The magic of the FA Cup saw Middlesborough beat Manchester United on penalties and two close games that were eventually won by the first division side in question — Chelsea v Plymouth Argyle and West Ham v sixth-tier Kidderminster Harriers (both 2-1 after extra time). Tottenham, Manchester City and Everton advanced after easier wins. Serie A saw AC Milan beat city rivals Inter to close the gap at the top of the table (ACM and Napoli one behind Inter, who have a game in hand). Juventus, meanwhile, have climbed up to fourth after a 2-0 win at Hellas Verona (Jan signings Dusan Vlahovic and Denis Zakaria scoring). In the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund slipped to nine points behind Bayern Munich after suffering a 5-2 hammering at home against Bayer Leverkusen. Munich, meanwhile, beat RB Leipzig 3-2. La Liga saw Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid rather comprehensively (4-2) while Real Madrid edged past Granada 1-0. Since Sevilla drew and Real Betis lost, Madrid now lead the table by six points. Over in France, Lionel Messi scored as PSG maintained their whopping 13 point lead atop Ligue 1 with a 5-1 win over defending champions Lille.
By The Numbers has the best stats from the weekend’s action across Europe’s top 5 leagues. But first, a special mention for the recently concluded African Cup of Nations:
AFCON
1
Senegal have won their first ever Africa Cup of Nations title. They have become the 15th different nation to win the competition.
4
Egypt had gone to extra time in all 4 of its knockout matches in this edition of Africa Cup of Nations
8
This edition’s golden boot was won by Cameroon captain Vincent Aboubakar. He scored eight goals — only Pierre Ndaye Mulamba (Zaïre) has scored more in a single edition (9 in 1974).
FA Cup
0
Manchester United have not won any of the four penalty shootouts they have been involved in in the FA Cup. Before Boro, they lost to Everton (semis 2008/09), Arsenal (final 2004/05), Southampton (4th round 1991/92)
3+
Leicester’s 1-4 defeat against Nottingham Forest is only the third instance in FA Cup history, where the holders lost by more than 3 goals against a side from a lower division. The other two? Aston Villa 1-5 Manchester United (1905-06), and Nottingham Forest 0-3 Sheffield United (1959-60).
4
Manchester United may have lost, but it was not for a want of creating chances. In fact, the last time they has as much expected goals (4.10) in a game was in the 9-0 win vs Southampton on Feb 2021 (4.80).
LALIGA
15
Diego Simeone has not won in 15 away games at the Camp Nou as a head coach (8 Losses, 7 Draws). In fact, his 15 career losses vs Barcelona {home and away} are his most vs any club
22
With Inter Milan’s loss, Real Madrid’s 22-game home unbeaten streak in LaLiga is the longest active home unbeaten streak in Europe’s top 5 leagues
30
Atletico Madrid’s 30 goals conceded are the most by a defending LaLiga champion through 22 games since Atleti themselves in 1996-97 (also 30).
38 and 276
At 38 years and 276 days, Dani Alves is the 7th oldest player to score a goal in LaLiga history. He is, though, the oldest to score a league goal for Barca. It was his first LaLiga goal since Sept. 14, 2013 vs Sevilla.
BAYERN MUNICH RECORD SCORING STREAK
Is now at 68 Bundesliga matches.
BUNDESLIGA
23
Thomas Muller has 23 goal contributions (7 G, 16 A) in Bundesliga this season, only behind Salah (25), Lewandowski (25) and Benzema (24) for most in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
310
Manuel Neuer has equalled Oliver Kahn’s record of 310 Bundesliga wins. This was Neuer’s 458th Bundesliga match today, while Kahn played 557.
SERIE A
18
The last comeback win for Milan in a Serie A Milan Derby was 18 years ago – February 21, 2004. They went down 2-0 after 40′, but scored 3 second half goals (Jon Dahl Tomasson 55′, Kaka 56′, Clarence Seedorf 84′) to win 3-2.
Messi Ronaldo watch
On Friday, Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty in normal time as his side got eliminated from the FA Cup. Lionel Messi scored his first goal in nearly two months on Sunday (he and PSG had been eliminated from the Coup de France round-of-16 earlier this week (also on penalties).
1
This is the first time Ronaldo has been eliminated from the FA Cup in the 4th Round or earlier (Had 2 goals, 2 assists in such games). 6
Before Friday, Ronaldo last failed to convert a penalty on May 15, 2021, for Juventus against Inter (saved by Samir Handanovic). But the last time he failed to even hit the target was almost six years ago — March 2016 against Sevilla, for Real Madrid.
(Stats courtesy ESPN’s Stats & Information Group)
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