While the 20th day of Ligue 1 was in full swing and the African Cup of Nations kicked off in Cameroon, the European championships took place on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 January, except in England, where the clubs competed for the national cup. Several French people have distinguished themselves, such as Karim Benzema, Christopher Nkunku and Theo Hernandez.
Karim Benzema enters a little more in the history of Real Madrid
With his two goals against Valencia on Saturday (4-1), Karim Benzema scored his 300th and 301st goals, in all competitions, under the jersey of Real Madrid. The French striker is only the fourth Merengue player to achieve this and is only beaten in the club’s scorers’ standings by Cristiano Ronaldo (450), Raul (323) and Alfredo Di Stefano (308).
He opened the scoring from the penalty spot before closing the scoring on a pivot strike. Vinicius Junior also scored a brace for Madrid. Real consolidates its first place in the standings while, earlier in the evening, Barça had been held in check by Granada (1-1).
3⃣0⃣0⃣@Benzema | #RealFootball pic.twitter.com/ZFKWKD7oN6
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadridfra) January 8, 2022
Christopher Nkunku and Theo Hernandez decide
Replacing for the first time this season, Christopher Nkunku came into play at half-time in the match between Leipzig and Mainz on Saturday (4-1). The Roten Bullens were leading 1-0 and the Frenchman greatly helped his side secure victory with one goal and two assists. The French striker now has 8 goals and 11 assists in 18 league games this season.
In Italy, AC Milan won on the lawn of Venice (0-3). Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring early in the game, in the second minute, before Theo Hernandez scored twice. The French, captain of the Rossoneri, shot the Venetian goalkeeper after returning from the locker room and then scored a penalty on the hour mark.
In the other matches of the weekend in Italy, Naples won against Sampdoria (1-0), Juventus beat AS Rome at the Stadio Olimpico (3-4) and Inter strengthened their first place thanks to his victory over Lazio (2-1).
Let’s gooo…✈️ 2️⃣ goals + 3️⃣ points ⚫️ pic.twitter.com/Om1W66ymxF
– Theo Hernandez (@TheoHernandez) January 9, 2022
Bayern Munich trapped by Borussia Mönchengladbach
Bayern conceded their third defeat of the season on Friday night against Borussia Mönchengladbach at home (1-2). The Bavarian club, deprived of 13 players, including 9 positive for Covid-19, opened the scoring thanks to the inevitable Robert Lewandowski, but the Colts quickly equalized through Florian Neuhaus. Stefan Lainer scored the victorious goal after half an hour of play. The Bavarians tried everything to get back the score but Yann Sommer saved his team with decisive saves. For this match, Julian Nagelsmann had an inexperienced bench and brought in young Paul Wanner in the 75th minute. At 16 years and 15 days old, Wanner became the youngest player in history to make his professional debut for Bayern.
In Newcastle, eliminated in the Cup, money does not buy happiness
No Premier League but the Cup this weekend in England. And if most of the elite clubs qualified without a hitch, Arsenal were eliminated by Nottingham Forest (D2) and Newcastle were knocked out by Cambridge, a League One club, the English third division (0-1 ). A defeat that stains for the club recently bought by the Saudi investment fund, and already in difficulty in the league with a 19th place. Eddie Howe had yet aligned his new recruit, the first under the Saudi era, the English international Kieran Trippier, who arrived the day before in the north of England. The Magpies should still be active in the transfer market, to now focus on the fight for maintenance.
Francisco Conceiçao, on behalf of the father
While they were led 2-0 at half-time, FC Porto overthrew Estoril to win on Saturday (2-3), and it was the young Francisco Conceiçao (19) who offered the victory to the team coached by his father, Sergio, in the 89th minute. Congratulated by his teammates, he immediately threw himself into the arms of his father, who had brought him into play two minutes earlier. “I went to celebrate this goal with my coach”, he said after the meeting, even if the embrace between the two men seemed to contain a lot more emotions. This precious goal allows FC Porto to take a three-point lead at the top of the standings, ahead of Sporting Portugal, defeated in Santa Clara (3-2).
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That was the moment that gave the victory to the @FCPorto #LigaPortugal #LigaPortugalbwin #criatalento #createstalent #footballwithtalent #marcaomundo #EPFFCP pic.twitter.com/o6CfuyDoUA– League Portugal (@ligaportugal) January 8, 2022
The goal of the weekend for Atlético
If Atlético de Madrid obtained the point of the draw on the lawn of Villarreal (2-2) thanks to an equalizer of the French Geoffrey Kondogbia, it is the goal of his teammate Angel Correa that will remain in the minds. The Argentine opened the scoring in the 10th minute on a sublime lob from the center circle and certainly scored the goal of the weekend.
[️VIDEO – ⚽️BUT] #LaLiga
BOMBAZZOOOOOO ALERT
☄️ Angel Correa scores one of the goals of the season … from the midfielder !!!!
➡️ A lob from elsewhere! https://t.co/WfF4w3f7r9— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) January 9, 2022
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