FFor coach Ronald Koeman, the time at the Spanish top soccer club FC Barcelona is over. The Catalans suffered their fourth defeat in the last six competitive games on Wednesday evening with a 0-1 (0-1) at promoted Rayo Vallecano. A few hours later, the club announced the dismissal of the Dutch coach. Barça signed Koeman in the summer of 2020 and gave him a two-year deal at the time. The 58-year-old was previously the national coach of the Netherlands.
Old star Radamel Falcao (30th) left national goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen with his fourth goal of the season no chance to defend himself. The Dutch international striker Memphis Depay missed the possible compensation when he failed with a penalty he had inflicted on Rayo goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski (72nd). After ten game days and the third league loss of the season, Barca stagnated at 15 points in mid-table. Rayo keeps four points ahead of the flagging title candidate close to the Champions League places.
Arch-rivals Real Madrid also suffered an unexpected damper after their recent success in the Clasico against Barcelona (2-1). Against CA Osasuna, Los Blancos with Toni Kroos did not make a 0-0 draw. The best opportunity was missed by top striker Karim Benzema (61), who hit the crossbar. The zero number was enough for Real to take over the top of the table with 21 points. There, however, four teams are tied.
Italy’s record football champions Juventus Turin have suffered a severe setback after their recent upturn. In the anniversary game of coach Massimiliano Allegri, who sat on the bench for the club for the 200th time in Serie A, the old lady lost 1: 2 (0: 1) at home to Sassuolo Calcio due to a goal in stoppage time. “There are games that you can’t lose if you know you won’t win them,” said Allegri, who, after Marcello Lippi and Giovanni Trapattoni, was only the third Juve coach to reach the 200-game milestone.
Maxime Lopez (90th + 5) made the decision after a counterattack, previously the former Schalke Weston McKennie (76th) had equalized the guest tour by Davide Frattesi (44th). For Juventus it was the first defeat after nine competitive games. Master Inter Milan won 2-0 (1-0) at FC Empoli despite being outnumbered for 40 minutes after the red card against Samuele Ricci (52nd) and consolidated third place in the table with 21 points behind local rivals AC (28) and SSC Napoli ( 25). Turin is only seventh in the table with 15 points, Juventus had made a powerful false start to the season.
Defending champion Manchester City, meanwhile, surprisingly missed the quarter-finals of the English League Cup. Team manager Pep Guardiola’s team lost 3: 5 (0: 0) on penalties against league rivals West Ham United on Wednesday evening. This ended the four-year supremacy of the Citizens in the second English cup competition alongside the traditional FA Cup.
Substitute Phil Foden was the unlucky fellow. His penalty went well past the goal on the right, at West Ham all five shooters scored. Guardiola swapped nine positions compared to the weekend, only the German national player Ilkay Gündogan and Kyle Walker were again in the starting lineup. The Skyblues only rarely scored dangerous goals against defensively well-standing Hammers in regular time.
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Liverpool FC, on the other hand, celebrated the expected victory. At the second division club Preston North End, team manager Jürgen Klopp won 2-0 (0-0). Takumi Minamino (62nd) and Divock Origi (84th) met. Last year’s finalist Tottenham Hotspur also reached the quarter-finals with a 1-0 (0-0) win at Burnley FC. On Tuesday, among others, Arsenal FC with Bernd Leno and Chelsea FC with national player Kai Havertz prevailed.
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