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The transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United in 2003 included a hitherto undisclosed £1m payment to an unnamed agent, believed to be the Italian Giovanni Branchini, the Guardian can reveal.

The payment, which has never been made public before, emerged in the court battle in Porto which Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes, is defending against the English football agency Formation.

Neither United, Branchini nor Mendes responded to questions from the Guardian about what Branchini, a senior agent based in Italy, did to merit payment in the £12.24m deal, when Mendes was Ronaldo's agent. In a defence document Mendes's Gestifute agency has filed with the Porto court, which the Guardian has seen, Gestifute said that it "did not receive any commission" from United directly when Ronaldo joined, but that Gestifute was paid by Branchini. At the time, according to Formation's claim, Mendes told them he had been paid €400,000 as his fee for negotiating Ronaldo's move. The Football Association, which has been required by court orders in Portugal and here to disclose all payments made through it on the Ronaldo deal, has confirmed that €150,000 was paid to Gestifute, while the rest of the £1.129m which United declared it paid in agents' fees went to "another agent".

These details of the landmark deal that took the dazzling 18-year-old to Old Trafford have emerged in the legal action Formation has brought against Gestifute in Porto. The English agency argues in its claim, seen by the Guardian, that it had a two-year partnership agreement with Gestifute, promoting Mendes's client players to English clubs, and that the agents' fees would be split equally.

Formation claims it shared fees after negotiating the first two moves to the UK for Gestifute players, Hugo Viana, to Newcastle, and Nuno Capucho, to Rangers, but that Mendes reneged on the deal once José Mourinho, also his client, went to Chelsea and signed the three Gestifute Portuguese players Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira and Tiago Mendes. Formation says in its claim that it agreed to accept £80,000 from Mendes following Ronaldo's signing, rather than half the €400,000 that Mendes said United had paid him, because it wanted to preserve what had become a fruitful partnership.

However, after United disclosed in their 2004 accounts £1.129m paid to agents in the Ronaldo deal, Formation accused Gestifute in its court claim of having "concealed" the full amount of the fee, although it acknowledged that other agents may have been paid too.

Sir Alex Ferguson has always said that United signed Ronaldo after the teenager played mesmerically against United in a friendly with Sporting Lisbon on 6 August 2003 to open the Portuguese club's José Alvalade stadium. Other United sources have told the Guardian the club were planning to sign Ronaldo before that and allow him to mature further at Sporting but, with Arsenal also considering a bid, United snapped him up after his thrilling performance. Ronaldo joined United on 11 August, only five days later, and what duties Branchini performed on the deal, apparently acting for United, is unclear.

In its claim, Formation is asking the court to award it half of whatever fee Mendes's Gestifute agency did in fact receive for the Ronaldo deal, claiming that the signing was made within the two agencies' two-year partnership agreement to share fees equally. In its defence, Gestifute is arguing its partnership with Formation was not a genuine agency agreement that required it to share fees equally and, in relation to Ronaldo, that it was not paid commission by United, but by Branchini. Gestifute in Porto is defending Formation's claim for half the €2.9m Chelsea paid on the Carvalho, Ferreira and Tiago signings by arguing it was not paid anything, and that any fees were paid to Gestifute International Limited, a company registered in Ireland.

Both Branchini and Mendes declined to reply to a detailed series of questions asked by the Guardian, about why Branchini was paid in the deal and why, as claimed by Mendes, he then paid Gestifute. Gestifute did say in a statement about the Formation case: "This is a normal commercial dispute. The matter is being dealt with by our lawyers, and we are very confident that the court will decide on our favour."

United would not comment specifically on the payments the club made, but a spokesman said: "The deal was agreed, the correct payments made and we were delighted to secure Ronaldo who, with his hard work and our coaching, turned into the world's best player."

El Zaragoza demostró su condición de colista ante un Madrid espoleado por la que había liado Mourinho en la víspera con lo de los perros y los gatos. Özil, Cristiano y Di María firmaron el 1-3 que mantiene al 'Moudrid' en la lucha. ¡Guauuu!

Victoria animal. Mourinho nos metió en el terreno de Faunia con su parábola de los perros y los gatos, hasta el punto de que el partido de La Romareda fue un concierto de comparaciones más o menos chistosas. Que si Benzema es un lindo gatito, Cristiano Ronaldo y Di María dos pitbull, Lass un esbelto dálmata, Özil un pastor alemán, Pepe y Carvalho gatos siameses, Xabi Alonso un husky siberiano, Marcelo un chihuahua, Arbeloa un lobo y Casillas un doberman con guantes. No vino mal que Mourinho sacudiese la atmósfera previa al partido con su rajadita de la víspera, porque su equipo salió enchufado desde el minuto 1. El Zaragoza de Aguirre duró menos que un donut a la puerta de un colegio. Lo que no me gustó es que Mourinho reculase en la conferencia de prensa desviando el divertido asunto de los perros y gatos hacia los sistemas tácticos. Míster, si la afición que vio su disertación por Realmadrid TV y la totalidad de los medios coinciden en la interpretación de sus palabras, no será una cuestión de falta de inteligencia. Además, estuvo usted ocurrente. No deje que nadie le caliente la cabeza...

El 'tigre' Cristiano. Me cuentan que las personas que quieren bien al megacrack portugués le llaman tigrao (tigre en castellano). Bien puesto el apodo. Este futbolista es mucho más que un perro o un gato. Es un tigre de Bengala. Se sobrepone a los insultos a coro y responde a las patadas que le propinan con calidad, goles y espectáculo. Ayer nos regaló un taconazo de genio que abrió la goleada (magnífico Marcelo en el desarrollo y Özil en la ejecución) y un tomahawk en 3D. Cristiano va a hacer historia en el fútbol español y me gustó la defensa que de él hizo anoche Mourinho. El 7 debe ser considerado patrimonio de la Liga BBVA y no entiendo ese ensañamiento con alguien que mejora la puesta en escena de este deporte hasta justificar el alto precio de las entradas. Cristiano, tú tranquilo máquina. El madridismo jamás te dejará caminar solo...

¡Vaya arbitraje! Llueve sobre mojado en el reino del Villarato. Da igual que sea ante el colista. Ramírez Domínguez escamoteó al Madrid dos penaltis de libro (uno sobre Lass y otro en un tiro libre de Cristiano). Les doy un dato. En los tres últimos partidos, a los blancos les han birlado cuatro penaltis. Los dos reseñados más el de Cristiano en el Camp Nou y el de Miguel a Di María ante el Valencia. Y con las tarjetas se ensañó. Fue a por Marcelo desde el pitido inicial e hizo un reparto cutrísimo.

Liga Bipolar. Hasta el 16 de abril, fecha del Clásico del Bernabéu, esto no va a cambiar. El Zaragoza no pudo frenar a este equipo demoledor que ha recuperado la pegada. Y el sentido común. Lass salió por la puerta grande. Enorme el pequeño francés. Jugón. Con Xabi Alonso, pareja perfecta. Ya llueve menos. Hay Liga señores.

"Without Gol there is no Clasico" the billboards around Spain proclaim ahead of the season's first "match of the century." The pay-per-view television channel Gol TV has the rights to the game, and it's making sure everybody knows it with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, its elected poster boys, towering over roadsides and adorning subway stations. And it's not joking about the privilege -- the signal will be shut off in somewhere near 1,350 bars nationwide that are masquerading as private homes to avoid paying a heftier fee.

Spain tends to get very excited over the Clasico. Last year, an apocalyptic commercial with lightning bolts and crashing thunder blared from television sets in the lead-up to the Camp Nou game. Its message was loud and clear: This was going to be the match of the century. As it turned out, it wasn't. A single Zlatan Ibrahimovic strike proved sufficient to give Barca victory in an otherwise largely forgettable encounter.

It was a far cry from the previous Clasico, when Barcelona came to the Bernanbeu in the 2008-2009 season. With four points separating the two clubs, Barca inflicted so biblical a defeat that Real didn't win another game for the rest of the season.

With Lionel Messi in fine form, El Clasico promises to live up to the hype.

Manuel Pellegrini, Jose Mourinho's predecessor at Real and now at the helm at Malaga, might allow himself a wry smile as he goes about his business this week. Two Clasicos without goals last season would have suited the Chilean schemer, as it would have handed the title to Real. As it was, Barca beat Madrid 1-0 at home and 2-0 away.

"It's a game worth six points," Ronaldo told reporters last week, alluding to the importance of the fixture.

After the weekend added 13 goals to bring Barca and Real's tally to 33 each -- with a hat-trick apiece for Messi and Ronaldo -- any notion that this La Liga season would provide a third contender in the title race was effectively sunk when Villarreal and Valencia tied 1-1 at El Madrigal last weekend. The draw left both sides eight and eleven points adrift of Real Madrid, respectively. Espanyol is in fourth place with the winter break approaching, but even the most romantic fans of the Parakeets are not singing about a European campaign in the spring. A goal difference of -1 suggests a striking deficiency in former Espanyol defender-turned-coach Mauricio Pochettino's squad.

This weekend only proved to highlight the dominance of Barca and Real. Almeria was Barca's victim on Saturday, although its eight-goal drubbing was not a major surprise. The coastal club has been in woeful form all season and coach Juanma Lillo was sacked in the aftermath. Real's 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao was more eye-catching, even if it was the same result as the corresponding fixture last season. With Fernando Llorente now one of the division's most feared strikers and youth players such as Iker Muniain coming through, Athletic is one of La Liga's stronger outfits. Yet Real still won easily.

The title will be decided, as it was last season, by which team prevails in Spain's two-match mini-league. History favors the home side for Monday's clash. In 25 years, Real has beaten Barca in the Catalan capital three times. It took the legendary Quinta del Buitre, under the tutelage of Alfredo di Stefano, to do so in 1983. And it required the Galacticos of president Florentino Perez's first tenure to repeat the feat 20 years later. Four years later, Julio Baptista gave Real a 1-0 victory in the club's last title-winning season.

It will take a team of similar caliber to win the day on this occasion, and Mourinho and Perez have constructed one. Real remains unbeaten in all competitions and is scoring freely while conceding just six goals in the league. The blossoming of Marcelo and Pepe, and the purchase of veteran campaigner Ricardo Carvalho, has cured Real's Achilles heel, its defense.

But in spite of Real's ostentatious assembly, it's not accurate to label the match as one purely of cash versus craft. Barcelona's team of mostly home-grown talent was not cheaply convened. The likes of Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta were taught their trade at La Masia, the most expensive finishing school in the world game, which operates on an annual budget similar to that of Almeria's. Neither do players such as Dani Alves, David Villa, Seydou Keita or Javier Mascherano arrive in Catalonia for the cost of an airfare.

"I don't think there has ever been a Clasico with as much parity as this one," Diego Maradona told reporters when he sat in on a Real training session recently. "Barca is in a great moment and Mourinho's team is very solid. This game will tip the balance in favor of which team will win the league. It will demonstrate the reliability of Mourinho and the playing style of Barcelona -- the team that plays with most personality will win."

The two most highly regarded coaches of their generation, the two strongest teams in Europe on current form, and the two finest attacking players in the game: El Clasico promises to be a game worthy of its lavish publicity.

It might even prove to be the match of the century.

José Mourinho, nuevo entrenador del Real Madrid, salió en defensa de Cristiano Ronaldo tras las críticas que ha recibido por su comportamiento tras el partido frente a España. También lanzó un dardo al seleccionador, Carlos Queiroz, al sugerir que dejó caer sobre el crack del Madrid todo el peso de la derrota.

"Soy el entrenador del Real Madrid y Cristiano Ronaldo es mi jugador. Tengo el derecho de hacer lo que no hice desde el inicio del Mundial, un simple comentario: en mis equipos, cuando ganamos, ganamos todos. Cuando perdemos, pierdo yo. Por eso Cristiano puede estar tranquilo y disfrutar sus vacaciones, porque la próxima temporada no dejaré que nadie ponga sobre él todas las responsabilidades de un equipo", dijo.

"Los grandes jugadores marcan la diferencia, porque son mejores, pero los equipos son el soporte de todo. Portugal perdió porque España fue mejor y punto", concluyó.

CR9 has broken his drought of almost two years of not finding the back of the net for A Selecção. Exploding onto a defense splitting pass, beating the goalie, albeit slightly fortuitously, and prodding home an acrobatic goal into the wide open net. How does that nursery rhyme "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" go? This is exactly what I thought of when I saw this wonderful goal!

Mañana se decide si hay gira por Asia o por Europa

El Madrid ultima la pretemporada. La llegada de Mourinho ha variado los planes iniciales. Los últimos retoques se harán mañana en la reunión del comité de dirección. Ahí se intentará cerrar todas las fechas y presentárselas a Mourinho el lunes, cuando regresa de las vacaciones. Nada más aterrizar en Madrid se verá con Valdano y con Pardeza y conocerá a Karanka, su segundo.

Ya está confirmado que la vuelta al trabajo es el 16 de julio. El día 28 se irán a la concentración de pretemporada en Los Ángeles. Allí permanecerán diez días y el club tiene previsto jugar dos amistosos que le reportarán al club entre dos y tres millones de euros.

Volverán el día 8 de agosto porque los internacionales tienen que concentrarse con sus respectivas selecciones, ya que el 11 de agosto es fecha FIFA. Luego, el calendario está aún por decidirse y es lo que se hablará en la comisión de dirección de mañana. Tienen cerrado un partido contra el Bayern de Múnich el 13 de agosto y ahora lo que deben concretar es si el Madrid se va a una minigira por Asia con dos partidos, que sería del gusto de Florentino Pérez (ve primordial la expansión del Madrid por Asia, donde Cristiano Ronaldo es el mayor icono) o si se quedan por Europa y disputan otros dos encuentros con rivales de primer nivel antes de que dé comienzo la Liga.

El último partido de la pretemporada será el Trofeo Bernabéu contra el Corinthians, que servirá de homenaje a Roberto Carlos y Ronaldo.

2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona, £10.4million)

3 Lionel Messi (Barcelona, £9.1million)

4 Samuel Eto'o (Internazionale, £9.1million)

6 Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City, £7.4million)

8 Carlos Tevez (Manchester City, £7million)

9 John Terry (Chelsea, £6.5million)

10 Frank Lampard (Chelsea, £6.5million)

11 Thierry Henry (Barcelona, £6.5million)

12 Xavi (Barcelona, £6.5million)

13 Ronaldinho (AC Milan, £6.5million)

14 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, £6.5million)

15 Daniel Alves (Barcelona, £6.1million)

16 Michael Ballack (Chelsea, £5.6million)

18 Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United, £5.6million)

19 Kolo Toure (Manchester City, £5.6million)

20 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, £5.2million)

21 Robinho (Manchester City, £5.2million)

23 Victor Valdez (Barcelona, £5.2million)

24 Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla, £5.2million)

25 Deco (Chelsea, £5.2million)

26 Didier Drogba (Chelsea, £4.8million)

27 Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, £4.8million)

28 Francesco Totti (Roma, £4.8million)

29 Luca Toni (Roma, £4.8million)

30 David Villa (Valencia, £4.8million)

31 Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich, £4.8million)

32 Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich, £4.8million)

33 Ashley Cole (Chelsea, £4.8million)

34 Fernando Torres (Liverpool, £4.8million)

35 Gareth Barry (Manchester City, £4.8million)

36 Patrick Vieira (Internazionale, £4.8million)

37 Charles Puyol (Barcelona, £4.3million)

38 Andres Iniesta (Barcelona, £4.3million)

39 Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, £4.3million)

40 Andreas Pirlo (AC Milan, £4.3million)

41 Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich, £4.3million)

42 Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich, £4.3million)

43 David Beckham (AC Milan, £4.3million)

44 Wayne Bridge (Manchester City, £4.3million)

46 Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United £4.1million)

47 Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal, £4.1million)

48 Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea, £4.1million)

49 Ryan Giggs (Manchester United £4.1million)

50 Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus, £4.1million)