The Viaplay Cup last-16 round concluded with drama at Rugby Park as Kilmarnock knocked out holders Celtic 1-0.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the main talking points from the ties played over the weekend.
Shock defeat for Celtic
Kilmarnock defied the odds to beat holders Celtic 1-0 in the last 16 as Marley Watkins’ second-half goal set up a quarter-final clash with Hearts at Rugby Park. For Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers, it was his first domestic cup defeat in Scotland in 25 games and came as a shock to those who have watched them dominate Scottish football.
Hearts display their depth
Some Hearts fans were wary of how their team would cope in a relatively low-key fixture at home to Partick so soon after the euphoria of their thrilling Europa Conference League win over Rosenborg. The Jambos made six changes to the XI that started on Thursday but still made light work of their Championship visitors, with two of their summer signings – Odel Offiah and Kyosuke Tagawa – grabbing their first goals for the club and another in Alex Lowry making a big impact. The Jambos look spoilt for choice in most departments, but particularly in attack.
Hibs show they can handle Sunday service
Hibernian were heavily criticised for poor displays in their opening two cinch Premiership matches, both of which came on Sundays after Thursday night Europa Conference League qualifiers. Given they were facing Raith Rovers in the Viaplay Cup on the back of another gruelling European tie away to Luzern, many – including their own supporters – felt Lee Johnson’s inconsistent side might struggle to rouse themselves for the visit of the Championship side. They were made to work for a 2-1 win, but the fact Hibs secured their place in the last eight on the back of progressing in Europe will do wonders for confidence levels ahead of this week’s play-off showdown with Aston Villa and their former hero, John McGinn.
Not as easy for much-changed Rangers
With one eye on Tuesday night’s Champions League play-off game against PSV Eindhoven at Ibrox, Michael Beale made eight changes for the visit of Championship side Morton on Saturday. It was not an easy afternoon for the Light Blues, who fell behind to a 52nd-minute penalty from Grant Gillespie following a VAR check. However, Cyriel Dessers levelled from the spot on the hour, also following VAR intervention, before substitute Danilo ensured a place in the quarter-final draw when he beat Morton goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald.
Maybe VAR is not that bad after all
Several managers have expressed frustration with how video technology has been utilised in Scotland, but Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell was left counting the cost of its absence during his side’s 1-0 defeat by St Mirren. Kettlewell felt his side were denied a stonewall penalty for handball by former Well striker Mikael Mandron and claimed another former Fir Park player, Charles Dunne, should have been sent off by Willie Collum for a foul that left Mika Biereth with a knee injury. Kettlewell said: “I’m not throwing Willie under the bus, he’s one of our top officials, and rightfully so, but I asked the question about the penalty at half-time and he says ‘we have no VAR’. But I was on the understanding that if we didn’t have VAR, then the referee referees the game, like we were told it was only going to be an aid to help referees get more correct decisions.”
Barcelona must 'work hard' to achieve Champions League glory, says Flick
Hansi Flick tempered expectations of Barcelona's chances of silverware in his first season in charge ahead of facing Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.
Flick has led Barca to 13 wins from 15 games in all competitions, scoring 50 goals in those games while conceding just 14 times.
Some standout matches have seen Barca thrash Clasico rivals Real Madrid 4-0 while also brushing aside Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League in their last match in the competition.
While Flick understood the fans' excitement after those results, he urged his side to keep their feet on the ground with a long season still in front of them.
"We have to work hard. There are many teams who dream of the same thing, of winning (the Champions League)," Flick said.
"For the moment, we're going to focus on working hard and grinding out, so then we'll see what happens. We have to focus on our goal which is to keep improving.
"A team's form fluctuates a lot over a long season. The important thing is to focus on winning the next match. Sure, after the match against Bayern everything changed.
"But we are just starting. The important thing is how we finish the season. We could say that our goal is to be in the top eight."
Flick, however, insisted he was not surprised by his side's impressive start to the campaign despite enduring a trophyless season last term.
Barca are nine points clear at the top of LaLiga and 11th in the Champions League table ahead of facing Red Star, who are without a win from their three games so far.
"Before we came here we analysed the whole team, every player. We realised that there was very good quality overall," Flick said.
"Another thing to point out is that we wanted to improve how we defend and did small changes in the way we play. The players liked it and they are happy working on it.
"The players play a big role, they are helping us a lot.
"The start was already good on the pre-season in North American and the players are very happy, although there are still many things to improve."
And Barca will be confident of keeping their fine form going against a side that has lost 81% of their matches in the Champions League (P21 W2 D2 L17).
This is the first European meeting between the two sides since October 1996 in the Cup Winners’ Cup, a 1-1 draw with Giovanni cancelling out a Zoran Jovicic's opener for the Serbians.
PSV 4-0 Girona: Dutch side get first win of Champions League
PSV Eindhoven won their first match in the Champions League this season as they thrashed Girona 4-0 at the Philips Stadion on Tuesday.
Ryan Flamingo got the scoring under way after 16 minutes as he turned Malik Tillman's long throw home, despite replays showing that it should have been disallowed as Tillman's foot was over the byline before releasing the ball.
Tillman got himself on the scoresheet 17 minutes later with a fine finish after he arribed into the box unopposed.
Things went from bad to worth for Girona after half-time, with Arnau Martinez receiving a red card 10 minutes into the second half for a second bookable offence.
From then, it was all one-way traffic and PSV might feel aggrieved not to have won by a bigger margin given their glut of second-half chances.
Ismael Saibari was next to put the ball in the back of the net, although his effort was ruled out for a foul in the build-up following a VAR review.
Johan Bakayoko did get PSV's third with seven minutes to go, before a Ladislav Krejci own goal wrapped up the rout in the 88th minute. The result leaves Girona 26th in the table on three points, while PSV are 19th with five points.
Odegaard returns to full Arsenal training ahead of Inter tie
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has returned to full training after spending two months out of action with an ankle injury.
Odegaard has missed 12 matches for the Gunners in all competitions after damaging his ankle ligaments against Austria while on international duty with Norway in September.
The 25-year-old midfielder trained with Arsenal ahead of their trip to the San Siro to face Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta's side have, however, struggled in Odegaard's absence recently, failing to win any of their last three games in the Premier League.
In the seven games that Odegaard has missed in the top-flight, Arsenal's win percentage dropped from 66.7% to 42.9% after going unbeaten in their first three games.
The Gunners have also averaged 1.6 points per game without Odegaard, compared to 2.3 points won with the Norwegian in their ranks.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
