With the UEFA Champions League and Europa Leauge back last week, there was a subdued amount of domestic football from most of the European nations as the Champions League took centre stage. We saw no League action from England as the FA Cup 5th round action took place this weekend.
Bundesliga and La Liga resumed with Bayern Munich struggling for a point while Barcelona scraped through Leganes for their win. Monaco dropped points in the Ligue 1 which now opens up the title race even more in France.
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League leaders Real Madrid continued their fine form as they still lead the table with two games in hand. They will face Valencia midweek – a game they missed due to the Club World Cup. Despite limited action from Domestic tournaments, there were plenty of good moments and here we bring you the five best moments from Europe this week:
#1 Lincoln City reach FA Cup quarterfinals
Lincoln City already made history when the non-league side reached the 5th round of the FA Cup. The minnows then went one step ahead and reached the quarterfinals in brilliant fashion thanks to an 89th-minute winner from Sean Raggett.
The Imps who ply their trade in the Conference were due to face Sutton United this weekend but their fixture was postponed due to both teams’ involvement in the FA Cup. Lincoln City has now drawn the winner of the match between Sutton United or Arsenal, who will face each other tonight.
Lincoln did what so many ‘big teams’ like Chelsea and Liverpool couldn’t do – beat Burnley at the Turf Moor. Sean Dyche would certainly be unhappy with the performance of his men as they couldn’t capitalise on their fantastic support. Lincoln City were the deserving winners and will be hoping to face Sutton United in the next round.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo’s Elastico nutmeg
While there are many low points in a football player’s career, being humiliated by a peer’s skill is certainly the lowest of them all. This is why we see so many players react angrily to attempted tricks and skills by players like Douglas Costa, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Espanyol’s defender David Lopez will have a few sleepless nights after Ronaldo pulled off an incredible skill on him. The Portuguese international went for an elastico that was sent under Lopez’s feet in order to nutmeg him.
Ronaldo then went around the player who was clearly still shocked from Cristiano’s slick movement and attempted to cross the ball back into the box. The Portuguese has been off form for a majority of the season but in the last few games for Real Madrid, he has been simply stunning.
Also Read: Cristiano Ronaldo, an elastico, and the beauty of a singular moment
#3 Hertha Berlin’s valiant effort against Bayern Munich
Hertha Berlin took on league leaders Bayern Munich on Saturday evening in their home – the Olympiastadion in Berlin. The German giants were given a hard time thanks to some fantastic defending and great counter-attacking style of football.
While Bayern had a majority of the possession, they were simply unable to find the back of the net. That was until their Polish striker Robert Lewandowski broke the hearts of Hertha Berlin’s supporters in the 96th minute to give Bayern an important point.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern Munich have seemingly been on a downward spiral this season with their performances simply not as good as they have been for the last few years. However, their recent performances have given the fans a lot to cheer about but matches such as this will always put a doubt in the minds of many.
#4 Kevin Gameiro scores a five-minute hat-trick
Atletico’s new signing Kevin Gamerio made history after scoring the league’s fastest hat-trick in 22 years. The Frenchman has started most of the recent games on the bench as Fernando Torres has done incredibly well for Atletico and earned his place in the starting line-up.
Gameiro proved his class on Saturday and came to the fore when Atletico needed him the most. With the fight for the Champions League spots against Real Sociedad and Villareal getting intense, and the two other clubs facing each other on Sunday evening, this was the perfect opportunity for Atletico go capitalise.
However, Yannick Carrasco’s goal was cancelled out by Sergio Alvarez in the 49th minute. Kevin Gameiro replaced Fernando Torres in the 62nd minute but it wasn't until the 80th minute that the striker got his first goal. He followed his first goal with two more within the space of five minutes to leave many fans in awe.
#5 The Pogba brothers light up Old Trafford
While the player who actually took Old Trafford by storm was Zlatan Ibrahimovic with his stunning hat-trick to give Manchester United a huge advantage in the Europa League tie, it was Paul Pogba and his brother Florentin who stole the limelight.
Paul Pogba’s world record move to Manchester United has been historic, to say the least, and the move has turned ‘Pogba’ into one of the biggest brands in world football. The Pogba family including Mathias Pogba, twin brother of Florentin decided to visit the Old Trafford sporting half Saint-Etienne jersey and half Manchester United jersey with the words ‘Pogba’ written over it.
The fantastic spirit of the Pogba family and beautiful show of brotherhood from Florentin and Paul seemingly melted the hearts of the Old Trafford faithful on Thursday night. Paul will certainly have a lot to boast about at the family’s next gather after his team’s brilliant victory over Saint-Etienne.
