Catalan arguments

Espanyol won the Spanish Cup

This week in European football is almost entirely devoted to cup battles. Spain became the first country where the national cup (proudly called the King's Cup of Spain) found its new owner. Espanyol and Zaragoza faced off in the decisive match at the capital's Santiago Bernabeu. It is not surprising that the Aragonese were considered the favorites of the meeting, having defeated both Barcelona and Real Madrid along the way, inflicting a memorable defeat on the “royal” club with a score of 6:1. Victor Munoz's team looks much more convincing in the national championship, trying to the last to cling to the European Cup zone. In turn, Espanyol, which has won only one victory since February, is only two points away from the relegation zone to the second division.

But by the second minute of the head-to-head confrontation, no one thought to remember the pre-match arrangements. Little Buddha, as Espanyol's short, hairless leader Ivan de la Pena is called, struck a masterful free-kick; former Real Madrid goalkeeper Cesar had difficulty parrying the ball, but Tamudo's diving header opened the scoring. Before the break, two more goals went into the goal from headers - first, the namesake of the Liverpool club Everton restored the status quo, and then Luis Garcia, the namesake of the Liverpool midfielder, again brought Espanyol ahead. In the second half, the Catalans, through the efforts of Corominas and the same Garcia, brought the score to a large one, and the opposing goalkeeper to despair. Cesar, seeing a foreign object on the field, threw it at the fans, for which he was immediately expelled from the field.

Espanyol won the fourth domestic Cup in its history, but the head coach of the winners, Miguel Angel Lotina, saw something more in this success. “We won the cup, and our compatriots from Barça will soon win the championship. How wonderful it is that both trophies will end up in Catalonia,” said a joyful Lotina, one of the ardent supporters of granting Catalonia autonomy status.

Meanwhile, in Germany and Italy the participants in the national cup finals have been decided. In the host country of the upcoming World Cup, Eintracht Frankfurt am Main and Bayern will compete for the prestigious trophy. The current and probably future national champions beat St. Pauli away in the semifinals. This modest Hamburg club, playing in the regional league, has not become famous for any successes in its almost century-long history, but it has, perhaps, the most ardent fans in the country. However, their crazy support, which delighted the guests from Munich, did not inspire the hosts to success. The Bavarians prevailed 3-0 thanks to goals from Englishman Hargreaves and a brace from Peruvian Pizarro.

In Italy, where the national cup receives the least attention among the Big Five countries, the final lineup is identical to last season's decider. The capital's Roma, which beat Palermo in the semifinals, and Inter Milan, which defeated Udinese, will compete for a little-needed trophy here.

The French Cup is famous for its unpredictability. But this time, lovers of sensations are forced to admit a sad fact for themselves - only representatives of the elite reached the semi-final stage - PSG, which turned out to be stronger than Lille, Marseille, which unexpectedly beat champion Lyon on the road in less than five minutes, “ Rennes”, who took the penalty shootout more accurately than “Montpellier”. And Nantes. The Canaries, having one of the worst seasons in recent years, could well give way to the modest Calais. But the club from the fourth division, which had already reached the final in 2000, still lost with a minimal advantage.

The last semi-finalist of the oldest tournament on the planet - the FA Cup - has been determined in Foggy Albion. Middlesbrough pulled out the lucky ticket; over the past week, after their brilliant victory in the UEFA Cup match, they became a participant in the semi-finals of two draws at once. In the quarter-final replay, Boro, led by Steve McClaren, one of the most likely successors to Sven-Goran Eriksson as England coach, hosted Charlton and won 4-2 in an exciting fight. Now the northerners will have to measure their strength with another team from the capital of the country - West Ham, and in the other pair of semi-finalists Chelsea and Liverpool will once again clash swords.

Arthur PETROSIAN