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MADRID - With defending champion Real Madrid away at the Club World Cup in Morocco, this weeks Copa del Rey fixture list puts rival challengers, including Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, in focus.Real Madrid and Sevilla played in advance and the champions set the pace by easing past Cornella with a 9-1 victory on aggregate.Barcelona seeks to improve on a 4-0 first-leg win at Huesca when it hosts the third-tier side at the Camp Nou on Tues., while Atletico seeks to build on its 3-0 away win against LHospitalet on Thurs.Here are some things to know about this weeks round of 16 return leg Copa del Rey matches:___MINUS DANIBarcelona will be without Dani Alves defence-splitting passes that have helped Lionel Messi continue breaking goal-scoring records this season.The club said Sunday that medical tests confirmed Alves had injured a muscle in his right leg and would not play against Huesca.His availability for future matches would be determined by the evolution of his injury, a club statement said.___STOPPING THE ROTTop tier side Celta Vigo started the season well, losing only one of 11 matches, and upset Barcelona by winning 1-0 at the Camp Nou on Nov. 1.Then Celta lost five in a row, including a 2-1 defeat at second-division Las Palmas.Celta has gone six games without a win and Argentine coach Eduardo Berizzo will hope to stop the rot when his side hosts the Canary Island club on Tues.___BEST BEHAVIOURAtletico coach Diego Simeone will hope his team returns to winning ways at home after losing 1-0 to Villarreal in the league at the weekend, his first defeat there since May 12, 2013, when Barcelona won 2-1.The rreigning Spanish league champion Atletico will be on its best behaviour as it hosts minnows L Hospitalet.A large police presence is expected at the Vicente Calderon after a Deportivo La Coruna supporter died following violent clashes between radical fans outside the stadium on Nov. 30.L Hospitalet is a working class suburb of Barcelona.___IMPROVING FITNESSCoach David Moyes is beginning to see some effects from the extended training sessions he introduced at Real Sociedad when he arrived and said he thought the squad looked unfit.So far, Moyes has coached his team to one victory, two draws and one defeat, 4-0 at Villarreal.Sociedad managed a first-leg 0-0 draw at Oviedo, which is top of its group in Spains Segunda B league.Moyes team missed a chance to win the Basque derby on Sunday, dropping its performance level in the second half to allow rival Athletic Bilbao an equalizer in a 1-1 draw.There are a lot of things we want to improve, not just the physical part and the intensity, but also the passing and control of the game, Moyes said. 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Hes beaten Hamilton off the line on a few occasions this year but those spurts to the first corner owe more to computer software than driver skill. And hes had a lot of luck - or, to be more accurate, Hamilton has had a lot of bad luck. But the fortunes of fate play a part in every sport. If an asterisk was put alongside every champion who enjoyed good luck the rollcall would look like an item of morse code.Nobody, not even Nico or his most committed supporters, is saying he is a faster driver than Hamilton or the best in F1. But is it fair to argue that if Nico does win the title, either in Brazil or Abu Dhabi, it would be fair reward, fair enough, and good fare for Formula 1?Here are seven reasons why Rosberg would be a worthy winner of this years title - if he wins it... It would be a triumph from adversityBarely a year ago, Rosberg looked a broken man - and a broken driver. Whats remarkable about his 2016 title push is that it began less than a week after his lowest moment: Cap spat at the US GP when his mistake allowed Hamilton through to wrap up the title.The following Sunday, displaying admirable fortitude and resilience, Rosberg bounced back with victory in Mexico - the first of seven successive victories for the German. Since the pain in defeat in Austin weve all seen a changed Nico, says an admiring Damon Hill.Whatever your opinion of Rosberg the driver, its impossible not to be impressed by his tenacity. Hes been more consistent than Hamilton Rosberg doesnt have Hamiltons pace. He doesnt have Hamiltons skill at overtaking. And he doesnt have his team-mates capacity to ignite a weekend from the mundane to Box Office entertainment. But neither has Rosberg self-destructed in the manner of Hamilton in Baku, when Lewis crashed into a wall during qualifying, or in Suzuka where Lewis distractions were well snapped and well documented. Rosberg has instead been a model of consistency. His one poor performance occurred on race day in Monaco and his only race-day mistakes, when tangling with Hamilton twice in Spain and Austria and with Max Verstappen in Germany, are open to alternative description.In qualifying, he has scarcely put a wheel off line all year - as testified by the fact he has qualified on the front-row for every single race. As Wolff remarked after the Japanese GP: If you want to be a world champion, you have to minimise mistakes, and thats what Nico is doing. Hell have won it his wayRosberg surprised reporters at the start of 2016 by scoffing at suggestions he needed to get his elbows out and play dirty to prevail over Hamilton. Apparently unconvinced that Mr Nasty would work, Rosberg instead opted to be Mr Nice for 2016. As early as April, his disarming description of Hamilton as the benchmark had become a familiar refrain.Nicos self-discipline has been taken to new levels this year, said Wolff last month. He wouldnt even read a news article that is bad for him because it would annoy him. He just hides everything away that might distract.In the testosterone-driven world of the F1 grid, where the DNA of every driver is built on an unyielding conviction they are uniquely special, Rosbergs self-denial and modesty makes for an unusual approach. But by enabling him to simply focus entirely on his own performances without fretting about any of his team-mates superiorities, its one which has worked for him.To repeat what we wrote in September: Nico doesnt have Hamiltons pace but he has resolve, defiance and a capacity for clear thinking which is standing him in good stead against the occasional torpedo from his team-mate. Hangingg in there isnt a motif legends are written around but its an approach which is working for Nico, a driver whose greatest strength is his acceptance of his weaknesses.dddddddddddd Hes done the hard yardsBeen there, worked it, deserved to win it?As Martin Brundle recently noted: Nico joined Mercedes when they werent successful; he has worked hard and been integral to their development.In other words, hes done the hard yards at Mercedes, shown loyalty and commitment, and seen the good times and bad at Brackley. Does it therefore follow he deserves to reap the rewards? F1 needs a new championBetween them, Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have won the last six drivers world championships and all-but one of the last eight.Regardles of whether Nico is worthy or not, F1 could do with a new champ as a buffer against accusations of predictability. At times this season Rosberg has been exceptionalWhile hes perhaps never hit the heights Hamilton has been capable of scaling throughout his career, a cluster of Rosbergs performances this year have been truly outstanding. Some of his drives have been impeccable, says Hill. Former Mercedes boss Ross Brawn thinks Nico Rosbergs preparation off the track has given him the edge on Lewis Hamilton this year. In China, Nico won by almost forty seconds and had the edge over his team-mate long before Hamilton was scuppered by an engine failure at the start of Q3. In Singapore, his qualifying lap was the best of his career as he out-paced Hamilton by over half a second - the largest such defeat Rosberg has inflicted on Hamilton during their four years together. This is his yearRosberg has never been better and in all probability, given that he is already 31, has been at the absolute peak of his powers in 2016. After Singapore, Wolff said that is the best Nico Rosberg I have ever seen and only Hamilton seems unconvinced Rosberg has raised his game. If he does win the championship this season, it would be fitting he does so in a season when hes actually driven like a champion. And thens the importance of the final act to consider.If Rosberg does win the championship in Brazil then, barring an aberration or a car failure for his team-mate, hell win it in the most worthy way possible: with a race victory.In that scenario, a champion drive for a championship, would anyone really argue he doesnt deserve it?Can Nico Rosberg clinch the title at Interlagos? Watch the Brazilian GP live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday, the race begins at 4pm; Watch the whole race weekend with a NOW TV week pass - £10.99, no contract Also See: Whens the Brazilian GP on Sky F1? WATCH: Ross Brawn Special Get a NOW TV weekend pass The race to the Formula 1 title ' ' '