Domestic Leagues

The shots we took this weekend: A great weekend for Athletic Club and fans. A depressing weekend for Ajax and fans.

By Odd Yellah

Posted on April 8, 2024

🇪🇸 Athletic Club win the Copa del Rey final against Mallorca to end a 40-year drought.
🇮🇹 Derby della Capitale: Roma wins widened the gap on Lazio in Serie A.
🇳🇱 De Klassieker: humiliation for Ajax, as Feyenoord triumphs 6-0.
🇵🇹 Derby de Lisboa: Sporting CP’s grip on the league title tightens as they edge Benfica 2-1 in a thrilling encounter.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The Northwest derby: An inconsistent Manchester United shows consistency against Liverpool this season.
🇩🇪 Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 win against Union Berlin put them a win from the Meisterschale.
🇵🇹 Vitoria de Guimaraes stuns Porto 2-1, tightening the race for third in Portuguese Liga.
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain held to a 1-1 draw by Clermont.
🇩🇪 Heidenheim stuns Bayern Munich with 3-2 upset, while Stuttgart upsets Dortmund with a 1-0 win on the road.
🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven dominates AZ Alkmaar in 5-1 victory.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Arsenal cruises to 3-0 win against Brighton, while Manchester City dominates Crystal Palace with a 4-2 victory. Sheffield United stun Chelsea: 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane.

There are no 🇪🇸 La Liga games scheduled for the weekend.

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 PREMIER LEAGUE

Crystal Palace ( 2 ) – ( 4 ) Manchester City
Aston Villa ( 3 ) – ( 3 ) Brentford
Everton ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Burnley
Fulham ( 0 ) – ( 1 ) Newcastle United
Luton Town ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) Bournemouth
Wolverhampton Wanderers ( 1 ) – ( 2 ) West Ham United
Brighton & Hove Albion ( 0 ) – ( 3 ) Arsenal
Manchester United ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) Liverpool
Sheffield United ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur ( 3 ) – ( 1 ) Nottingham Forest

Liverpool dropping two points in a 2-all draw against Manchester United has reshaped the title race again. Arsenal is now top of the table, level on points with Liverpool (71), while defending champions Manchester City are third, trailing the two by a point. Tottenham moved up a position to 4th, on equal points with Aston Villa, who dropped down to 5th.

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🇩🇪 BUNDESLIGA

Eintracht Frankfurt ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Werder Bremen
Heidenheim ( 3 ) – ( 2 ) Bayern Munich
FC Köln ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) Bochum
Freiburg ( 1 ) – ( 4 ) RB Leipzig
Mainz ( 4 ) – ( 0 ) Darmstadt
Union Berlin ( 0 ) – ( 1 ) Bayer Leverkusen
Borussia Dortmund ( 0 ) – ( 1 ) Stuttgart
Hoffenheim ( 3 ) – ( 1 ) Augsburg
Wolfsburg ( 1 ) – ( 3 ) Borussia Mönchengladbach

Bayer Leverkusen’s lead grew to 16 points after securing a win at Berlin, while Bayern Munich suffered a defeat in Heidenheim. With only 6 rounds remaining in the season, Bayer Leverkusen is now just one win away from clinching the championship. They could achieve this even sooner if Bayern Munich unexpectedly lose at home to FC Koln.
Last season, Bayern Munich clinched the league title against all odds with a victory away against FC Koln. This year, they risk losing the league with a defeat at home to FC Koln.
RB Leipzig climbed to 4th position with a win at Freiburg, pushing Dortmund down to 5th after their loss at home to Stuttgart. With Stuttgart’s victory, they are now level on points with Bayern Munich.

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🇫🇷 LIGUE 1

Lille ( 3 ) – ( 1 ) Marseille
Lens ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Le Havre
Paris Saint-Germain ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Clermont
Brest ( 4 ) – ( 3 ) Metz
Montpellier ( 2 ) – ( 0 ) Lorient
Reims ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) Nice
Toulouse ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) Strasbourg
Monaco ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Rennes
Nantes ( 1 ) – ( 3 ) Lyon

Paris St. Germain’s lead in the title race was reduced by two points after they dropped points in a draw with bottom-tabled Clermont. They remain with a healthy 10-point lead with 6 more rounds of the season to go.

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🇳🇱 EREDIVISIE

Sparta Rotterdam ( 1 ) – ( 2 ) Heracles Almelo
PSV Eindhoven ( 5 ) – ( 1 ) AZ Alkmaar
PEC Zwolle ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) Excelsior
Twente ( 2 ) – ( 0 ) Fortuna Sittard
Vitesse ( 0 ) – ( 3 ) NEC Nijmegen
Feyenoord ( 6 ) – ( 0 ) Ajax
Go Ahead Eagles ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Almere City
Volendam ( 3 ) – ( 2 ) RKC Waalwijk
SC Heerenveen ( 2 ) – ( 3 ) Utrecht

Ajax dropped to 6th position after suffering a heavy 6-0 defeat by Feyenoord. NEC Nijmegen claimed 5th place with a comfortable win over Vitesse, who now find themselves at the bottom of the league standings, replacing Volendam. PSV Eindhoven maintained their 9-point lead with a victory that widened the gap between AZ Alkmaar and third place.

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🇵🇹 PRIMEIRA LIGA

Farense ( 2 ) – ( 0 ) Boavista
Famalicão ( 3 ) – ( 2 ) Vizela
Rio Ave ( 3 ) – ( 0 ) Gil Vicente
Braga ( 0 ) – ( 3 ) Arouca
Sporting CP ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) Benfica
Chaves ( 2 ) – ( 3 ) Portimonense
Moreirense ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) Estrela da Amadora
Porto ( 1 ) – ( 2 ) Vitória de Guimarães
Casa Pia ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) Estoril

Sporting CP extended their lead in the Primeira Liga title race by defeating their sole competitors, Benfica. The gap now stands at 4 points, and if they maintain consistency with victories, they will secure the league title by a margin of at least 7 points.

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🇮🇹 SERIE A

Salernitana ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) Sassuolo
AC Milan ( 3 ) – ( 0 ) Lecce
Roma ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Lazio
Empoli ( 3 ) – ( 2 ) Torino
Frosinone ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) Bologna
Monza ( 2 ) – ( 4 ) Napoli
Cagliari ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) Atalanta
Hellas Verona ( 1 ) – ( 2 ) Genoa
Juventus ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Fiorentina
Udinese ( 1 ) – ( 2 ) Inter Milan

The top three teams in the league standings secured victories this round, maintaining Inter Milan’s lead in the title race at 14 points with 7 more rounds remaining in the season. Napoli climbed up to 7th position with a win over Monza, while Lazio slipped down to 8th place after their defeat in the Rome derby.

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Friday, April 5, 2024

🇪🇸 Fernando Morientes turns 48, 🇩🇪 Thomas Hitzlsperger turns 42, 🇲🇦 Yassine Bounou (Morocco) – 33.

🇮🇹 Salernitana 2-2 Sassuolo (italian serie a): The match unfolded as a tale of two halves, with Sassuolo securing two goals in the first half, followed by Salernitana staging a comeback in the second half with two goals of their own. Salernitana remains 10 points behind Sassuolo, as the two remain the bottom two clubs in the Italian Serie A standings.

🇫🇷 Lille 3-1 Marseille (french ligue 1): Four goals in the second half, with three in Lille’s favor and one for Marseille, marked a third consecutive league defeat for Marseille, as they fell to a 3-1 loss against Lille.

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Saturday, April 6, 2024

🇺🇸 Herculez Gomez turns 42, 🇦🇷 Nahuel Molina turns 26.

🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven 5-1 AZ Alkmaar (dutch eredivisie): PSV Eindhoven further strengthened their march towards the league title.
After a midweek 5-0 loss to Heracles, AZ Alkmaar suffered another defeat, this time 5-1 against PSV Eindhoven over the weekend. We should have expected this comfortable victory, as PSV Eindhoven were ‘4-0’ winners in Alkmaar in the reverse fixture.

🇵🇹 Sporting CP 2-1 Benfica (portuguese primeira liga): Lisbon Derby – It’s a two-horse title race in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, and the contenders met again for the second time in five days. Just as it was on Tuesday in the Taca de Portugal semifinal, Sporting CP secured the needed result by winning the tie.
A draw would have sufficed for Sporting CP as they lead the title race by a point and have a game in hand. However, they did better by winning the derby 2-1, returning the favor with the exact scoreline they lost against Benfica in the reverse fixture.
Geny Catano scored in the first minute to give Sporting CP the lead, and scored another in the first minute of the final added minute (90+1’) after Alex Bah in the third minute of the first half added time 45+3 to get Benfica level before the break.

🇮🇹 Roma 1-0 Lazio (italian serie a): Rome derby- Gianluca Mancini found the net in the 42nd minute, securing the sole goal of the game and granting Roma a victory in the Derby della Capitale. With the result, Roma opened a 9-point gap in the league standings on Lazio, who were coming off a ‘1-0’ win against Juventus in the league, while Roma had dropped points in a goalless draw with Lecce.

🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Stuttgart (german bundesliga): Following an away victory in De Klassiker, Dortmund suffered a home defeat to Stuttgart, with Serhou Guirassy netting the sole goal of the game. A victory for Dortmund would’ve narrowed the gap between them and Stuttgart to just one point, instead of falling four points behind them and dropping a position down to 5th in the league standings.

🇪🇸 Athletic Club 1-1 Mallorca (copa del rey final) (Athletic Club wins 4-2 pko.)
Although Mallorca was the more recent winner of the competition, Athletic Club boasts a significantly superior history of success in the Copa del Rey. Athletic Club secured their 23rd Copa del Rey title, denying Mallorca from obtaining their second.
Mallorca started off better than expected and found themselves in the lead when Daniel Rodriguez opened the scoring in the 21st minute—a lead that lasted until the 50th minute when Nico Williams assisted Oihan Sancet to score the equalizing goal for Athletic Club, bringing them back into the match.
The balance of play unfolded as many would have expected: Athletic Club feeling the need to win the game, while Mallorca was content as long as they were not losing it. The game ended as a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes, requiring a penalty shootout to decide the winner. Mallorca might have fancied their odds in the shootout, but it was Athletic Club that emerged victorious, converting 4 out of 4 shots, while Mallorca managed to convert only 2 out of 4.

FC Barcelona (31), is the only club with more Copa del Rey titles than Athletic Club.
COPA DEL REY TITLES
1 | Barcelona – 31 titles
2 | Athletic Club – 24 titles
3 | Real Madrid – 20 titles
4 | Atlético Madrid – 10 titles

Athletic Club’s history in the Copa del Rey final has been marked by heartbreak in recent years. Their last appearance was in 2021, where they suffered a 4-0 defeat to Barcelona, continuing a streak of consecutive final defeats after losing to Basque rival Real Sociedad the previous year with a score of 1-0.

This final was Athletic Club’s third Copa del Rey final in the last five years, and the one with the best odds of winning, considering the quality of their opponent. Their most recent title win dates back to 1984. Athletic Club ended a 40-year drought by winning the title in their seventh final since their last Copa del Rey title success.

Since Barcelona won it four years in a row, from 2015 to 2018, there has been a new winner of the Copa del Rey every year:
2019 – Valencia
2020 – Real Sociedad
2021 – Barcelona
2022 – Real Betis
2023 – Real Madrid
2024 – Athletic Club

🇩🇪 Heidenheim 3-2 Bayern Munich (germany bundesliga): Despite holding a 2-0 lead at halftime, Bayern Munich suffered an away defeat to promoted Heidenheim, following a home loss in De Klassiker. Two rapid goals in the 50th and 51st minutes brought Heidenheim level, with Tim Kleindienst scoring the equalizer and then the winning goal in the 79th minute. This marked Heidenheim’s first victory in their last seven league matches.

🇩🇪 Union Berlin 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen (german bundesliga): Robin Gosens received his second yellow card of the game, resulting in a set piece that led to the sole goal. From this set piece, Bayer Leverkusen scored a goal that underwent VAR scrutiny for potential offside. While reviewing for offside, VAR detected a handball, awarding Leverkusen a penalty. Florian Wirtz expertly converted the penalty in the 8th minute of added time, sending Leverkusen into halftime with a 1-0 lead, which they maintained until the final whistle.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Crystal Palace 2-4 Manchester City (english premier league): Crystal Palace opened and closed the scoring in the match, but conceded four goals in between, resulting in a home defeat to Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne scored twice in Manchester City’s victory.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Brighton 0-3 Arsenal (english premier league): Arsenal fulfilled expectations by securing three points with three goals against Brighton, effectively shutting down any response from the opposition.

🇵🇹 Braga 0-3 Arouca (portuguese primeira Liga): Rafa Mujica scored two goals as Arouca pulled Braga a little further further from third place.

🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Clermont (french ligue 1): Points were shared evenly between bottom tabled Clermont and top tabled Paris Saint-Germain.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Aston Villa 3-3 Brentford (english premier league): Aston Villa surrendered a 2-0 lead to fall behind 3-2, but Ollie Watkins scored his second goal of the game to secure a point for them, ending the match in a 3-3 draw.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Luton Town 2-1 Bournemouth (english premier league): Luton Town staged a comeback to defeat Bournemouth, with all goals scored in the second half. Carlton Morris scored the winning goal in the 90th minute.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Wolverhampton 1-2 West Ham (english premier league): James Ward-Prowse scored the winner from a corner kick to complete West Ham’s comeback against Wolves. West Ham overturned a goal deficit to secure a 2-1 victory.

🇮🇹 Empoli 3-2 Torino (italian serie a): Empoli emerged victorious with a late winner scored by M’Baye Naing in the 90+4th minute. Torino twice equalized from a goal down, with both goals coming from Duvan Zapata.

🇩🇪 Mainz 4-0 Darmstadt (german bundesliga): Jae-Sun Lee’s brace added to Mainz’s 2-0 lead, securing a convincing victory over Darmstadt.

🇩🇪 FC Koln 2-1 Bochum (german bundesliga): Two goals in the final added minutes (90+1’ and 90+2’) enabled FC Koln to avoid a home defeat and secure a 2-1 victory over Bochum.

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Sunday, April 7, 2024

🇮🇹 Marco Delvecchio turns 51, 🇫🇷 Franck Ribéry turns 41, 🇺🇾 Martín Cáceres turns 37, 🇵🇹 William Carvalho turns 32, 🇳🇱 Andries Noppert turns 30.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool (english premier league): Manchester United’s season has been inconsistent, with unpredictability being the only consistent aspect.
Two wonder strikes in the second half, one from Bruno Fernandes and the other from Kobe Mainoo, brought Manchester United from 1-0 down to 2-1 up, until Mohamed Salah scored the equalizer from the penalty spot in the 84th minute. Luiz Diaz gave Liverpool a first-half lead in the 23rd minute. Despite Liverpool’s dominance and being the first to take the lead, they narrowly avoided defeat and failed to get the points they sought to remain atop the table.

🇳🇱 Feyenoord 6-0 Ajax (dutch eredivisie): De Klassieker – Humiliation in Rotterdam for Ajax as Igor Paixao and Yankuba Minteh each scored a brace, leading Feyenoord to a resounding 6-0 victory. With this win, Feyenoord completes the Eredivisie season with a 10-0 aggregate triumph over Ajax.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sheffield United 2-2 Chelsea (english premier league): Bottom-tabled Sheffield United came from a goal down on two occasions to earn a point at home against a Chelsea side that was riding high from their midweek 4-3 win against Manchester United.

🇮🇹 Monza 2-4 Napoli (italian serie a): The goals were spectacular as Napoli came from a 1-0 deficit in the first half to secure a 3-1 victory in the second half, resulting in a 4-2 away win against Monza. This marked Napoli’s first league victory in four games and their first win in five games across all competitions.

🇮🇹 Juventus 1-0 Fiorentina (italian serie a): It was a breakthrough for Juventus, securing their first league victory in five games. Federico Fatti scored the game’s only goal in the 21st minute, handing them a home win over Fiorentina.

🇮🇹 Cagliari 2-1 Atalanta (italian serie a): A goal in the dying minutes of each half allowed Cagliari to come from a goal down to beat Atalanta.

🇩🇪 Hoffenheim 3-1 Augsburg (german bundesliga): A good start, with two goals in the opening 20 minutes, helped Hoffenheim secure a win that pulled them even on points with Augsburg.

🇩🇪 Wolfsburg 1-3 Monchengladbach (german bundesliga): Wolfsburg had an early lead in the 7th minute but Mönchengladbach scored three goals in the second half to leave with the three points.

🇫🇷 Brest 4-3 Metz (french ligue 1): Metz opened the scoring in the 6th minute but found themselves down three goals (4-1) by the 60th minute against Brest. Georges Mikautadze scored in the 74th and 80th minutes for Metz in an attempt to stage a comeback towards the end, but ultimately, it ended in defeat at Brest.

🇫🇷 Nantes 1-3 Lyon (french ligue 1): Nantes held a one-goal lead from the 16th minute until Alexandre Lacazette scored to equalize for Lyon in the 75th minute. Shortly after, youngster Malick Fofana scored the winning goal just two minutes later, getting Lyon on to secure a 3-1 victory at Nantes.

🇵🇹 Porto 1-2 Vitoria de Guimaraes (portuguese primeira liga): Porto lost at home against a team they defeated midweek in the Taca de Portugal. All the goals were scored in the first half, with Vitoria de Guimaraes securing the majority of the three goals to beat Porto.
The race for third place tightens in Portugal, while the title race loosens up.

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Monday, April 8, 2024

🇵🇱 Grzegorz Lato turns 74, 🇷🇺 Aleksandr Chivadze turns 69, 🇧🇷 Mazinho turns 58, 🇹🇳 Khaled Badra turns 51, 🇷🇺 Igor Akinfeev turns 38, 🇦🇺 Mathew Ryan turns 32.

🇮🇹 Udinese 1-2 Inter Milan (italian serie a): It was another opportunity for Inter Milan to assert their dominance in the title race, and they capitalized on it by overcoming a one-goal deficit in the first half with two goals in the second half. Daide Fratresi secured the victory by scoring the winning goal in the 5th minute of added time (90+5), ensuring Inter Milan departed Udine with all three points from a ‘2-1’ wind over Udinese.