Marco van Ginkel became the 20th different Chelsea loanee to score a goal this season as he netted against Roma on Saturday night. We begin this late-season Loan Report with him before switching attention to another Serie A goalscorer.
Headliners
Van Ginkel has emerged as a regular name on Filippo Inzaghi’s team sheet over the last two to three months and, despite Milan’s season being all sorts of disappointing, his form has largely held up quite well. He made a big impact against Roma this weekend, scoring for the first time to help the Rossoneri to a 2-1 win.
Mohamed Salah and Fiorentina were crushed 3-0 at Sevilla in Thursday’s Europa League Semi Final first leg and, with this coming week seeing the return clash in Florence, he was partially rested for the weekend league trip to Empoli. He came off the bench at half time and took less than a quarter of an hour to make an impact, twisting and turning to score for the 8th time this season.
England
With Victor Moses and Christian Atsu not in action as usual, it was a quiet one in England. Patrick Bamford played all bar a few minutes of Middlesbrough’s 2-1 first leg playoff win at Brentford, looking slightly affected by an ankle knock but nonetheless putting in a shift. Kenneth Omeruo was a substitute, as was John Swift for Swindon in their League One playoff semi final first leg at Sheffield United. He got 22 minutes in another 2-1 victory.
Netherlands
It was also a quiet affair in the Netherlands with Vitesse’s fixture against Feyenoord postponed due to a police strike. It will now take place on Monday night.
Spain
Mario Pašalić played well for Elche in a 1-0 defeat to Villarreal, notably completing all 33 first-half passes in another typically energetic midfield display. The Croatian youngster has played a key role in recent weeks in helping to ensure Elche’s La Liga survival and will look forward to enjoying the final rounds of the season.
Gael Kakuta and Rayo Vallecano host Getafe on Monday night; you can keep track of how fares on Twitter by following @chelseayouth.
Germany
Oriol Romeu played stoppage time minutes as Stuttgart beat Mainz 2-0 to haul themselves to within a point of Bundesliga safety.
Lucas Piazon was an unused substitute for Eintracht Frankfurt at home to Hoffenheim.
Italy
Stipe Perica was an unused substitute for Udinese.
Belgium
With Marko Marin’s injury seemingly a season-ending one, he will only feature in this report going forward if he makes an unlikely return to fitness.
Portugal
Uli Dávila played a little more than half an hour as Vitória Setúbal lost 3-1 away to Moreirense. Joao Rodriguez was not selected.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Another clean sheet from Matej Delač ensured FK Sarajevo beat HŠK Zrinjski 1-0 to remain top of the league by a point.