LAST UPDATE | 7 Jan
IRELAND UNDERAGE INTERNATIONAL Aaron Ochoa Moloney made his first start for Málaga as they fell to a 1-0 Copa del Rey defeat to Real Sociedad tonight.
The 16-year-old attacking midfielder, who became the youngest first-team player in the Spanish club’s history last month, played 65 minutes at Estadio La Rosaleda.
A 49th-minute own goal from Einar Galilea ultimately saw Málaga, who play in the third tier of Spanish football, bow out at the hands of La Liga outfit Real Sociedad.
Ochoa Moloney was born in Spain, but qualifies for Ireland through his Cork-born mother. He was first capped at U16 level by Paul Osam in February, featuring in a 2-2 draw with Switzerland before making his competitive debut in the U17 Euro qualifier win over Armenia in Cork in October. He played 68 minutes as Colin O’Brien’s side triumphed 4-0.
Partido inolvidable para Aarón Ochoa que estrena titularidad con el primer equipo ☺️#MálagaRealSociedad pic.twitter.com/giWqtvPWKB
— Málaga CF (@MalagaCF) January 7, 2024
Meanwhile, Barcelona reached the last 16 but were given a scare by fourth-tier Barbastro in an entertaining 3-2 win.
The record 31-time winners took a two-goal lead through Fermin Lopez and Raphinha, before Adria de Mesa pulled one back for the hard-working hosts.
Substitute Robert Lewandowski netted from the spot for the Spanish champions but Marc Prat smashed in a late penalty for the hosts, who refused to give up.
Barca join Real Madrid and Atletico in the next round, after the capital clubs progressed on Saturday.
Villarreal’s tie at Unionistas de Salamanca was abandoned at the start of extra-time because of lighting issues which left the stadium in the dark.
The third-tier side had pegged their La Liga visitors back in the final stages to level the score at 1-1 after 90 minutes in the round of 32 clash, in front of nearly 6,000 fans.
The Spanish football federation said in a statement the match was postponed “because of a problem that occurred regarding the lighting of the Reina Sofia stadium”.
Sevilla needed a late Juanlu Sanchez strike to see off second division Racing Ferrol 2-1 and reach the last 16, along with Athletic Bilbao, Osasuna, Mallorca, Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo, who also beat lower league opponents.
Valencia triumphed in extra-time against second division side Cartagena, who played the second half with 10 men after Ivan Calero was dismissed before the break.
Jose Gaya grabbed the winner in the 106th minute to send Ruben Baraja’s team through.
The last 16 draw takes place Monday.
In the French Cup, Kylian Mbappe helped record 14-time champions Paris Saint-Germain avoid an embarrassing slip-up with a 9-0 rout at sixth-tier amateurs Revel.
Revel’s young supporters had implored Mbappe to make the trip to the game played at Castres – Revel’s humble stadium only has capacity for 2,000 fans in the Haute-Garonne south-western region – in a video posted on social media.
And they got their wish with the 25-year-old star included in manager Luis Enrique’s strong travelling party to the leaders of Regional 1, five rungs below the capital giants in the French league ladder.
Mbappe evidently enjoyed his night out in the town near Toulouse, scoring a hat-trick.
Revel defender Maxence N’Guesson did get on the scoresheet but sadly for an own goal as the first half drew to a close.
PSG are hungry to add to their cup tally after missing out on the title in the past two seasons.
Monaco also lived to fight another day but only after a 6-5 penalty shoot out win over Ligue 1 rivals Lens after the teams were locked at 2-2.
In Italy, Dusan Vlahovic made sure that Juventus stayed two points behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan with the decisive late goal in Sunday’s 2-1 win at 10-man Salernitana, as Napoli crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Torino.
Serbia striker Vlahovic thumped home a perfect header in the first minute of stoppage time to snatch the points for Juve at the Stadio Arechi.
Furious Napoli supporters launched flares onto the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino during the latest embarrassing loss which left them languishing in ninth place and came via goals from Antonio Sanabria, Nikola Vlasic and Alessandro Buongiorno.
Last season’s historic Scudetto has now been forgotten as Napoli sink further into the abyss with each passing week, their third defeat in four matches in all competitions fully deserved after a shambolic display in Turin.
Without Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, Walter Mazzarri’s side failed to score for the fourth straight match and are completely unrecognisable from the team which charged to title glory last term.
“We have to apologise to the fans for the performance… we’re trying to find ways to stimulate the team and get back to some sort of normality,” said Napoli’s sporting director Mauro Meluso.
Meluso spoke to DAZN after a series of post-match summits with Mazzarri and the team, and insisted that the coach — who was suspended for Sunday’s match — would not be sacked.
“I, the club and the team have total faith in the coach, so we’re not having thoughts in that direction,” he added.
Mazzarri was brought in to clean up the mess left by predecessor Rudi Garcia but Napoli are now a full 20 points behind league leaders Inter Milan and closer to the relegation zone than the top of the table.
A sumptuous early strike from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Olivier Giroud’s 31st-minute penalty set third-placed AC Milan on the way to a 3-0 win at Empoli, which was sealed by Chaka Traore with two minutes remaining.
And Lazio warmed up for their midweek derby with Roma in the Italian Cup quarter-finals by winning 2-1 at Udinese and moving up to sixth.
This piece was updated throughout the evening with European football results.
