5 Things You Might Have Missed From Around Europe This Weekend

As David Mitchell once said (well, shouted), the football never ends. And this weekend, there was plenty of it to go around. 

The Premier League might have returned to full match-fitness after the 'winter break', and there was a pretty major shock on the cards at Vicarage Road that raised eyebrows right across the continent. There was no shortage of equally bizarre happenings elsewhere in Europe, however.

In case you missed them, here's your refresher course. 

Hoffenheim-Bayern's Bizarre Conclusion

There's plenty of actual football to break down in ​Bayern's rampant 6-0 victory at Hoffenheim, but we're going to skip right over goals from Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich, Joshua Zirkzee, Philippe Coutinho and Leon Goretzka (see ​here for all that) and skip right to the finish. 

With Bayern leading by just the six goals heading towards the final ten minutes, a group of ultras in the away end unveiled an offensive banner directed towards Hoffenheim owner Dietman Hopp. Both Hoffenheim and Bayern players took exception, with play being stopped as the visiting players pleaded with fans to take it down. 

The banner was not removed, and as a result the match came close to being abandoned after the referee removed the players from the pitch. The stoppage continued for 20 minutes until the decision was taken for the final 13 minutes to be observed uncontested, with both sets of players returning to the field and ​casually kicking the ball about between themselves for the remainder - with neither goalkeeper actually in goal

To be fair, Hoffenheim were probably quite happy for the break, given how their first hour went. 

Lazio Go Top of Serie A

Italian football has come to a near standstill as a result of coronavirus concerns, but with ​Juventus' clash with Inter postponed, unlikely challengers Lazio took full advantage.

Goals from Luis Alberto and Joaquin Correa gave them a routine 2-0 victory over Bologna, putting them two ahead of Juve and eight ahead of Inter - though the former have a game in hand while the latter have two. 

Still, it's some accomplishment for Simone Inzaghi's men, who now look best placed to challenge Juve's grip on the throne. They face the Turin giants at the end of April, provided Serie A is still operating by then. 

Atalanta Go Nuts Yet Again

Staying in Italy, Atalanta's trip to Lecce was one of four fixtures that wasn't actually called off – and one of two played out on Sunday. Goals were always coming with the league's top scorers taking on the worst defence, but this took the biscuit. 

La Dea have been electric this season, and scored seven goals in a Serie A game for the third time this season to take their overall tally to a casual 70 after 25 games. Duvan Zupata took his tally to 12 for the season with his hattrick in the 7-2 away victory that strengthened Atalanta's grip on a European spot.

Later in the day, Roma went 1-0 down at Cagliari...before roaring back to claim a 4-3 victory. 16 goals in one day – normal. 16 goals in one day when only two teams played? Blimey.

Kylian Mbappe Takes Bodies

Just the 27 goals in 31 appearances for Kylian Mbappé this season, after his double helped PSG sink Dijon on Saturday. The 21-year-old is going from strength to strength in Ligue 1, and there is no telling how good he's going to be in a few years time. 

Well, Julio Tavares and Mickael Alphonse might be able to tell you. In one phase of play in the first half, both players found themselves nutmegged within seconds of each other, as Mbappé pulled off a ridiculous Ronaldinho-esque bit of skill to end both of their careers with one fell swoop. 

His two goals to ultimately win his side the game weren't bad either. 

Rangers Crash Back Down to Earth

Exemplary in Europe but indifferent domestically is a pattern that might be familiar to Steven Gerrard, who watched his Rangers team take a page from Liverpool circa-2005's book to follow up a tremendous European win with a Scottish Cup disasterclass. 

The Ibrox side dispatched a formidable Braga side in Portugal to qualify for the Europa League last 16 on Wednesday, and with the SPFL Premiership title race fast running away from them, they took the momentum with them to Tynecastle as they looked to keep their only realistic hopes of silverware alive. 

They expected a win against a Hearts side languishing at the bottom of the table, but fell flat on their face as Oliver Bozanic's finish sent them crashing out at the quarter-final stage. 

'There's always next season' is a mantra the ​Liverpool legend will be sick of repeating at this stage. 

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