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Soccer Monday: FA Cup upsets, AC Milan keeps losing and Barca-Real battle heats up

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Soccer Monday: FA Cup upsets, AC Milan keeps losing and Barca-Real battle heats up

Here's what you may have missed this weekend

Clemente Lisi
Jan 30
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Soccer Monday: FA Cup upsets, AC Milan keeps losing and Barca-Real battle heats up

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AC Milan tangled with Sassuolo on Sunday and lost, the latest in a string of bad performances. AC Milan photo

The FA Cup dominated the weekend action with Brighton’s 2-1 shock win against Liverpool on Sunday the biggest upset of the fourth round.  

Over in Italy, Napoli extended its lead at the top of the table after AC Milan lost — again! — in league play. In Spain, the battle for the title between Barcelona and Real Madrid got even more interesting after the weekend slate of matches.  

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Here’s a recap of what you may have missed:  

3. FA Cup returns … and so do the upsets  

Liverpool’s defeat aside, the FA Cup had plenty of other noteworthy action. Manchester United’s fine form continued with a 3-1 win against Reading on Saturday, a day that also included Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Preston.  

The biggest game of the round may have been Sheffield United’s 3-3 draw against Wrexham. It was John Egan's stoppage-time goal that rescued Sheffield United against the team co-owned by actor Ryan Reynolds. 

Twitter avatar for @VancityReynolds
Ryan Reynolds @VancityReynolds
When @RMcElhenney and I got into this it all felt so impossible. But impossible is @Wrexham_AFC’s favourite colour. That was one of the most exciting things I’ve EVER seen. Thank you each and every Wrexham supporter who came out and aimed your heart at that pitch tonight ⚔️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿⚔️
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7:36 PM ∙ Jan 29, 2023
76,192Likes2,413Retweets

The draw now forces a replay. For Wrexham, however, it was nearly a second straight upset over a Championship side after Wrexham defeated Coventry 4-3 earlier this month in the third round.  

2. AC Milan can’t win anymore  

Napoli extended its lead to 13 points on Sunday at the top of the Serie A table after a 2-1 win at home against Roma. Inter Milan moved into second place following a 2-1 win on Saturday at Cremonese. AC Milan dropped to third place after a 5-2 defeat at home against Sassuolo.  

The Rossoneri, who won the Serie A title last season, are coming off a series of poor results over the past few weeks. After a 2-1 win against Salernitana on Jan. 4, AC Milan managed to draw Roma 2-2 on Jan. 8, a 2-2 draw against Lecce on Jan. 14 and a 4-0 defeat to Lazio on Jan. 24. 

Twitter avatar for @OptaPaolo
OptaPaolo @OptaPaolo
3 - AC Milan have lost 3 games in a row (considering all comps) for the first time since September 2019, under Marco Giampaolo in that case. Collapsed. #MilanSassuolo
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1:33 PM ∙ Jan 29, 2023
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Sandwiched between those games was a 1-0 defeat to Torinio on Jan. 11 in the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia and a 3-0 defeat to rivals Inter Milan on Jan. 18 in the Italian Super Cup.    

1. Barcelona takes a lead over rivals Real Madrid   

Real Madrid was held to a scoreless draw at home Sunday by third-place Real Sociedad to lose ground to rivals Barcelona at the top of the Spanish league. 

The result left the defending league champions five points adrift of Barca, who won 1-0 at Girona on Saturday. 

Twitter avatar for @FCBarcelona_es
FC Barcelona @FCBarcelona_es
➕ líderes
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10:03 PM ∙ Jan 29, 2023
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Real Sociedad, meanwhile, stayed three points behind Real Madrid and eight behind Barcelona. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona have a game in hand.

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Soccer Monday: FA Cup upsets, AC Milan keeps losing and Barca-Real battle heats up

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