Story highlights
David Beckham plays 86 minutes on full debut for Paris Saint-Germain
Atletico Madrid into Copa del Rey final
Bayern Munich defeats Borussia Dortmund for first time in three years
UEFA dismisses Schalke protest over Drogba eligibility
He walked down the red carpet and left to a standing ovation – it seems David Beckham continues to write his own script.
After his cameo performance for Paris Saint-Germain last Sunday, Beckham played 86 minutes of his side’s 2-0 win over Marseille in the French Cup Wednesday.
The 37-year-old, who signed a five month deal with the club in January, showed he still has the fitness to compete at the top level with an impressive performance.
Beckham plays classic cameo role
Not even a yellow card for the former England captain could tarnish the evening as Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s double sent PSG through to the last eight.
After entering the stadium via an Oscar like red carpet parade, Beckham started in midfield against the team he faced in the league just days ago.
On that occasion, he managed just 14 minutes, but manager Carlo Ancelotti gave the player every opportunity to impress.
And while he displayed his characteristic style of passing, it was a through ball from Clement Chantome which released Ibrahimovic to fire home a 35th minute opener.
The Swede grabbed his second 19 minutes into the second half, slotting home from the penalty spot to wrap up a comfortable victory.
Read: Is Ibrahimovic a hero or villain?
In Spain’s Copa del Rey, Atletico Madrid booked its place in the final against city rival Real Madrid thanks to a 2-2 draw at Sevilla.
Atletico, which is second in the league under manager Diego Simeone, arrived protecting a 2-1 lead from the first leg.
And it quickly got into its stride with just six minutes gone when Diego Costa’s fierce effort flew into the corner from 20-yards.
Sevilla was facing an uphill task and that was increased further when Radamel Falcao swept home from close range with 29 minutes on the clock.
But the home side refused to buckle and Jesus Navas produced a wonderful curling effort to reduce the deficit before the interval.
Costa should have ended the contest on 54 minutes but somehow slid his effort wide of the far post when he looked certain to score.
Sevilla had chances of its own with Alvaro Negredo also going close, before Ivan Rakitic’s late strike made it 2-2 on the night, but it was not enough as the visitor progressed 4-3 on aggregate.
In the German Cup, Bayern Munich continued its impressive run of form to make the last four after it overcame Borussia Dortmund 1-0 thanks to an Arjen Robben strike.
Robben’s goal sealed Bayern’s first triumph over Dortmund in three years following a run of six games without a win going back to February 2010.
Read: For Italy’s ‘ultras,’ nothing black and white about football and racism
Meanwhile, UEFA has dismissed Schalke’s protest over the eligibility of Galatasaray striker Didier Drogba to play in the Champions League.
“Having examined all the documents of the case, the Control and Disciplinary Body decided to reject the protest lodged by Schalke,” said a UEFA statement.
The German side had claimed that the former Chelsea striker had not been registered in time to qualify for the knockout phase of the competition.
Drogba, 34, made his European debut for the Turkish club during the last 16 first leg tie on February 20 which finished 1-1.
Had Galatasaray been found guilty of fielding an ineligible player, it would have been handed a 3-0 deficit going into the second leg in Gelsenkirchen on March 12.
Elsewhere, Lazio was fined $52,500 and ordered to play their next two home games in Europe behind closed doors.
The punishment comes after its fans were accused of throwing fireworks and displaying racist behavior in the Europa League contest against Borussia Moenchengladbach on February 21.
That means the Italian club will play Stuttgart on March 14 behind closed doors as well as its next home tie.
Arsenal has announced that it will unveil a statue of Dennis Bergkamp in honor of the former striker’s contribution to the club.
Bergkamp, who scored 120 goals in 423 appearances for the club following his move from Inter Milan in 1995, said: “Everyone knows that I love Arsenal and that I had a fantastic time at the club.
“I am honored that this is going to happen.”
