Super achievement by De Bruyne and a massacre of Portuguese top teams. The main events of the day in European football

In Germany, the defeated Bayern and the power of Arsenal and the fire of the Roman derby.

Football Saturday turned out to be quite eventful: in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and especially in England. Let's tell you about the main highlights. The Munich team has long been an outsider in the championship race. And they are doing everything to ensure that Bayern takes the crown from them as early as possible. In the away match against "Heidenheim", they scored two goals in the first half: Kane and Gnabry distinguished themselves.

The opponents did not create anything at all, and Bayern relaxed. For that, they paid the price. Frank Schmidt's team transformed after the break and responded with three goals: Sessa started, and Klaudinst continued with a double.

Meanwhile, Leverkusen narrowly defeated Union: although they dominated for the full 90 minutes, only Virts scored from a penalty in the 48+8th minute. Now Habi Alonso's boys are just one win away from the coveted Champions League spot. They will host Werder in the next round. Goodbye, "Nevercuzen".

The silver intrigue in Italy, it seems, is over. The black and reds had no problems against Lecce. Pulisic and Giroud played the executioner role in the first half, and Leao in the second. French super veteran Giroud scored in Serie A for the first time since February 18, when Milan lost to Monza (2-4). After that, he went goalless in five league matches. On the 45th minute, Krstovic received a red card for swinging his leg at Chukwueze. So Milan should be grateful that they could have scored more goals against an unequal team. They now have a nine-point lead over Juventus. In the next round, Juventus will face Fiorentina.

The movie "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn is a classic of cinema. The recent Roman derby, however, will hardly become a classic of football. There were few bright moments but plenty of fighting. 14-15 fouls (the Eagles slightly violated the rules more often) and 5-3 yellow cards (the Wolves had more) - the battle was intense. The only goal was scored by Mancini at the end of the first half, thanks to a great corner delivery by Dybala. The winner has come close to the Champions League zone: Bologna is ahead by two points, Juventus by four. But they still have games to play in this round.

By the way, after Dybala clashed with Genduzi (the second grabbed the first by the neck), the attacker teased the Frenchman with a shield featuring the World Cup. The same cup that Argentina, with Paulo in the lineup (he came on before the penalty shootout and scored from the spot), won against France, with Matteo on the bench.

Temporarily: trailing by one point, Liverpool will play tomorrow. You know how Arteta's team loves to dominate. That's what they did against Brighton: 20 shots, seven clear chances, and three goals. Among the scorers were Saka from a penalty, Havertz, and Trossard. The first and third should have completed a brace, as should Jesus, who remained goalless. In 2024, Arsenal has 10 wins and one draw in the Premier League, with 38 goals scored and only four conceded. Who will stop this machine?! Perhaps no one. They will face Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and the favorite is not them.

Ortega had to pick the ball out of the net on the third minute - Mateta did the job. Then De Bruyne stepped in: he scored with a long-range shot, assisted Holland, and later completed a brace. By the way, the Belgian has already scored 100 goals for the city's team. Only Sterling (131) and Aguero (260) have more in this statistic. And 167 assists in 372 matches. True greatness. Lewis scored between these events. Edouard scored one goal at the end, but that was just a local joy. Manchester City is only one point behind Arsenal and level with Liverpool, who have a game in hand against Manchester United.

At the start of the second half, Villa led 2-0 through goals from Watkins and Rogers. Total disrespect for the Hornets, right? They thought the same, responding with goals from Zanka, Mbemo, and Vissa from the 59th to the 68th minute. The situation completely turned around. However, Emery's team managed to salvage a draw: Watkins scored again. A crucial result for Villa in the fight for the fourth place in the Premier League: they are three points ahead of Tottenham with two games in hand.

These two teams are competing for the championship - Porto and all others are far behind. And here they met again. Before the round, the green-whites were ahead by one point with a game in hand. And now - by four. Normal time ended in a goalless draw: in the first half, Katamo's goal was answered by Bach. Another goal from Katamo capitalized on a slight rebound, making the opponent's chances for the title minimal. It is also worth noting the intensity of the match: Sporting received four yellow cards, Benfica eight! Ersnes turned two of them into red cards.

"Mallorca" turned out to be the most unusual finalist in the Spanish Cup final. It wasn't "Athletic," as the Basques only reached a similar stage five times in the 21st century, always ending up on the losing side. If we consider the 1980s, they even lost six consecutive decisive cup matches. Now, the title seemed destined for the team led by Valverde, with a noticeable advantage. However, they only managed to score once in response to the red and black goal from Rodriguez and Sanset. The match went to a penalty shootout, where "Athletic" emerged as the stronger side. Was it an undeserved victory?

Other interesting results of the day:

• "Fulham" 0-1 "Newcastle"
• "Wolverhampton" 1-2 "West Ham"
• "Luton" 2-1 "Bournemouth"
• "Lens" 1-1 "Le Havre"
• "PSG" 1-1 "Clermont"
• "Empoli" 3-2 "Torino"
• "Mainz" 4-0 "Darmstadt"
• "Freiburg" 1-4 "Leipzig"
• "Borussia" D 0-1 "Stuttgart"