The Markus Liebherr Memorial Cup was an invitational football friendly tournament held at St Mary's, Southampton. The competition was named after former Southampton Chairman Markus Liebherr. Described as a "unique triangular cup competition", each club played one another and points determined the winners of the tournament, which was held in 2011 and 2012, and won by Athletic Bilbao and Arsenal.^[1]

Quick Facts Founded, Region ...

Markus Liebherr Memorial Cup

Founded	2011
Region	Europe
Number of teams	3
Current champions	Arsenal (1st title)
Most successful club(s)	Athletic Bilbao Arsenal (1 title each)

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Source:^{[2][1][3][4][5]}

The inaugural edition of the Markus Liebherr Memorial Cup was held on 23 July 2011 as a triangular round-robin system. Various European teams were invited to compete in a tournament, with the other participants besides the hosts Southampton being the Spanish club Athletic Bilbao and German club Werder Bremen. The hosts won the first match of the tournament, beating Bremen 3–0 with goals from David Connolly, Guly do Prado and Adam Lallana.^[6] Bilbao also beat Bremen, with a 2–1 scoreline, thanks to goals from Igor Gabilondo and Gaizka Toquero. In the decisive match between Southampton and Bilbao, it was the Spanish side who won 2–0, with Igor Martínez and Markel Susaeta sealing the title to Bilbao.^[1][6]

More information Southampton, 3–0 (45-minute match) ...

Southampton	3–0 (45-minute match)	Werder Bremen
Connolly 10' do Prado 30' Lallana 40'	Report

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More information Werder Bremen, 1–2 (45-minute match) ...

Werder Bremen	1–2 (45-minute match)	Athletic Bilbao
Bargfrede 35'	Report	Gabilondo 22' Toquero 37'

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More information Southampton, 0–2 (45-minute match) ...

Southampton	0–2 (45-minute match)	Athletic Bilbao
	Report	Martínez 36' Susaeta 45'

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• Each match lasted 45 minutes each. Drawn matches were resolved by extra-time and then penalities.

Final Standings

More information Team, Pld ...

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Athletic Bilbao	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	4
Southampton	2	1	0	1	3	2	1	2
Werder Bremen	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	0

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Source:^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}

Scottish club Rangers were initially scheduled to take part, but were later replaced by Anderlecht due to the financial troubles that Rangers were facing.^[14] The tournament was held on 14 July as a triangular round-robin system in 45-minute matches, and in the first match of the tournament, Southampton lost to Anderlecht 1–0, with the only goal coming early in the first half from Tom De Sutter.^[15] Arsenal then won their first game against Anderlecht by the same scoreline, with a goal from young midfielder Henri Lansbury deciding the match.^[15] In the decisive match between Southampton and Arsenal, the Saints new signing Jay Rodriguez netted on his debut for the club in the 31st minute, although the lead proved short-lived when Gervinho equalized a few minutes later, causing the game to end in a tie, and despite Arsenal losing 5–4 on penalties, it was them who won the second Memorial Cup and joined Athletic Bilbao on the honours list.^[9][15]

More information Southampton, 0–1 (45-minute match) ...

Southampton	0–1 (45-minute match)	Anderlecht
	Report	De Sutter 15'

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More information Arsenal, 1 – 0 (45-minute match) ...

Arsenal	1 – 0 (45-minute match)	Anderlecht
Lansbury 34'	Report

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More information Southampton, 1–1 (45-minute match) ...

Southampton	1–1 (45-minute match)	Arsenal
Rodriguez 31'	Report	Gervinho 35'
Penalties
Fox Rodriguez Seaborne Chaplow Hammond	5–4	Santos Coquelin Olsson Eastmond Ebecilio

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• Each match lasted 45 minutes each. Drawn matches were resolved by extra-time and then penalities.

Final Standings

More information Team, Pld ...

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Arsenal	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	4
Anderlecht	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	2
Southampton	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1

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