It was English FA Cup weekend and a packed schedule of European league football across the continent, so let’s dig in.
England’s cup competition debuted semiautomated offside technology (SAOT), LaLiga’s title race took a couple of more significant turns as Barcelona and Atlético Madrid created further distance from Real Madrid, and the Bundesliga table continued to look make good reading for Bayern Munich fans.
There were also talking points from Serie A‘s title chase and the English Championship as Luis Miguel Echegaray, Sam Marsden and Constantin Eckner look across Europe for the big takeaways and highlights from the weekend.
English FA Cup
Top takeaway: Semiautomated technology and egregious challenge take center stage
This weekend, the FA Cup fifth round became a proverbial guinea pig for SAOT, a system that is already used in the Champions League as well as at FIFA’s 2022 World Cup and UEFA’s 2024 European Championship. Given that it was the system’s English football debut, there was little chance it would pass with no issues, but just how did it go?
For the most part, it worked well: it was rightly used for the first goal of the weekend in Aston Villa‘s opener in their 2-0 victory over Cardiff City on Friday night, and also on Sunday after correctly denying a supposed stoppage-time winner from Newcastle United‘s Fabian Schär against Brighton, which sent the game to extra time. Brighton ended up winning the game, but not before a correct call from SAOT.
There was also major frustration, specifically from Saturday’s match between Bournemouth and Wolves when one particular decision took almost eight minutes, which was eventually confirmed as offside. Per the Football Association, SAOT would never be used in that scenario due to the number of bodies in a tight space around the goalmouth, so it meant that VAR had to revert to the original formula of drawing the lines themselves. This, alongside two handball decisions in the incident, emphasized the obvious delay.
SAOT is important and necessary, but as always, patience is needed when it comes to technology, something that is in short supply.
Another notable point from the weekend was the horrific challenge on Crystal Palace‘s Jean-Philippe Mateta, who suffered one of the worst fouls in recent memory when Millwall‘s goalkeeper Liam Roberts kicked the French striker in the face. Once again, there was confusion from a refereeing standpoint as Michael Oliver, who was only a few feet away from the incident, initially gave Roberts a yellow card. But this is where VAR rightly acted and asked him to take a look at it on the screen, which is when the yellow was changed to a straight red.
Mateta was discharged from hospital Saturday evening after being treated for 25 stitches to “a severe laceration to his left ear,” as quoted by the club’s statement. Sunday, he posted on Instagram: “I’m doing well. I hope to be back very soon and stronger than ever. Well done guys for the great job today.”
Best match: Bournemouth 1-1 Wolves (Bournemouth win 5-4 on penalties)
This was an extremely entertaining fixture at Vitality stadium for the right and wrong reasons as Bournemouth earned a place in the quarterfinals of the competition for only the third time in club history.
Evanilson‘s 30th-minute opener preceded an aforementioned eight-minute VAR decision to determine that their second goal was offside. We also had Matheus Cunha playing the role of hero and villain, with his stunning goal in the 60th minute leveling the match for the visitors before he head-butted Milos Kerkez and was sent off just before the penalty shootout.
The shootout ended in sudden death — watch for Dango Ouattara‘s audacious no-run-up attempt — and Andoni Iraoala’s side celebrated a wild victory. It was a game filled with lots and lots of action … and a lot of waiting around for a piece of technology that’s meant to speed the game up, not slow it down.
Best goal: Robbie Brady vs. Burnley
Preston North End won 3-0 against Burnley in this Lancashire derby FA Cup matchup between Championship teams, earning a place in the last eight of the competition for the first time since 1966. They are now also the only non-Premier League representative. The win was very impressive because the visitors arrived at Deepdale stadium at the back of 12 consecutive clean sheets in the league.
Brady, who used to play for Burnley, ended all of that with a magnificent free kick to open the scoring in the 31st minute. The 33-year-old Republic of Ireland international curled in a beautiful, left-footed attempt from 25 yards, which went over the wall and into the top right corner. It was a magical goal, one Lionel Messi would have been proud of.
MVP of the weekend: Marco Asensio, Aston Villa
Never fall in love with a loanee, they say. Well, it’s too late for Aston Villa fans because the former Real Madrid star, presently on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, has started his tenure for Unai Emery’s side ever so brightly.
On Friday night under the lights at Villa Park, Asensio scored a double against Cardiff City, making it four goals in all competitions since arriving in January. His understanding with Villa’s other big loanee Marcus Rashford has been evident as the English attacker, on loan from Manchester United, assisted in the Spain international’s opening goal, making it a combined seven goal contributions since their respective arrivals.
I don’t see Asensio’s loan turning into a permanent one this summer (there is no buy option), but I think these next few months can turn into a fruitful relationship between club and player. — Echegaray
LaLiga
Top takeaway: Real Madrid’s miserable form continues
Real Madrid’s dodgy league form continued with a 2-1 defeat at Real Betis to leave coach Carlo Ancelotti concerned they could be turned over by Atlético Madrid in the Champions League this midweek. Brahim Díaz gave Madrid an early lead at Betis, but the home side levelled through United States midfielder Johnny Cardoso and won the game thanks to an Isco penalty.
The defeat means Madrid have now won just once in their last five games.
It wasn’t so long ago that Madrid seemed in control. Kylian Mbappé‘s hat trick against Real Valladolid at the end of January moved them four points clear of Atlético Madrid at the top of the table and 10 ahead of Barça, who had a game in hand. Just five matches later, they now find themselves three adrift of leaders Barça, who prevented 10-man Real Sociedad from registering a single shot as they marched to a 4-0 victory on Sunday. Atlético, after beating Athletic Club, are now two points ahead of Real, who slumped to third.
Top takeaway: Leipzig seem baffled in Bundesliga after yet another setback
When RB Leipzig lost to Wolfsburg 5-1 in November, sporting director Marcel Schäfer was quick to ensure that manager Marco Rose’s job was not in danger and that the team would pull through that crisis together. Following Leipzig’s 2-1 home loss to Mainz on Saturday, Schäfer remained tellingly quiet.
This season has become a disappointment to the Roten Bullen after a promising start in early months. Not only have Leipzig exited the UEFA Champions League unceremoniously with only one win in eight games, but they have also suffered repeated setbacks in the league, with the defeat at the hands of Mainz being the latest one.
Now, granted, Mainz have become the surprise of the season, as the Jonny Burkardt-led team have upset many opponents and are currently fourth in the Bundesliga standings. It must be bittersweet for Rose to witness Mainz’s rise, given that he spent eight years as a player at Mainz, most of these years under Jürgen Klopp. But Mainz are also a great example of how a strong youth academy can be translated into steady success in the Bundesliga.
Meanwhile, Leipzig can rarely capitalise on their investments into the youth academy and usually buy players from elsewhere. But despite the prominent names in Leipzig’s current squad, Rose has had a hard time to make his side play a dominant and reliable style based on ball possession. Instead, Leipzig are constantly vulnerable at the back because they cannot recycle possession as well as they should.
Lampard’s managerial journey has not been an easy one given sackings by Chelsea and Everton, but he does have experience in the Championship, where his first gig as head coach was with Derby County. Lampard took them to a play-off final in 2019 before losing to Aston Villa. Now he’s back in the league with another chance of redemption and an opportunity to help Coventry do the improbable, but not impossible, feat of earning promotion to the Premier League. — Echegaray
Inter and Napoli draw … and Atalanta miss chance to capitalise
Substitute Philip Billing‘s first goal for Napoli prevented Internazionale from opening up a four-point lead at the top of Serie A on Saturday. Billing netted in the 87th minute at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, just eight minutes after coming off the bench, as Italy’s top two were forced to share the spoils.
Just a point separated the teams heading into the weekend, with Inter leading the way, and Federico Dimarco‘s first-half strike looked set to extend Simone Inzaghi’s side’s advantage in the standings. The goal from Billing, who joined on a loan deal from Bournemouth in January, ensured that was not the case, but Napoli still have work to do if they are to keep up with Inter: Antonio Conte’s side is winless in Serie A in their last five games.
Just behind them in the table, Atalanta missed the chance to pounce. A win over Venezia would have drawn them level with Napoli and a point back from Inter, but they were held to a disappointing goalless draw by a team mired in relegation problems. — Marsden
Rangers continue to flounder after managerial change
The 55-time Scottish champions recently sacked Philippe Clement after what can only be described as an underwhelming campaign. Rangers have essentially no hope of catching Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, even though their eternal rivals aren’t necessarily in dominant form this season. Four games before the playoffs start, Rangers find themselves in no-man’s land, distraught at the state of their club.
Barry Ferguson, a club legend whose last coaching job was third-division Alloa Athletic in 2022, was hired as a caretaker manager to bring fresh energy to the club and dressing room. But things don’t look that bright at the moment, as Rangers lost at home to Motherwell on Saturday. The guests were leading the game 2-0 after 30 minutes and pushed all the air out of Ibrox Stadium. Rangers’ goal in the second half was not enough to stage a comeback, with Motherwell defending passionately until the final whistle.
While the Glasgow clubs sometimes fly under the radar unless they compete in European competitions, fans should keep an eye on what will happen at Rangers in the coming months. The only chance to redeem their season is to make a run in the UEFA Europa League where they face José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe, who themselves are way behind city rivals Galatasaray in the league. — Eckner
