INTER MILAN MISSED the chance to take charge of the Serie A title race after being held to a 2-2 home draw by Bologna.
A win would have moved reigning champions Inter one point behind league leaders Napoli with a game in hand, and they looked to be doing so when Lautaro Martinez fired the hosts ahead on the stroke of half-time from Federico Dimarco’s perfect low cross
But Emil Holm’s wildly deflected finish in the 64th minute gave Bologna — who also took a 15th-minute lead through Santiago Castro but were quickly pegged back by Denzel Dumfries — a fully deserved draw at the San Siro and left Inter three points behind Napoli.
In Germany, Leroy Sane scored a goal in each half as Bayern Munich thumped Hoffenheim 5-0 at home to restore their four-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga table.
Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-0 home win over Mainz on Tuesday had drawn Xabi Alonso’s defending champions within one point, but Bayern had no mercy against a listless Hoffenheim.
Former Manchester City winger Sane, who is looking to impress with his contract expiring in the summer, put the hosts in front six minutes in after a clever exchange of passes with veteran Thomas Mueller.
Harry Kane created Raphael Guerreiro’s 12th-minute goal, threading a pass to the Portuguese who beat Hoffenheim and Germany goalie Oliver Baumann.
Kane added a goal of his own midway through the opening half, converting from the spot after a handball in the box.
The England captain has now converted 27 straight penalties for club and country dating back to his miss against France in the World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar in 2022.
Sane got his second three minutes after half-time, tapping in a Mathys Tel cross from close range amid more poor Hoffenheim defence.
Serge Gnabry got on the scoresheet after 66 minutes to bring up Bayern’s fifth, his first league goal since September.
Elsewhere, Lamine Yamal starred as Barcelona sailed into the Copa del Rey quarter-finals with a dazzling 5-1 victory over Real Betis.
Atletico Madrid joined them in the last eight with a 4-0 win at second division Elche.
Barca’s 17-year-old starlet Yamal scored and helped create two more goals as Hansi Flick’s side ran riot at the Olympic Stadium.
Gavi sent Barcelona ahead early on, with Jules Kounde, Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Yamal helping the Catalans rack up an impressive win.
After winning the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia last weekend by thrashing Real Madrid, Barca came into the cup clash with restored confidence, having stuttered in the final weeks of 2024.
In France, two late goals from Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos spared the blushes of defending champion Paris Saint-Germain who booked their place in the last 16 of the French Cup with a nerve-jangling 4-2 win at fifth-tier Espaly.
There was no such reprieve for Lyon, however, who were sent crashing out when they were beaten 4-2 on penalties by another fifth-tier team Bourgoin-Jallieu.
Brilliant news.
@Carmine Lorenzo: Agree
Go figure. Would have thought he’d be under immense pressure considering what we have at our disposal and the results in the big games. Not overly confident by what we’ve seen this season either.
@Conor: I love Cullen for what he’s done for us and a CC is incredibly hard to win, you do need some luck, but he’s won 1 in 9 years… when we’ve been top 5 favourites every year. 3 finals in a row is impressive but surely wait until the end of the season or at least until April to offer him a new contract
@Conor: Define big games…if you mean results against top opposition I’d would say their win percentage is in the 90% bracket which is unbelievable considering most of their players are home grown talent supplemented by some excellent recruitment on their part. However if you mean their results in recent finals I think it’s desperately unfair to judge him on some super performances against some equally super teams where they lost out on the narrowest of margins. He is a top head coach and Leinster are blessed to have him.
@Andrew Slazenger: amazed that many Leinster fans appear so pleased at this. I’d be pulling my hair out
@Michael Corkery: Could be much worse. Could be in the same coaching doldrums as Munster have been in since Declan Kidney finished up.
@James: think the current coaching staff in Munster have delivered by and large. Poor start to the seasons but we come good at business end – opposite to Leinster in that sense
@Michael Corkery: Last 16 in the Champions Cup in 3 out of the last 4 years is not coming good at the business end of the season. Or maybe the auld Junior B is the height of Munsters ambitions. 1 championship in 14 years is still a poor return.
@James: nothing current coaching staff can do about 12 years before they joined. 2 seasons since they’ve been in place., 1 URC trophy and very close last season to 2/2. Play a great style too
@anthony davoren: To be fair… I would describe big games as SF or Final
@anthony davoren: let’s keep loosing finals so anthony,shall we get to 10 losses before he gets the boot !?
@Michael Corkery: I for one think he should be a memory by this stage Michael
@Michael Corkery: ye did well at the “business end” last season too it must be noted.
@Michael Corkery: They’ve come good at the business end of the URC. They haven’t gotten to the business end of the Champions Cup, which is the top competition. Leinster have been in three finals. The idea that Munster have outperformed Leinster at business end of the season overall is not credible.
@Conor Quinn: exactly
Great news! Always amazed how he can juggle the needs of 2 teams along with playing style and player development.
@Eoghan McKendry: he hasn’t juggled the needs of two teams etc. he’s won nothing in 3 years with if not the best squad in Europe then defo top 5!
Wow, the first thing I thought of is when the IRFU gave Eddie O’Sullivan a 4 year contract before the 2007 World Cup. I’m not comparing the situation directly but surely he needs to deliver a CC trophy this season or at the very least a URC. Another trophy less season would be a unique failure given the riches at his disposal
Should be at the end of the season, if anything. Would prefer if it wasn’t renewed, based on last three seasons.
@Con Cussed: If he wins this season then perhaps even 3 years. Just more is too early in the season.
@Con Cussed: remember Matt O’Connor…
@Mark O’Keeffe: Indeed…
@Mark O’Keeffe: precisely ,that was brutal. Leo creates a happy environment, which is a tough juggling act
Really strange logic from so many calling for Leo to finish up. Getting to knock-out rugby, particularly finals, is all about coaching. Winning Finals is all about players delivering on the day, particularly if they get a clear lead.
Leo’s players owe him one and hopefully RG and Barrett will remind their Squad colleagues who’s responsible for delivering trophies.
@Des Lamont: if we do win the CC this year with rg and bb, I will see it as a very hollow win
@Des Lamont: so coach gets credit for getting the team to ‘knock out rugby’ but it’s the player’s fault for not winning? Not sure I follow that logic. Leo’s player’s owe him one after 9 years of mostly underachievement? I like Leo but come on.
@Ciaran: players like frawley, jvdf, james Ryan all left out of the champions Cup team own Leo nothing as he’s made mistake after mistake and cost us league and champions Cup wins. If the man loved leinster as much as I’d imagine he does them he should realise he’s not up to the job and walk away.
Thought Leinster was a high performance environment? 3 years of no trophies given the resources Leinster have is abysmal. If reports are true that he has had final say on team selection then this is the guy that’s kept picking Ross Byrne over Frawley the last few years. Also not sure how much credit he deserves for ‘bringing through homegrown players’- surely it’s the school system that should get credit for this? Seems a nice man but no idea how he has earned this. Has gotten a very easy ride with the press also over the last few years. Surely wait until season end at least?
@Ciaran: we also lost the CC to saracens in 2019 Ciaran
Very strange decision. I love the man but after three years of winning nothing with basically the Irish international team this reeks of rewarding failure. He simply has to deliver silverware this year. If we win nothing this year he shouldn’t be offered another two years.
@Aidan Farrell: I think you’ll find it is Ireland that are blessed with most of the Leinster team. It is Leinster that have developed these players not the other way around. If it wasn’t for Leo we might not have seen such unbelievable progress in the development of these players. He has only come up short to equally top teams by the smallest of margins in the finals they have lost. Not too shabby
@Aidan Farrell: the IRFU don’t contract him to win things for Leinster. He’s contracted to produce players for the national team (he’s said as much himself and the article alludes to it).
@anthony davoren: like Gibson park? Leo had him as a 10 minute player behide mcgrath, he let beinre walk out of the club and needed Andy farrell to show the world that frawely is a 10 and osbourne can play 15. This clown dropped JVFD and james ryan for the champions cup final. He’s a failure.
Jobs for the boys
@Daire Cathal Greene: it’s who you know rather than what you know!
He is a cool customer, but even he must be feeling the pressure to deliver..
Genuinely find this odd, Dan McFarland overstayed his welcome and was sacked. If Leo Cullen doesn’t win anything this season he’ll have to be paid off
@Brian Kernahan: Dan had lost the dressing room… meanwhile Leo is held in the highest regard by the squad and his peers. He may have his online critics but thankfully they haven’t a clue about the running of a rugby squad and their opinion counts for nothing
@anthony davoren: resources are my issue, he has it all, money, players, ability to buy players in and in 3 years of the URC won absolutely nothing. That isn’t good enough, we sacked McFarland because we lost against the Ospreys. It’s not a criticism of the person it’s that Leinster should do better
@Brian Kernahan: if Ulster got 3 HCup finals and 3 URC semi finals in a row, I’d be delighted. As for Cullen, I was always intrested to see what would happen without Lancaster. Looks like hes been able to get the right people in to keep the machine ticking over, yes Leinster haven’t won anything in those 3 years but with the toughness now of the URC, it seams near impossible to battle so many big games at the one point in the season. With the way the HCup is positioned to suit the Top 14, only a Top 14 team can realistically do a double as it has a lot a rest weeks after the final, not back to back like URC.
@Kingshu: 100%. There are so many spoiled and entitled Leinster fans on here it’s incredible. No team has a divine right to win any trophy. The consistency is remarkable. And as you said it’s probably nigh on impossible to do a double now these days with the setup the way it is. Leinster lost an amazing head coach before and had to suffer under Matt O’Connor. Half of those calling for Cullen’s head have probably forgotten those days, or the days prior to Cheika.
@Carmine Lorenzo: it was Cheka who built Leinster and Schmidt there after, we remember the days before and since. Now, Leinster have a pedigree thanks to these coaches.
Leo has all the resources but can’t get the team over the line to win.
Remember, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got!
Time for a change…
@Brian Kernahan: If McFarland had Ulster in the CC final 5 times in 9 years. Had won a CC and 4 URC’s. Then maybe there would be a comparison. Given the squad Ulster had, they should have been performing better in Europe and the league. He completely failed to develop talent too. Izzy being a prime example. Leo has done all that, while consistently blooding and bringing through Irish internationals. There is absolutely no comparison with McFarland at any level.
There goes my theory of him leaving in the summer and Felix Jones and JN being co-head coaches!
All I have read so far is the headline, and all I can think is oh no!! Not because I would not like him to stay but because I cannot listen to 2 more years of bitchin and moanin about the man!!
@Paul Ennis:
@Brian O Kennedy: Agreed
Very strange decision especially so early in the season. Based on the last 9 years and the resources we’ve had, the coaches we’ve had as well as opportunities to effectively play at home in most if not all knock out games we could have 8 stars, should have 6 but still only have 4. In any other performance based role he would be heading for the door but instead will be around for a further 2 years
Strange call
Leo’s at the wheel. I’m delighted
Rewarding failure.
Brilliant news. Probably the most important person in the entire organisation.
Delighted for him and us.
Madness….should be gone after loosing the 3rd CC ,never mind last year’s cockups
Wait until the end of the season..
If in doubt, fail upwards
@5sZl1dX2: Describing Munster, are you?
@James: what’s upwards about Munster?
@5sZl1dX2: Good point. I suppose it’s the only way they can go at this stage.
Great news IMO. A smart, strategic decision. It provides clarity and stability and kills off the distracting white-noise of online chatter. To all you Leo “naysers” i say “be careful what you wish for”. Winning is not a god given right – even for us BiBs! It takes a lot of hard work and a few stars aligning at key moments. Looking at the current list of top 10 HCs, i don’t see any that scream ” i’m way ahead of LC”!. Leo is blue through and through. Let him get on with the job.