A look at what’s happening in European football on Tuesday:
ENGLAND
Southampton and Newcastle meet in the first leg of the League Cup semifinals, with both teams looking to stay on course to end long trophy droughts. While Southampton’s one and only piece of major silverware is the FA Cup in 1976, Newcastle has to go back even longer for a big domestic trophy. That was the FA Cup in 1955. Not even 18 months into its new Saudi-owned era, Newcastle has rapidly become a force in English soccer under manager Eddie Howe. The northeast team is third in the Premier League, too. Southampton surprisingly reached the semifinals by ousting Manchester City and and was on a three-match winning run until losing to Aston Villa in the league on Saturday. The first leg is at Southampton’s St. Mary’s stadium and the return match is next week. Nottingham Forest and Manchester United are the other teams in the semifinals. Also Tuesday, there’s a third-round replay in the FA Cup between third-tier Accrington Stanley and fifth-tier Boreham Wood. The winner will play Leeds next.
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ITALY
Defending champion AC Milan visits Lazio in Serie A looking to end a four-game winless stretch across all competitions. The Rossoneri’s poor run started when they squandered a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw with Roma. Then they were eliminated from the Italian Cup by 10-man Torino before drawing 2-2 at Lecce. Perhaps the most painful defeat came last week when Milan was beaten 3-0 by city rival Inter Milan in the Italian Super Cup. Lazio has won two straight between the league and Italian Cup.
GERMANY
Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich had to work hard for a point in a 1-1 draw with Leipzig on Friday in its first game of 2023. Hosting Cologne should be an easier task, though Cologne is coming off a spectacular 7-1 demolition of Werder Bremen on Saturday. Leipzig coach Marco Rose has said he’s hoping to give forward Timo Werner, newly back from an ankle ligament injury, more game time in a visit to last-place Schalke after Werner came off the bench against Bayern. Wolfsburg is riding high after beating Champions League-chasing Freiburg 6-0 on Saturday and now visits relegation-threatened Hertha Berlin. Hoffenheim hosts Stuttgart.
