Europe

After escaping the Balaidos in Galicia with a 0-0 draw in the first leg, supporters of Deportivo Alaves knew that a chance at history was theirs at the Estadio Mendizorrotza, home of the club since 1924. Never in the 96-year history of the club had they reached the Copa del Rey final, and the second leg against Celta Vigo was played on a knife edge.

Just under 20,000 crammed into the stadium in Basque Country to see if their club, which is playing in La Liga this season for the first time since 2005-06, could advance to play 28-time winners Barcelona.

Borussia Dortmund sit a disappointing fourth in the Bundesliga with an overall record of nine wins, seven draws and three losses. When it comes to the Bundesliga, there’s almost no standing up to 26-time champions Bayern Munich. However, since 2010, Dortmund have been able to win the title twice and finish runners-up on three occasions. But this season, they already trail Bayern by 12 points. What could explain this disappointing start? 

Inconsistency

Philipp Lahm is retiring. That is a sad thing.

Throughout his career, Lahm has been two things: a winner, and criminally underrated. He captained Germany during their 2014 World Cup win and captained Bayern Munich to numerous Bundesliga titles, Champions League titles and domestic cup titles.

Thank you very much for all your messages. A day later, I’d like to explain my decision to you in detail: pic.twitter.com/Xz213rxM73

Bayern Munich are like a B1G college football team. They grind teams down into dust and break wills. They keep the ball forever so when the opposing team gets it they don't know what to do with it.

Such was the case against Wolfsburg in the DFB Pokal Tuesday.

Douglas Costa's goal today pic.twitter.com/OBmj72LFfF

— Brazil Edition Vids (@BE_Videos) February 7, 2017

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 at the Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey semifinal second leg, and Barca advanced to the final, 3-2 on aggregate. That description does absolutely no service to what's just transpired in Catalonia. 

This match included three red cards, a wrongfully disallowed goal, a ridiculous free kick from Messi that thundered off the crossbar, a contentious penalty, a missed penalty and all the other drama you’ve come to expect from a match between these two clubs. 

Scoring too many goals is graceless. In Italy, when a team gets a few goals ahead, an unspoken agreement settles over the pitch; the team in the lead won’t score too many goals and the team behind won’t try too hard to get back into the game. The energy and the pressure eases off and the three points are settled early on.

In the summer of 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson, who had managed the club since 1986, announced his retirement from Manchester United, taking 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups and two Champions League titles with him. 

The Red Devils attempted to continue their unmatched level of success with the hiring of David Moyes, who’d managed Everton with aplomb for over 10 years. Moyes’ first and only season at the helm was an unmitigated disaster. 

Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce and Besiktas met in the Turkish Cup round of 16 on Sunday, and Robin van Persie took center stage to make the match entirely about himself. 

Just before halftime, Van Persie clashed with Besiktas defender Dusko Tosic. The Dutch striker appeared to knee and elbow the Serbian, and the two then squared off face to face. They might’ve brushed noses, but it was Van Persie who had the idea to start screaming and fling himself at the ground. The referee bought what Van Persie was selling and sent Tosic off.

Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner worked as the Borussia Dortmund reserve team manager from 2011-2015 with Jurgen Klopp coaching the senior side. When Klopp was handed the task of managing Liverpool, Wagner was offered the role at Huddersfield in the English Championship.

Wagner, like Klopp, is in his 40s, wears nice glasses and is a bit emotional. On Sunday, Wagner reacted to his side’s late game-winning goal against Leeds United by running the length of the pitch to celebrate with his players.