Bayern Munich reached the Champions League semi-finals as they crushed Barcelona 8-2 in Lisbon on Friday evening.

Two goals from Thomas Muller, as well as further strikes from Ivan Perisic, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich and Robert Lewandowski added to a stunning scoreline, with on-loan Barca man Philippe Coutinho almost embarrassingly getting two himself in the closing stages. There was next to nothing for the Spaniards to cheer, albeit for a David Alaba own goal and a Luis Suarez strike to reduce the huge deficit.

Here are three things we learnt from a frankly unbelievable evening in the Portuguese capital

Ruthless from Hansi Flick s troops

Heading into the tournament, it would probably be fair to say that most clubs would be content with just edging past Barc…

Bernd Leno saved two penalties as Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup with a 5-4 shoot-out victory over Liverpool after a goalless draw at Anfield.

Both sides were much changed from Arsenal s 3-1 defeat at the same venue three days earlier and a different outcome followed in what was a far quieter contest on Thursday.

Takumi Minamino wasted the best opportunity of the game in the first half and there was no change to the scoreline after the interval.

Arsenal beat Liverpool on penalties in August s Community Shield and they held their nerve once again here, with Leno saving efforts from Divock Origi and Harry Wilson after Mohamed Elneny had been denied by Adrian for the visitors.

Joe Willock squeezed the winning spot-kick under Adrian t…

Lucio believes Jupp Heynckes winning history at Bayern Munich will be key as he continues his bid to turn their season around.

Heynckes was appointed for a fourth spell in charge last month after Carlo Ancelotti was dismissed following a stuttering start to the season.

Bayern have won each of their six matches in all competitions since Heynckes took over, usurping Borussia Dortmund at the Bundesliga summit and opening a three-point advantage in the process.

The Bavarians face Dortmund in Der Klassiker on Saturday and Lucio, who played under Heynckes when the 72-year-old took over as caretaker in 2009, is confident in the abilities of a coach who led the club to the treble in 2013.

Yes, I worked with him in a similar situation, at the end of the season …

Marco Asensio was considering leaving Real Madrid on loan before Carlo Ancelotti told the midfielder to stay with the LaLiga leaders.

The Spain international was concerned that his first-team opportunities would be limited this season due to the options at Ancelotti s disposal in his second spell as Madrid boss.

Liverpool were among the clubs linked with Asensio, but the 25-year-old was still with Los Blancos when the transfer window closed at the end of last month.

Asensio, who missed most of the 2019-20 due to a knee injury, marked his first start of the season with a hat-trick in a 6-1 LaLiga hammering of his former club Real Mallorca on Wednesday.

Horacio Gaggioli, Asensio s agent, has revealed it could have been a very different story.

 L…

Lautaro Martinez s future continues to dominate headlines.

Martinez was tipped to leave Inter for Barcelona at the start of the season, but a move did not materialise amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, Manchester City are emerging as a serious suitor.

TOP STORY – CITY WANT LAUTARO

Manchester City are continuing their pursuit of Inter star Lautaro Martinez, according to the Mirror.

Martinez has been heavily linked with LaLiga giants Barcelona, as well as Real Madrid and City, where Pep Guardiola is eyeing a long-term replacement for Sergio Aguero.

The Argentina international has made his demands clear to Inter, who are hoping to re-sign Martinez.

Initial contract talks had broken down

— Mirror Football (@Mi…

After an international break that seemed to go on for months rather than days, the Premier League was back with typical gusto this weekend.

Tottenham and Liverpool earned impressive wins over Manchester City and Leicester City respectively to sit top of the pile on 20 points, with Chelsea and the Foxes hot in their wake.

But away from the more obvious facts and figures there are always some hidden gems that you may have missed.

With help from the geniuses at Opta, we have delved into some of the quirkier things to emerge from the Premier League these past few days.

Reds pass the test

Diogo Jota made history by becoming the first Liverpool player to score in each of his first four home top-flight appearances for the Reds.

More impressively, h…

Frank Lampard said he believes the standards at Chelsea have dropped after he signed off as interim manager with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle.

The result means Lampard failed to register a single home victory during his second spell in charge, with his last win as manager at Stamford Bridge still a 3-1 triumph over West Ham in December 2020.

It took a Kieran Trippier own goal, the defender deflecting the ball into the net midway through the first half, to cancel out Anthony Gordon’s early strike.

This was at least an improved performance from Chelsea, particularly in the second half where they played with an attacking initiative rarely seen under Lampard.

The young trio of Noni Madueke, Lewis Hall and substitute Carey Chukwuemeka especially played with …

Erik ten Hag wants to concentrate on building a better version of Manchester United rather than growing talk of a Premier League title challenge.

United are five points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, albeit having played a game more, after cruising to a 3-0 win over Leicester City on Sunday.

Marcus Rashford scored twice for United to take his tally for the season to a career-best 24 goals, giving the Red Devils control in a game that saw David de Gea twice prevent Leicester from taking the lead with fine first-half saves.

Jadon Sancho came off the bench in the second half to seal the points, sending United into a huge week on a high.

Ten Hag s men face Barcelona in the second leg of their Europa League play-off on Thursday, having drawn the first …

Borussia Monchengladbach have confirmed Denis Zakaria will leave the club at the end of the season.

The announcement comes less than 24 hours after Germany international Matthias Ginter revealed on Instagram that he will be letting his contract expire in 2022.

Switzerland international Zakaria has been with the club since joining from Young Boys in 2017 and has largely been a regular throughout his time with Die Fohlen.

The 25-year-old defensive midfielder, who can also play at centre-back, has been linked with several of the world s biggest clubs, such as fellow Bundesliga side Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Barcelona and Juventus.

While no club has yet emerged as the favourite to land Zakaria, he has at least provided clarity to Gladbach as he prepares to en…

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp faces a hugely-significant January without talismanic top scorer Mohamed Salah but is confident he can find an acceptable solution among the attacking options at his disposal.

Salah will leave for the African Cup of Nations after Monday’s visit of Newcastle, the first of at least six matches which includes an FA Cup tie at Arsenal and a two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final with Fulham.

The 16-goal forward, second behind only Erling Haaland in the Premier League goalscoring stakes with 12 in the top flight this season, will link up with Egypt as they head to the Ivory Coast next week and will potentially be away for over a month.

Klopp has had to deal with it in the past and remains confident his side will do so again as they seek to …