The baptism of youth of Liverpool
The stage of the 1/4 final of the English League Cup was marked by a scandal over Liverpool. The very next day after the guest match against Aston Villa, the Reds had to play with the Mexican Monterrey in the semifinals of the club world championship. It was theoretically possible to get to Doha from Birmingham in less than a day. However, the mentor of the Merseysiders Jürgen Klopp refused to overload their wards.
The specialist expressed dissatisfaction with the calendar of the season another month and a half before two meetings, which were to be held on different continents with an interval of 22 hours. There was no suitable date for postponing the match of the third tournament in England. The threats expressed by the expert to boycott the League Cup did not impress the Football Association of the country. Therefore, Klopp, together with the main players, flew to Qatar, and the youth team players went to Birmingham. The average age of Liverpool players who entered the field was 19.5 years - the youngest combination of 11 performers in the club’s 127-year history.
Most of the players have not yet played at that level, so it is not surprising that it was not difficult for experienced players at Villa to crush the Liverpool youth in front of their audience.
Already in the debut of the match, Conor Hurihein laid the foundation for defeat. Three minutes later, the bewildered defender of the guests Morgan Boyce cut the ball into his own goal. Shortly before the break, Birmingham striker Jonathan Kojia scored twice, and already in the offset time of the match, Wesley set the final score - 5: 0.
Thus, the brilliant victory of Liverpool on a penalty kick over Arsenal after 5: 5 in regular time and a saving goal in the last seconds in the previous round was in vain. Merseysiders leave the tournament.
Golovin was unable to help Monaco pass Lille in the League Cup
“Monaco” and “Lille” had to play twice in four days. This Saturday, the teams will meet in the French championship. And on Tuesday, December 17, they faced off in the 1/8 finals of the League Cup. The head coach of the Monegasques, Leonard Jardim, on the eve of a more important match, chose to resort to rotation. In the basic structure there were only four participants of the previous game.
All 90 minutes spent on the lawn of the stadium "Louis II" Alexander Golovin. The Russian midfielder alternated successful actions with unsuccessful ones. So, it was after his loss in the center of the field in the 19th minute that Victor Osimkhen scored, who opened the scoring in this match. In addition to the first half, Loic Remy doubled the advantage of Lille.
Soon after the break, “Monaco” after a pass to the penalty area Golovin received the right to a penalty, but Islam Slimani could not cope with the blow from the 11-meter mark. In the end, Remy designed a double and brought the matter to defeat - 3: 0. Even the return of Stevan Jovetich was not able to help the Monegasques - because of a serious injury, he had not played since April and for the first time this season he replaced Lille. In the following games, the Montenegrin scorer may well become the joker of Jardim.
The meeting of leaders of the championship of Germany did not reveal the winner
An excellent show was given in Dortmund by the local Borussia and Leipzig. Bundesliga leaders met as part of the 16th round of the Bundesliga. In the first half, the hosts secured a solid reserve thanks to the goals of Julian Weigl and Julian Brandt. However, after the break, Timo Werner quickly regained his balance.
He became the first German after Gerd Müller, who managed to score 18 goals in 16 starting games of the German championship - the football legend was marked by 19 goals in the 1976/77 season. And Werner caught up with Robert Lewandowski of Munich “Bavaria” in the list of the best snipers of the season. Both have 18 goals scored.
Fourth place in the scorers' race is occupied by Dortmund Jadon Sancho. It was he who, two minutes after the second goal of Werner, again brought Borussia forward. By the way, Sancho is now the youngest player to “shoot” 22 goals in the German championships. On the day of the match against Leipzig, he turned 19 years old and 267 days. Horst Köppel owned the previous achievement. At the time the achievement was established in 1968, he was two days older.
The point in the reporting match was put forward by Leipzig striker Patrick Schick - 3: 3. The guests were unable to win the Bundesliga for the first time in their last seven matches, and Borussia lost points after three successful games. In the standings, they are separated by four points. “Leipzig” takes the first line, “Borussia” - the third.
Despite the stable performance, the leadership of the yellow-blacks is not too pretty work of the Swiss mentor Lucien Favre. They want to replace him with the head coach of the “Bremen” Florian Kofeldt. However, the performance of the Bremen in the 16th round may make the Dortmund bosses think about this again. Kofeldt’s wards at home were largely lost to Mainz (0: 5) and are two points from the relegation zone.
Flamengo reached the final of the club world championship
In Doha, the first finalist of the world championship among clubs was determined. The Brazilian Flamengo won a strong-willed victory over Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia - 3: 1. In the 18th minute, Salem Al-Dosari gave nominal guests a chance for a sensation. However, in the second half, the champions of Brazil and the owners of the Libertadores Cup put everything in its place. First, Georgian de Arrascaeta and Bruno Enrique distinguished themselves, and then Ali al-Boulaihi scored an own goal.
In the fifth place match, the Tunisian Esperance defeated the Qatari Al-Sadd (6: 2). A hat-trick in the composition of the winners designed Hamdu Elhuni, Anis Badri marked with a double.