| Markus Liebherr Memorial Cup | |
| Founded: | 2011 |
| Region: | Europe |
| Number Of Teams: | 3 |
| Current Champions: | Arsenal (1st title) |
| Most Successful Club: |  Athletic BilbaoArsenal (1 title each) |
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]
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]
| Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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]
| Team | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |