Plus, Domestic Cup Magic as Stade Briochin stuns Nice, and top matches of the weekend

I was a more than a little disappointed yesterday when I realized Canadian Premier League (CPL) champion Cavalry FC’s historic upset of Mexico’s Pumas UNAM wasn’t getting enough attention.

My normally avid soccer fan friends didn’t even message me about it . . . I mean, it’s pretty big news.

Thursday night was the first time a CPL team defeated a Liga MX side, and they did it in come-from-behind fashion, fighting back from a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1.

The CPL is still a tier-two league that’s only been in existence since 2019, features only eight clubs, and shouldn’t be able to compete with a Mexican club that has been around for almost 80 years.

Still, the team from Calgary got the job done playing a home game at Starflight Stadium in British Columbia, which was held there to avoid winter conditions in Alberta.

Though they lost the possession battle (64% to 36%), likely by design, they had more shots at target (7-5), more shots on target (3-2), and more goals (2-1) when the final whistle blew.

The game winner came on a wonderful finish by Tobias Warschewski, who wasn’t completely aware of what happened, with Charlie Trafford scoring the first for Cavalry FC. Santiago Lopez scored the lone Pumas goal.

“Sometimes I just black out, I don’t know,” Warchewski told One Soccer after the match. “I just touched it, finished it. I don’t know how really to explain it.”

That finish has given Cavalry a 2-1 lead in their two-leg series with a trip to Mexico on tap for the second leg on February 13. Kick off is at 8 p.m.  

Domestic Cup Magic

The magic of the Domestic Cup knockouts was in full effect in one European nation this week.

Ligue 1’s fifth-place club Nice, which also competed in the Europa League this year, was knocked out by a fourth-tier club called Stade Briochin 2-1 in the Coupe de France round of 16.

Briochin is sitting in sixth in the Championnat National 2, a full three leagues below where Nice regularly plays.

This is what Domestic Cup magic is all about. I wonder if Briochin can be this year’s FC Saarbrücken (a German third division club that knocked out a bunch of Bundesliga sides enroute to the semi-finals last year).

In the rest of Europe, things pretty much went according to script with the results, though the matches were still exciting.

Okay, so our beloved AS Roma lost 3-1 to AC Milan in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals this week, but it was a fun match to watch (if you take away the final result).

Roma looked like they had a second goal with ten minutes left, only to be thwarted by a tight offside on VAR. But they still kept creating chances right until the end and didn’t stop fighting.

It was a loss to a worthy opponent, but it was a moral win that will serve them well the rest of the season.

In the other quarterfinal taking place this week, Bologna upset highflying Atalanta on the road 1-0 to advance. The other two quarterfinals, Inter-Lazio and Juve-Empoli, take place in two weeks.

The English League Cup saw Newcastle put the finishing touches on a two-leg, semi-final win over Arsenal with a 2-0 win. Due to the Italian content on both these teams (Sandro Tonali, Riccardo Calafiori), I don’t really cheer for one or the other when they play one another. Newcastle will take on Liverpool (who defeated Spurs) in the final.

Meanwhile, in FA Cup action on Friday, Man United vs. Leicester lived up to pre-match excitement expectations with Manchester coming from behind to win 2-1 late. I was really, really pulling for Leicester to take it, but it was not to be. Still a lot of fun.

There were DFB-Pokal (German Cup) quarterfinals this week as well, with defending champion Bayer Leverkusen being pushed to the brink before seeing off Koln 3-2 and Stuttgart edging Augsburg 1-0.

Real Madrid just getting by Leganes 3-2 in the Copa Del Rey was very interesting, while Atletico and Barca each netting 5-0 wins was more along the lines of meeting expectations.

Choice Matches This Weekend

Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid, La Liga, Saturday at 3 p.m. (TSN+). The Madrid Derby has so, so much on the line this time around. Real is in first place, but only one point above second place Atletico. They both played mid-week in the Copa Del Rey, thoughReal rested most of their big players including Kyliam Mbappe with an eye on this match. Atleti rested players too, but still had some important starters in their mid-week line-up. Look for a cagey affair with Real coming out on top either 2-1 or 3-2.

FA Cup, Aston Villa vs. Tottenham, Sunday at 12:35 p.m. (Sportsnet Plus/World). Aston Villa has been waiting for this match since last weekend, while Spurs suffered a midweek defeat in the League Cup semi-finals against Liverpool. There is a lot of pressure on Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou since his team won’t be winning the Premier League and isn’t good enough to win the Europa League. The FA Cup is their only real shot at silverware this year. On the flip side, Villa is cruising and has no pressure to win this tie. They are sitting in eighth spot in the EPL with a real chance at the European places and have advance to the round of 16 in the Champions. If they keep up UEFA and EPL performances, their supporters will be happy.

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