Barca's super Clasico victory, Napoli win without Kvara and FA Cup upsets
Kick your Monday off with all the news from this past weekend
Good morning and happy Monday!
It was another weekend loaded with goals. Barcelona put five past rivals Real Madrid to win the Spanish Super Cup, while the FA Cup’s third round fixtures was also loaded with goals (and a notable penalty-kick shootout featuring Manchester United).
In Italy, Napoli won for the 15th time (in 20 games) to remain in first place halfway through the season. It remains to be seen if they can win a second title in three years.
Here’s what’s trending from this past weekend:
Spanish Super Cup: Barcelona routs Real Madrid
Barcelona came from a goal down to rout Real Madrid 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday.
Barca scored four goals during a dominant first half, then even survived having their goalkeeper sent off to clinch a record-extending 15th trophy.
Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Alejandro Balde all scored, after France forward Kylian Mbappé put Real in front in the fifth minute. Raphinha grabbed another in the second half while Rodrygo scored for Real Madrid on a penalty kick.
Barca were left with 10 players when goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off for fouling Kylian Mbappe in the 56th minute and Rodrygo.
“A goal for big clubs is always to win titles, that's why we work hard. But now we have to show it in the next games,” Hansi Flick said after winning his first trophy as Barcelona manager. “Real made many mistakes, and we knew how to take advantage of them to control the match.”
Serie A: Napoli win again amid Kvara controversy
No Kvara, no problem.
Napoli manager Antonio Conte had confirmed on Saturday that star striker Kvicha Kvaratskhelia had asked to leave the club.
But his current teammates did not let themselves be affected by the controversy as they beat lowly Verona 2-0 the following day to move four points clear of Inter Milan after the defending league champion moved into second place with a 1-0 win at Venezia.
Atalanta, now third, \was held to a scoreless draw at Udinese on Saturday. Inter has played two fewer matches than Napoli and one less than Atalanta.
Kvaratskhelia was out of Sunday’s match in Naples through injury.
FA Cup: Manchester United stuns Arsenal on penalties
Substitute Joshua Zirkzee struck the winning penalty as Manchester United survived nearly an hour down a man to eliminate Arsenal out of the FA Cup on Sunday in a dramatic third-round shootout at the Emirates Stadium.
Bruno Fernandes put United ahead seven minutes into the second half, triggering a furious 20-minute stretch in which a boring game suddenly came to life.
Kai Havertz, meanwhile, capped a miserable afternoon by seeing his poor spot kick stopped by Altay Bayindir while Fernandes, Amad Diallo, Leny Yoro and Lisandro Martínez all scored, giving Zirkzee to score the winning kick.
FA Cup titleholders United now face a home fixture against Leicester City in the competition's fourth round.
For all the scores from this weekend’s FA Cup round, click here.
In other news: Paris Saint-Germain remained unbeaten and seven points clear at the top of the French league — halfway through the season — after Ousmane Dembélé scored twice in a 2-1 win over Saint-Etienne on Sunday. Marseille is in second place after 17 rounds, with third-place Monaco 12 points adrift of defending champion PSG, which has beaten both sides. … Following the winter break, Bayern Munich maintained their four-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Borussia Monchengladbach. Harry Kane scored a second-half penalty kick, which settled the encounter at Borussia-Park. Despite Bayern’s dominance and eight shots to none in the opening 45 minutes, the teams went into the break level at 0-0. … Inter Miami unveiled the club's preseason plan, confirming a five-match schedule leading up to the 2025 MLS season. Up first will be a match with Mexican champions Club America on Jan. 18 in Las Vegas before the club heads south to Peru to face Universitario in Lima on Jan. 29. Miami will head to Panama to face Sporting San Miguelito on Feb. 2, before flying to Honduras to face Olimpia in San Pedro Sula six days later. The tour concludes on Feb. 14 with a game against Orlando City SC in Tampa.