday's second leg at the Vicente Calderon. Atletico captain Antonio Lopez said with regards to speculation about Manzano's future: "We aren't thinking about that, but of being united and of a tie that we all want to get through. The club have not told us anything (about Manzano). Right now we are only thinking about getting through the tie, then taking a break and returning with our batteries recharged." Another coach who will be feeling the heat is Villarreal boss Juan Carlos Garrido following a hugely disappointing start to the season. A 2-1 defeat to Osasuna yesterday left the Yellow Submarine in the bottom four of La Liga while they are without a win in seven matches and have already been dumped out of Europe. On Wednesday Villarreal host third tier Mirandes having needed a late equaliser from Borja Valero to salvage a 1-1 draw from the first leg. Nevertheless, Garrido appears to have the backing of his players, with goalkeeper Diego Lopez saying: "We are behind him and the biggest part of the blame for this situation lies with the players. Between us all we have to find a solution to return to how we were before." Things are not going well for Zaragoza coach Javier Aguirre either, with his side bottom of La Liga having earned just one point from their last nine league games. They host Alcorcon - who famously dumped out Real Madrid two years ago - on Wednesday having drawn the first leg 1-1. There appear to be no such problems for holders and La Liga leaders Real as they boast a 2-0 lead heading into their second leg with Ponferradina at the Bernabeu tomorrow night, while Barcelona won the away leg of their tie with L'Hospitalet 1-0. Barça host the return match on Thursday having today returned to Spain from Japan where yesterday they won the FIFA Club World Cup for the second year in succession with a 4-0 victory over Brazilian side Santos. Coach Pep Guardiola has already allowed seven players to leave for their Christmas break early, including South Americans Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Dani Alves, Adriano, Maxwell and Alexis Sanchez, as well as Malian Seydou Keita. In selected other games, Athletic Bilbao, whose 23 Copa del Rey titles is second only to Barça's 25, hold a 1-0 first leg advantage over Real Oviedo, Valencia were held 0-0 at Cadiz in their first match, while 2010 winners Sevilla are 1-0 up against San Roque. Atletico are not the only La Liga club needed to overturn a deficit against lower league opposition as La Liga high-fliers Levante trail 3-1 to Deportivo La Coruna, and Betis are 1-0 down against Cordoba.