Raphinha the Clasico king, more gloom for Man Utd but finally something to smile about for Endrick: Winners and losers from the weekend's football

'The magic of the FA Cup' might not be as forthcoming nowadays as it was in years gone by, and the third round this time around wasn't exactly packed with shock results either. However, when the biggest giant-killing in the competition's illustrious history takes place, it's hard not to feel some kind of emotion towards the oldest cup competition in the sport.

Macclesfield and Crystal Palace are separated by 117 places in the English football pyramid, and while some suspected that the holders might not have things all their own way against the National League North outfit, few believed that Oliver Glasner's side would actually be at risk of elimination in their first game in the competition since lifting the trophy at Wembley last May. That belief was strengthened when the likes of Marc Guehi, Adam Wharton and Yeremy Pino were named in a relatively strong Palace XI. 

However, they were deservedly beaten 2-1 at Moss Rose, with Pino's last-minute free-kick merely a consolation ahead of wild celebrations for the part-time outfit and their fans, who deserved this day more than anyone else after being put through hell while Macclesfield Town were wound up in 2020.

Their phoenix club have worked their way through the leagues ever since, but this was their greatest day by far. Macclesfield manager John Rooney, brother of Wayne, who himself fought back tears during his post-match analysis for BBC Sport, described the result as "incredible", and that is putting it lightly. The magic of the FA Cup is alive and well in Cheshire.

Of course, it wasn't a magical FA Cup weekend for everyone. The competition offered Manchester United their last chance of ending the season with some silverware, but just as they did in the Carabao Cup earlier in the campaign, the Red Devils fell at the first hurdle, losing 2-1 at home to Brighton on Sunday.

That result, coupled with the embarrassing penalty shootout loss to Grimsby Town back in August, means United have failed to win a domestic cup match for the first time since the 1981-82 season, and with no European football to occupy them either, the 40 matches they will play during the current campaign is the fewest they have managed since before the First World War.

It was expected to be a somewhat buoyant atmosphere at Old Trafford as former fan favourite Darren Fletcher took charge of his first home game since stepping in as interim manager following the sacking of Ruben Amorim. However, after a bright start, the Red Devils soon fell behind to a Brajan Gruda strike, and by the time Danny Welbeck found the net against his former club for the eighth time in his career, the mood inside the Theatre of Dreams had turned to apathy.

The afternoon ended with new teenage hopeful Shea Lacey getting himself sent off as Fletcher's short reign likely ended amid a downpour and celebrations from the away fans who travelled from the south coast. United do still need to finish the season strong as they aim to qualify themselves for the Champions League, but any hope of them lifting a trophy to lighten the mood at Old Trafford has now evaporated.

While there was La Liga action this weekend, most of the attention among Spanish football fans was on Jeddah and the final of the Supercopa de Espana between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barca had eased into the showpiece after thrashing Athletic Club in midweek while Real were run much closer by city rivals Atletico Madrid, but those semi-finals proved to be merely appetisers for a main event that absolutely lived up to the pre-match hype.

Barcelona ran out 3-2 winners on Sunday in a game that featured three goals in first-half stoppage time and a late red card for Frenkie de Jong. The star of the show was undoubtedly Raphinha, who is back showing the kind of form that saw him challenge for the Ballon d'Or last season.

His two goals against Los Blancos mean he has now netted eight times while providing a further three assists in his eight starts since recovering from a hamstring injury in November. The Brazil international also improved his superb recent record against Madrid, with Raphinha having now scored seven times in his five Clasico appearances since the start of last season, including back-to-back braces in the Supercopa final.

The former Leeds United ace was at risk of becoming a forgotten man at Camp Nou as Marcus Rashford impressed while he was on the sidelines injured, but Raphinha's relentless form since returning to action suggests he could yet find himself in the conversation for the Golden Ball again come the end of the campaign.

While Madrid were falling to defeat in Saudi Arabia, one of their own was still celebrating as Endrick marked his Lyon debut with his first goal since joining the French side on loan at the start of the January window.

The teenage forward had fallen down the pecking order at the Bernabeu following the arrival of Xabi Alonso, and earned just 99 minutes of action during the first half of the season, the majority of which came in the Copa del Rey against lower-league opposition. The chance to move to Ligue 1 and play regularly wasn't an opportunity Endrick could turn down, then, and he has certainly made a strong start.

Named in the starting XI for Sunday's Coupe de France clash with Lille, Endrick almost scored a stunner inside the opening five minutes, only to see his effort crash back off the post. However, by the time the half-time whistle was blown he had opened his account for his new club with a close-range finish that proved to be the winner in their 2-1 victory.

"After a week with us, it wasn't easy, but I think it was very positive. He scored, which is important," Lyon boss Paulo Fonseca said of his new recruit to beIN Sports post-match. "I think that with time, he will improve physically, he will better understand the team's intentions. But it's very, very positive for a player who wasn't playing much."

The Bundesliga was the last of Europe's 'Big Five' leagues to return to action following their winter break, and hopes were high for Bayer Leverkusen. Following their disastrous start to the season that led to Erik ten Hag being sacked after just three games in charge, Kasper Hjulmand had settled things down at the BayArena.

The 2024 champions had lost just three league matches under the former Denmark coach while also picking up a victory over Manchester City in the Champions League and a win over Borussia Dortmund to progress in the DFB-Pokal. They rounded out 2025 by beating RB Leipzig to leapfrog them into third in the table, and while a title tilt was not on the cards due to Bayern Munich's supremacy, there was a belief that Leverkusen could prove themselves the best of the rest in Germany through the second half of the campaign.

Their year could not, then, have got off to a worse start. Hosting a Stuttgart team whom they were on a 15-match unbeaten run against, Leverkusen found themselves 4-0 down at half-time on Saturday as Sebastien Hoeness' side ran riot. Alex Grimaldo did pull a goal back from the penalty spot in the second half, but it proved merely to be a consolation as Leverkusen dropped to fourth in the table.

"We were miles away from a good performance," admitted England defender Jarell Quansah. "Especially in front of our fans here in our own stadium, you can't put in a performance like that. We have to apologise for that."

There were no such concerns for leaders Bayern as they showed few signs of rust in demolishing Wolfsburg 8-1 on Sunday. The league leaders were pegged back to 1-1 early on and only led by a solitary goal at half-time. However, they ran riot in the second half as Michael Olise finished the game with two goals and two assists, while Luis Diaz netted once and laid on three more for team-mates.

Despite the goal glut, Harry Kane only found the net once, though it was a special strike from the edge of the box that crashed in off the woodwork, taking his tally for the season to 31 goals in 26 games for the German champions.

"There are moments when the score is 5-1, 6-1, 7-1, and yet the boys keep running, keep pressing, and keep trying to score even more goals. I really like that," manager Vincent Kompany said at full-time. "I also like this mix, where the young players can come in and show what they can do, but we still don’t lose that Bayern character. When it’s a performance like this, there are of course several things you can be happy with, but we always have to be looking for ways to improve."

If Bayern can still improve, then that is a scary thought for the rest of the Bundesliga - and Europe.

Over in Italy, Serie A leaders Inter hosted defending champions Napoli at San Siro. The Nerazzurri kicked-off four points ahead of their third-placed visitors and knew a win could all-but knock Antonio Conte's side out of the Scudetto race. However, despite twice taking the lead, Inter had to settle for a 2-2 draw thanks to yet more crucial goals from Scott McTominay.

After a relatively quiet start to the season, last year's Serie A MVP has begun to dominate games once more despite being forced to play in a deeper midfield role after injuries and poor results forced Conte into switching to a 3-4-3 formation in Naples. McTominay has thrived amid his new responsibilities, and made it three goals in a week with his brace of equalisers after initially being at fault for Federico Dimarco's opening goal.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera labelled McTominay a 'robot' for the way he was able to reprogram himself following his early error and become the match's most influential player, and if he can maintain his current form, then yet another title could be on its way to Stadio Diego Maradona come May.

With their two main title rivals playing one another, AC Milan had the opportunity to steal a march on Inter and Napoli as they travelled to Florence to take on relegation-threatened Fiorentina. La Viola have shown signs of life in recent weeks after failing to win any of their first 16 matches of the Serie A season, but Milan would still have strongly fancied their chances of taking all three points.

Instead, they were on the backfoot throughout at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, and were indebted to a 90th-minute equaliser from Christopher Nkunku - a player they are reportedly trying to sell in January - to rescue a 1-1 draw on Sunday.

“In football you can’t have 100 chances, so you need to be a lot more precise in your finishing," bemoaned manager Massimiliano Allegri, who has watched his side fail to beat two teams in the league's bottom four in back-to-back games after Milan also drew with struggling Genoa on Thursday, leaving them three points adrift of Inter at the halfway point of the campaign.

And finally to Turkey, where the Super Cup was also taking place between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce. Gala are currently three points clear of their city rivals in the Super Lig table, but shorn of star striker Victor Osimhen due to his ongoing participation in the Africa Cup of Nations, the defending champions felt vulnerable, and so it proved thanks to the performance of the latest big-money arrival into the league.

Matteo Guendouzi only completed his club-record €28 million (£24.3m/$32.7m) move from Lazio to Fenerbahce on Friday, but he was thrown straight into Domenico Tedesco's line-up just over 24 hours later and produced a match-winning performance that promises to go down in legend.

The former Arsenal youngster capped an all-action display by opening the scoring with a low drive from distance as Fener ran out 2-0 winners at the Ataturk Stadium, securing only their second major trophy since they won the league title in 2014.

"I am incredibly proud. We fought for each other today," Guendouzi said in reaction to the victory. "This is only the beginning; I came here to fill the trophy cabinet."