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Wednesday night witnessed Capital One Cup action in England and the Copa del Ray in Spain. Top teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Liverpool were all in the fray for a place in the next round.
It was a fairly high scoring night as both Barcelona and Liverpool notched impressive 6-1 victories over CF Villanovense and Southampton respectively. While, Real Madrid made the news for all the wrong reasons despite their 3-1 win over Cadiz.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool produced a devastating display of attacking football as they decimated Southampton 6-1 at St Mary’s. Belgian striker Divock Origi grabbed a hat-trick which was incidentally the first ever hat-trick from a Liverpool player against the Saints.
But Daniel Sturridge, who was returning from a spell on the sidelines through injury, scored a quickfire brace to set Liverpool on their way to a demolition of the hosts.
Jurgen Klopp
Manager Klopp was absolutely thrilled with the victory which was evident from his post-match press conference. He reserved special praise for two-goal hero Sturridge.
“It was a good decision (to select him), I have to say,” said Klopp.
The boss told reporters: “Write this: ‘Daniel Sturridge can be much better than he was’.”
Also when asked to analyse English football and how his experience has been at Liverpool, the manager was at his witty best.
"You cannot be in Liverpool because of the weather, so it must be because of the football club.”
Klopp had a moment to forget as the he was talking up his side’s chances of winning the Capital One Cup. The German seemed to be ignorant of the fact that Liverpool had last won the League Cup in 2012. However, he managed to cover up that moment with his wit and sense of humour.
There were plenty of reactions on the social media over Liverpool’s stunning display over Southampton on Wednesday most notably from former legends Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard.
Jamie Carragher
Steven Gerrard
The former Liverpool captain is currently training with the Reds and he posted his joy at his old side’s win on Instagram with the caption ‘Blazing Squad’.
Real Madrid embarrassed despite win over Cadiz
Nothing seems to be going right for Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez as the Spanish giants are likely to be disqualified from the Copa del Rey despite beating third-tier side Cadiz 3-1.
Benitez who fielded a second string side against the minnows had named Russian youngster Denis Cheryshev in the starting lineup. What Benitez and his staff never realised was that Cheryshev was serving a one-match ban for picking up three yellow cards in last season’s Copa del Rey while he was away on loan to Villareal and was thus ineligible.
The Spaniard realised his folly only after the home side’s fans chanted “Benítez, look at your Twitter,” and “Cheryshev can’t play” for most of the first half. The youngster was substituted at half-time.
Rafa Benitez
However, Benitez tried to plead innocence and remarked that his staff and himself were in the dark regarding the situation of Cheryshev.
“We had no idea that Cheryshev was ineligible to play,” said the manager after the game.
“No one informed us of this situation. As soon as we were aware we took him off.”
However, nothing the former Liverpool manager said could halt his baiters on the social media as twitter erupted with news of Real Madrid’s possible disqualification.
Gerard Pique
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique was one of the quickest to react to Real Madrid’s fiasco.
The Barcelona juggernaut continues
A second-string Barcelona side ran riot against third-tier Villanovense at the Camp Nou on Wednesday. Sandro Ramirez plundered a hat-trick and Munir El Haddadi notched a brace as Barca emerged comfortable 6-1 winners on the night to progress to the last 16 of the Copa del Rey.
Lionel Messi was left out of the matchday squad while Andres Iniesta, Luis Suarez and Neymar were unused substitutes.
Luis Enrique
Manager Luis Enrique was delighted with his young team’s performance.
“It was a game in which the team responded and the crowd did too,” he revealed.
The Spanish tactician was full of praise for youngsters Sandro Ramirez and Munir El Haddadi for their prolific performance in front of goal.
“He [Sandro] has always been a goalscorer. I am happy with the performances of both players. They have to improve in many areas but they are young and I see them with the right attitude to do that.”
