Last time out we introduced the City Cup, where teams representing major European cities battle it out for supremacy. The catch is that teams can only field players born in the city.
With 64 teams involved, there are 32 matches to get through in this episode! First of all, this is how the draw shapes up:
With 64 teams involved, there are 32 matches to get through in this episode! First of all, this is how the draw shapes up:
Antwerp vs. Amsterdam Athens vs. Naples Bergen vs. Bratislava Brno vs. The Hague Budapest vs. Manchester Bursa vs. St Petersburg Charleroi vs. Moscow Cologne vs. Ljubljana Copenhagen vs. Gothenburg Dublin vs. Birmingham Dusseldorf vs. Nis | Edinburgh vs. Madrid Genoa vs. Rotterdam Glasgow vs. Bilbao Graz vs. Lille Krakow vs. Sevilla Kyiv vs. Brussels Lisbon vs. Stuttgart Marseille vs. Stockholm Prague vs. Bucharest Rome vs. Berlin | Sheffield vs. Istanbul Sofia vs. Vienna Split vs. Minsk Tbilisi vs. Paris Toulouse vs. Turin Valencia vs. Novosibirsk Vilnius vs. Liverpool Warsaw vs. London Zadar vs. Andorra la Vella Zagreb vs. Oslo Zurich vs. Gaia |
Because there's so much to get through, we'll give brief match reports of the more interesting ties, then just list the full results...
Rome vs. Berlin
There's only one place to start, and it's this clash between two of Europe's major capital cities. Both teams won their respective qualifying groups, and are one of a handful of sides to have quality almost everywhere across the pitch. Below you can see the line-ups for these two sides. Unfortunately, the reason that the isn't a screenshot of some match action instead is that this was a fairly disappointing game. It was decided by two penalties, both to Rome, and put away by Matteo Politano and Antonio Candreva.
There's only one place to start, and it's this clash between two of Europe's major capital cities. Both teams won their respective qualifying groups, and are one of a handful of sides to have quality almost everywhere across the pitch. Below you can see the line-ups for these two sides. Unfortunately, the reason that the isn't a screenshot of some match action instead is that this was a fairly disappointing game. It was decided by two penalties, both to Rome, and put away by Matteo Politano and Antonio Candreva.
Edinburgh vs. Madrid
There were high hopes for a Madrid side containing the likes of David de Gea, Koke and Alvaro Morata. However, it was Edinburgh's Leigh Griffiths who got the opening goal with a low shot, but Morata soon equalised. The two forwards both added a second goal, and the match finished 2-2 at the end of normal time. Early on after the interval Madrid finally went ahead, as Munir (who of course plays club football for Barcelona) fired home - but incredibly Edinburgh weren't finished as Danny Swanson of Hibs rocketed a shot past de Gea to take us to penalties. Unfortunately, this proved a bridge too far for plucky Edinburgh, as misses from Swanson, Kenny Miller and Jason Holt allowed Jose Morales to put away the winning penalty.
There were high hopes for a Madrid side containing the likes of David de Gea, Koke and Alvaro Morata. However, it was Edinburgh's Leigh Griffiths who got the opening goal with a low shot, but Morata soon equalised. The two forwards both added a second goal, and the match finished 2-2 at the end of normal time. Early on after the interval Madrid finally went ahead, as Munir (who of course plays club football for Barcelona) fired home - but incredibly Edinburgh weren't finished as Danny Swanson of Hibs rocketed a shot past de Gea to take us to penalties. Unfortunately, this proved a bridge too far for plucky Edinburgh, as misses from Swanson, Kenny Miller and Jason Holt allowed Jose Morales to put away the winning penalty.
Tbilisi vs. Paris
Another pre-tournament favourite ran into trouble in the first round, as a Paris side containing World Cup winners Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and Ngolo Kante inexplicably struggled against a game Tbilisi side. In fact, Jaba Kankava's goal just after the break put the Georgians 2-0 up, but Paris were able to level through Mbappe and an acrobatic Mamadou Sakho volley. They couldn't find a winner, though - and this match also went to penalties. Nerves abounded, and the decisive miss came from... Kante! Paris crash out, and the tournament becomes a bit more open!
Another pre-tournament favourite ran into trouble in the first round, as a Paris side containing World Cup winners Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and Ngolo Kante inexplicably struggled against a game Tbilisi side. In fact, Jaba Kankava's goal just after the break put the Georgians 2-0 up, but Paris were able to level through Mbappe and an acrobatic Mamadou Sakho volley. They couldn't find a winner, though - and this match also went to penalties. Nerves abounded, and the decisive miss came from... Kante! Paris crash out, and the tournament becomes a bit more open!
Antwerp vs. Amsterdam
This match promised to be an entertaining tie between two lowland teams packed with talent, and it didn't let us down. Antwerp started stronger, and went 2-0 up thanks to goals from Toby Alderweireld and Romelu Lukaku. Amsterdam fought back to level with two Jeremain Lens goals. Antwerp again forged into the lead as Lukaku struck again in extra time. That looked to be enough, but as the clocked ticked past the 120 minute mark, Nigel de Jong (of all people!) took aim with a 25-yard half-volley, which scorched into the net! Once again we had a shootout, and this was settled in Amsterdam's favour as Geoffry Hairemans and Mohamed Messouadi were denied.
This match promised to be an entertaining tie between two lowland teams packed with talent, and it didn't let us down. Antwerp started stronger, and went 2-0 up thanks to goals from Toby Alderweireld and Romelu Lukaku. Amsterdam fought back to level with two Jeremain Lens goals. Antwerp again forged into the lead as Lukaku struck again in extra time. That looked to be enough, but as the clocked ticked past the 120 minute mark, Nigel de Jong (of all people!) took aim with a 25-yard half-volley, which scorched into the net! Once again we had a shootout, and this was settled in Amsterdam's favour as Geoffry Hairemans and Mohamed Messouadi were denied.
Elsewhere...
Another strong side were eliminated as Brussels were held to a 1-1 draw by Kyiv, and ultimately lost on penalties after misses by Michy Batchuayi and Vincent Kompany. Specifically, Batchuayi hit the post - but at least it didn't rebound into his face!
Liverpool laboured to victory over Vilnius, winning 1-0 after Wayne Rooney struck in extra time.
Birmingham overcame Dublin 2-0 in a feisty Anglo-Irish clash, despite receiving two red cards.
A Lisbon side deep with talent were knocked out 3-2 by Stuttgart, courtesy of a Joselu hat-trick.
A battle between two historic cultural centres - Athens and Naples - appeared to be going the way of the Greeks until Antonio Nocerino's late equaliser, and the Italians prevailed on penalties.
There was an all-Scandinavian clash as Copenhagen played Gothenburg (coincidentally, the two nicest cities I've visited), and it was the Swedes who were victorious with a solitary extra-time goal coming from Kari Arnason, who of course represents Iceland internationally.
This round actually saw Europe's three most populous cities depart. There was Paris' shock penalty defeat, whilst Moscow were similarly stunned by a low-profile Charleroi side. Meanwhile, the most populous city of them all - Istanbul - lost out 3-2 to Sheffield after a star turn from Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Bucharest were unfortunate to lose 2-1 after extra time after dominating their match with Prague, particularly after their opponents went down to 10 men midway through the second half.
Little-known Serbian city Nis stake an early claim to be the dark horses of the competition, by racking up the biggest win of the round, a highly impressive 4-0 dismantling of Dusseldorf.
Full results
Another strong side were eliminated as Brussels were held to a 1-1 draw by Kyiv, and ultimately lost on penalties after misses by Michy Batchuayi and Vincent Kompany. Specifically, Batchuayi hit the post - but at least it didn't rebound into his face!
Liverpool laboured to victory over Vilnius, winning 1-0 after Wayne Rooney struck in extra time.
Birmingham overcame Dublin 2-0 in a feisty Anglo-Irish clash, despite receiving two red cards.
A Lisbon side deep with talent were knocked out 3-2 by Stuttgart, courtesy of a Joselu hat-trick.
A battle between two historic cultural centres - Athens and Naples - appeared to be going the way of the Greeks until Antonio Nocerino's late equaliser, and the Italians prevailed on penalties.
There was an all-Scandinavian clash as Copenhagen played Gothenburg (coincidentally, the two nicest cities I've visited), and it was the Swedes who were victorious with a solitary extra-time goal coming from Kari Arnason, who of course represents Iceland internationally.
This round actually saw Europe's three most populous cities depart. There was Paris' shock penalty defeat, whilst Moscow were similarly stunned by a low-profile Charleroi side. Meanwhile, the most populous city of them all - Istanbul - lost out 3-2 to Sheffield after a star turn from Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Bucharest were unfortunate to lose 2-1 after extra time after dominating their match with Prague, particularly after their opponents went down to 10 men midway through the second half.
Little-known Serbian city Nis stake an early claim to be the dark horses of the competition, by racking up the biggest win of the round, a highly impressive 4-0 dismantling of Dusseldorf.
Full results
Antwerp 3-3p Amsterdam Athens 1-1p Naples Bergen 1-0 Bratislava Brno 1-3 The Hague Budapest 1-4 Manchester Bursa 1-1p St Petersburg Charleroi p1-1 Moscow Cologne 0-1 Ljubljana Copenhagen 0-1e Gothenburg Dublin 0-2 Birmingham Dusseldorf 0-4 Nis | Edinburgh 3-3p Madrid Genoa 2-3 Rotterdam Glasgow 0-2 Bilbao Graz 2-0 Lille Krakow 0-0p Sevilla Kyiv p1-1 Brussels Lisbon 2-3e Stuttgart Marseille 3-2 Stockholm Prague e2-1 Bucharest Rome 2-0 Berlin | Sheffield 3-2 Istanbul Sofia 0-2 Vienna Split 4-1 Minsk Tbilisi 2-2p Paris Toulouse 4-1 Turin Valencia 3-0 Novosibirsk Vilnius 0-1e Liverpool Warsaw 2-3 London Zadar 2-0 Andorra la Vella Zagreb 3-1 Oslo Zurich p0-0 Gaia |
So that's half of the teams already sent packing! Next time it's the round of 32, where surely we'll see even more major casualties!