Winner: Lamine Yamal
Targeted by criticism from the Madrid press in Spain, who have insisted the 18-year-old winger doesn’t deliver in big games, Lamine Yamal gave the perfect response this weekend.
Scoring a hat-trick against Villarreal, who were third in LaLiga at the time, the Catalan number 10 became the youngest player ever to score a hat-trick for Barcelona, surpassing Giovani Dos Santos and even... Lionel Messi. His second goal was a real masterpiece, worth watching again and again.
Loser: Rafa Mir
In what had been an entertaining match between Elche and Espanyol, football took a back seat in the 76th minute when Omar El Hilali reported to the referee that Rafa Mir had made racist remarks towards him.
The referee’s report was clear: "Omar El Hilali told me that Rafa Mir said to him: 'You came here on a 'patera'".
A 'patera' is a makeshift boat used by migrants to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa to southern Spain.
The 22-year-old Moroccan full-back, born near Barcelona and also holding Spanish nationality, is yet another victim of racism in football.
Winner: Romelu Lukaku
Napoli struggled to overcome Hellas Verona, who are at the bottom of Serie A, but the reigning champions were able to rely on a returning hero, Lukaku.
The Belgian striker secured victory for Napoli in the dying seconds on Saturday, scoring the winner for a 2-1 victory in the 96th minute. After a long time out with a hamstring injury, this was only his fourth league appearance of the season, but he finally found the net for the first time since May 2025.
Loser: Reims
Reims are in the hunt for direct promotion to Ligue 1, sitting third and just three points off second place, which guarantees automatic promotion.
But over the last four matches, the team from the Champagne region has stalled. The stat is as surprising as it is telling: they’ve played out four consecutive 0-0 draws!
Bastia, Grenoble, Amiens and Montpellier: February has been a month of goalless stalemates, especially as the first three are fighting relegation and Montpellier are six points off fifth, the last playoff spot.
On the bright side, it’s also their seventh straight clean sheet in all competitions (six in Ligue 2, one in the French Cup).
Winner: Marseille
After a period of internal turmoil, with Medhi Benatia not resigning after being promoted by Frank McCourt, Pablo Longoria leaving, and a new president being appointed, plus a coaching change with Habib Beye arriving and a team-building camp in Marbella, Marseille finally delivered a statement win.
Coming from behind to beat Lyon under Joao Fonseca 3-2, who had ended their own 13-match winning streak against Strasbourg the previous weekend, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his teammates have reignited their Ligue 1 campaign and are back in the race for the Champions League.
Loser: FC Copenhagen
There has been a major shock in Denmark. After losing 2-1 to Randers this weekend, FC Copenhagen, who have won the league three times in the last four seasons, finished in the bottom half of the Superliga table at the end of the regular season.
At this stage, the league splits into two, and the defending champions will now have to finish their season in the relegation group.
Winner: Sam Kerr
In the opening match of the Women’s Asian Cup, Australia claimed a 1-0 win over the Philippines thanks to a goal from Kerr.
The Matildas’ star and captain hadn’t scored for her national team in 851 days, her last goal coming in an Olympic qualifier against Chinese Taipei in November 2023, with a long ACL injury keeping her out. The story is even sweeter as she netted her 70th goal for Australia in her hometown of Perth.
Loser: FCSB
A similarly cruel scenario played out in Romania for FCSB, who are now certain to finish the regular season outside the top six and will not be able to defend their title.
Despite a 4-2 win in Arad this weekend, the two-time defending champions will only play in the playouts, due to Arges’ 1-0 win at Dinamo. For the first time in 23 years, the club are not certain to make continental competition next season, but they can still qualify for the Conference League.
It’s been a tough season for FCSB, who have been knocked out of the Cupa Romaniei, the Europa League, and are no longer recognised as the 1986 European Cup winners by UEFA.