Weekly Football News, February 18 2013
FA Cup springs more surprises in England
This season's FA Cup final could feature a team from outside the Premier League after Arsenal were knocked out by Blackburn Rovers from the Championship and reigning champions Chelsea were drawn to face Manchester United in the quarter-final should they both come through their fifth round ties.
Manchester United face Premier League side Reading this evening at Old Trafford, while Chelsea booked a last 16 spot against Championship Middlesbrough after seeing off Brentford in their fourth round replay yesterday.
EPL holders Manchester City also safely booked their passage into the quarter-finals with a straightforward over Leeds United, while Wigan beat Huddersfield.
However, Blackburn beat Arsenal 1-0 at the Emirates on Saturday to set up a meeting with fellow Championship side Millwall, while Oldham Athletic from League 1 forced a replay against Everton with a last-gasp equaliser in a 2-2 draw.
Messi continues to amaze in La Liga
Lionel Messi continues to pass milestones in the wake of his extraordinary goalscoring season last year when he surpassed Gerd Mueller's 40-year-old record by racking up a staggering 91 goals in the calendar year.
Messi has now found the net in Barcelona's last 14 matches after he scored his 300th and 301st career goals as the Spanish side beat Granada 2-1 on Saturday.
What's more, he has also scored in the club’s last 10 away matches and has only failed to get off the mark four times this league season.
The 25-year-old has now scored 301 times in 365 appearances for Barca, a ratio of 0.82 goals per game.
Midfielder Sergio Busquets said: “He improves on a daily basis. He's the best in the world.”
Super Mario continues scoring spree
Former Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli has continued his hot streak since his January transfer to Milan as his new team beat Parma 2-1.
Balotelli hit the crossbar with a free-kick in the 63rd minute, then found the target with another free-kick 15 minutes later, meaning he has now scored four times in three matches for Milan since leaving the English Premier League last month.
The Milan manager, Massimiliano Allegri, said: "When players like him arrive, the level of skill in the team goes up. He was a great buy by the club and now we're on for a great comeback in the league."
Balotelli will face his former side Inter Milan in the derby match next Sunday.
Kagawa will come good: Ferguson
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that Shinji Kagawa is struggling to adapt to the more physical nature of English football, stating that the Premier League is more combative than the Bundesliga.
But Ferguson has backed the midfielder, who joined United from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, to quickly find his feet after the first half of his debut season was hampered by injury.
“The difference between German and English football is that in Germany you can't foul,” Sir Alex told The Telegraph. “You are not allowed to touch anyone in Germany, so [Kagawa] has come from that environment to the Premier League which is totally different.
“There is a physicality to our game which is different from Germany, but next year he’ll be better. I thought in the first half-hour [against Real] he was terrific and he was making some great runs through them.
"If people don't see that, it’s actually unfair. He did really well for us in the first half.”
Compiled by Marc Fox
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