Although there were no Champions League or Europa League matches this week, most of the strongest clubs did not rest and competed in national cup competitions. The exceptions were only in France, where the regular "Ligue 1" round matches took place, and in Germany, where clubs rested. If you missed the results of the matches that took place this week, this Eurofootball.com article is for you.
In England, the quarterfinals of the "Capital One Cup" took place. After these matches, it became clear that only "Premier League" clubs will face each other in the semifinals. "Everton" will face "Manchester City", while "Stoke City" awaits a match against the "Liverpool" team. The biggest victory in the quarterfinals was achieved by the "Liverpool" team, which defeated the "Southampton club" with a score of 6-1 in an away game. Divock Origi scored three goals for the visitors, while two were added by the returning from injuries Daniel Sturridge.
In Spain, the fourth round matches of the "Copa del Rey" cup were played. All the results of the first matches were overshadowed by the mistake of the "Real" club in fielding the suspended Denis Cheryshev. However, there were also unexpected match endings, with victories secured by lower league clubs. "Granada" lost 1-2 to the "Leganes" team, "Malaga" suffered the same fate against the "CD Mirandes" club with the same result, and "Villarreal" also lost by a narrow margin of 2-3 to the "Huesca" footballers. The most painful defeat was experienced by the "Eibar" team, who were crushed 0-3 by the "Ponferradina" club. All these victorious clubs play in the second strongest league in Spain. The second leg matches will take place in two weeks. The only club that has already played both matches of the fourth round of the cup competition is "Barcelona". They confidently dealt with the "Villanovense" team with a total score of 6-1.
In Italy, the fourth round matches of the "Copa Italia" took place. Unlike in Spain, here only one match is played and the losing clubs will not have a chance to make up for it. Surprises also occurred here - "Sassuolo" lost 0-1 to the "Serie B" representatives of "Cagliari" footballers, while "Palermo" withdrew from the cup competition after losing 2-3 to the third division "Alessandria" team. The "Milan" club also had a difficult time advancing to the next round, needing extra time to defeat the second division "Crotone" team. However, "Milan" scored two goals in extra time and left no chances for their opponents.
In the middle of the week in France, the eighteenth round of the "Ligue 1" championships took place. In this particularly unproductive round (only fourteen goals were scored in over ten matches), unexpected results also occurred. Interestingly, none of the top seven teams secured victories, and six out of the top seven clubs ended their matches in draws. The biggest surprise was the goalless draw of the "Angers" players against the "Paris Saint-Germain" team. With none of the leading clubs winning, there were no major changes at the top of the "Ligue 1" league table, with only the "Saint-Etienne" team, who suffered a single defeat, dropping two points to teams that secured victories.
Tautvydas Sakalauskas
