What a weekend! Europe’s top leagues again delivered a ton of things to talk about, with high drama in Spain, big results in England and controversy in Serie A.
To start, how about a Clasico that delivered on and off the field? Real Madrid took all three points with an impressive 2-1 win over Barcelona, though not every Madrid player was happy — Vinicius Jr. stormed off, visibly mad, following a second-half substitution — and the game ended in an on-pitch scuffle that saw several yellow and red cards dispensed after the final whistle.
In the Premier League, champions Liverpool endured a fourth straight defeat that not only put a big dent in their hopes of repeating, but laid bare what’s wrong with this team. Italy‘s duel of title contenders had a ton to unpack, too, as Napoli wrapped up a big win over Inter Milan even with a dubiously awarded penalty. (Napoli fans will be hoping Kevin de Bruyne isn’t seriously hurt, though, after the mercurial playmaker limped off before halftime.)
Elsewhere, there is much to discuss about Bayern Munich (who made it 13 wins from 13 games to open the season), Chelsea (who really miss Cole Palmer), Tottenham (who haven’t quite turned the corner despite beating Everton 3-0), Manchester United (who may well have turned the corner by beating Brentford), Paris Saint-Germain (who continue to manage minutes well) and much more.
It’s Monday morning, so what better time for Gab Marcotti’s musings? Let’s get into it.
A statement Clasico win for Real Madrid as Lamine Yamal vs. Vinícius offers spicy subtext
Sunday’s Clasico ended with police pitch-side averting a potential tag-team blockbuster: Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior on one side, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha on the other. It had shades of the nastier Jose Mourinho vs. Pep Guardiola Clasico clashes, even though Real manager Xabi Alonso (who was a loyal Mourinho foot soldier back in those days) was quick to minimize matters at the end, calling it a “healthy rivalry.”
We’ll get to the off-pitch stuff; first the football. Real Madrid’s first-half display in the 2-1 win over Barcelona may well have been the best we’ve seen since Alonso’s arrival. He put his faith in Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga, and they responded, big-time: They neutered Barca’s possession and maximized their own time with the ball. Thirty-six percent possession to generate an xG of 2.29 is an efficiency masterclass. The one slip-up was Fermín López‘s goal, entirely against the run of play following a rare mistake from Arda Güler.
– Reaction: Alonso, Real Madrid get statement Clasico win
– Vinicius tantrum distracts from victory: ‘It’s not about you‘
– Barca’s De Jong slams Carvajal for Yamal ‘scene’
Alonso got the work rate and intensity he wanted from his stars — even the maligned ones like Vini and Bellingham. If you want to nitpick, they slowed down more than they should have after the break, riding the performance of Éder Militão at the back, though if Kylian Mbappé had converted his second-half penalty, that wouldn’t really have been an issue, either. (And by the way, anyone who questions the decision to award it is clearly unfamiliar to how the handball rule has been enforced in Spain for the past couple of years.) But it’s still a Clasico, and breaking the streak of futility — after four consecutive defeats — was critical, not just for their confidence, but also for Alonso’s clout with the club.
How much of this result was down to Barcelona’s deficiencies? A lot.
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Moreno: Real Madrid played their best 45 minutes under Alonso
Ale Moreno discusses Real Madrid’s performance against Barcelona that give Xabi Alonso his first El Clasico win in LaLiga.
Against a Real Madrid side playing with this level of intensity and physicality, you needed creativity coming from someone other than Pedri (who did his part, all told, and his upcoming suspension after the red card will sting). With Yamal clearly unfit (but still playing, and at some point you hope this doesn’t come back to haunt him since he’s still 18), it became very difficult for Dani Olmo and Raphinha (and Gavi, who gets forgotten too often) to break Real Madrid’s lines. Lopez is fantastic, but he’s not that sort of player, and neither is Marcus Rashford.
The lack of options on the bench — ending the game with Ronald Araújo as a pretend center forward (yes, Robert Lewandowski is also still sidelined) is not what anyone wants to see — serves a partial alibi on the day, but not on the season. As I’ve noted many times, this side was not well-constructed, and if you end up with Eric García and Pau Cubarsí struggling to execute Hansi Flick’s high line, it’s partly because you’ve chosen to put your resources elsewhere, namely in eye candy players you don’t need.
As for the discipline part, there’s only so much Flick can say since he was watching from up in the stands, having lost his composure and getting sent off in their last outing. But really it starts from the top. Sending an 18-year-old Yamal out on the eve of a Clasico to tell Ibai Llanos that Real Madrid “steal and then complain” is just irresponsible. That’s simply a lack of leadership from the higher echelons of the club, even if they believe it’s true.
I’m not saying you can’t ever say things like that, whether to gain a psychological edge or unsettle the opposition or simply air legitimate grievances. But there’s a way to do it, there’s a time to do it and there’s the right messenger to deliver it. It’s not a message a teenager should be delivering on the eve of the biggest game of the season, let alone one who isn’t fully fit and who is carrying far more weight on his shoulders than he should be.
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Moreno: Yamal ran his mouth before El Clásico and didn’t perform
ESPN’s Alejandro Moreno believes Lamine Yamal’s El Clásico performance didn’t match his pre-match words.
It was inevitable that the proverbial chickens would come home to roost. Carvajal and Vini (not a guy immune from disciplinary issues himself, witness his reaction to being substituted) called him out, and it ended the way it did. Worst of all for Barca, if Alonso pushes the right psychological messages, this can be a rallying cry for unity in a dressing room that is packed with egos.
For Flick, on the other hand, it’s going to raise the question of whether Yamal needs to be dialed back. And the problem with doing that is that right now he needs him, even when he’s only half-fit.
Arne Slot is brutally honest as Liverpool lose four league games on the bounce
The headline is that after Saturday’s 3-2 defeat against Brentford, Liverpool have now lost four straight league games, which is as many as they lost on their way to the title last season. Slot is taking it on the chin — rather than, say, whining about the Cody Gakpo penalty that wasn’t given (though if he hadn’t thrown his hands in the air, it might have been) — saying there are “quite a few things” that aren’t going right at the moment, and adding there have been different things in different games during his team’s poor run.
On Saturday, he emphasized defensive shortcomings, and it was hard not to, when you concede the sort of goal like Brentford’s second. Mikkel Damsgaard hit a fine pass for Kevin Schade to chase and finish, but Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté looked like novices out there. Heck, for all the talk about Michael Kayode‘s ability to throw the ball really, really, really far, you’re still getting beat at the near post, which is really the only place the ball can go. (I’m not even going to try to explain away how Milos Kerkez defended Dango Ouattara’s finish.)
– Lindop: Liverpool’s good times seem so far away after another loss
– Carragher: Liverpool in ‘crisis mode’
– O’Hanlon: Should Liverpool be worried about Salah?
You can work on defensive solidity, and here, it’s pretty binary. There are no viable center backs other than Konate and Van Dijk; they’re part of the problem, and they need to flick a switch and become part of the solution. Van Dijk said they “need to look in the mirror,” and he’s right.
But if all Slot can really do is wait for his guys to sort themselves out in central defense, elsewhere there is plenty of scope for him to fix things. The middle of the park is unrecognizable, and Ryan Gravenberch‘s absence doesn’t help. Newcomers Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz haven’t yet lived up to the billing (or the fees), and while Mohamed Salah scored a peach of a goal in garbage time, this season he has shown only glimpses, while last year he was carrying the side offensively.
2:19
How can Arne Slot fix Liverpool’s Premier League form?
Gabriele Marcotti and Stewart Robson discuss how Arne Slot can turn around Liverpool’s bad form after another defeat in the Premier League.
Too many newcomers in one go? Sure. Slot said so himself, and I’ve been making the point all season: It’s going to take a while to make the pieces fit together. But in the meantime, you need to make things work and grind out points. The version of the 4-4-2 formation we saw in midweek against Eintracht Frankfurt may be worth wheeling out again. Not because Liverpool won 5-1 — Eintracht were terrible, as you’d expect from a side that had conceded 18 goals in five games going into it — but because it provided a certain balance.
Against Eintracht, Wirtz was on the right side off the ball, offering cover to the fullback and with enough autonomy to shade inside and create when in possession. The midfield duo offered cover to the back four, and with two guys up front, you can still press, though obviously the triggers and patterns are going to be different.
You can choose your front two from Salah (given the amount of defending he does wide, you may as well relieve him of those duties), Isak and Hugo Ekitike. Isak (with Sweden) and Ekitike (with Eintracht last season) both have experience in a front two. Changing things up at this stage of the season isn’t ideal because you don’t have the training time, but because of how the window went — and the injuries they’ve suffered — they haven’t had much time training the 4-2-3-1, either.
Coaches are always balancing short-term and long-term gains. You can keep building for the 4-2-3-1 you like and hope the chemistry will develop. But do it for too long, and you’ll be so far behind, you risk fighting for a Europa Conference League spot.
Inter can blame themselves, rather than the penalty call, for 3-1 defeat at Napoli
Let’s be clear. The penalty awarded to Kevin De Bruyne (which saw him pull a hamstring in the process of converting) after half an hour was absurd. Reportedly, the Italian referees association agrees, which is why referee Maurizio Mariani is likely to be suspended.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan‘s contact with Giovanni Di Lorenzo was initiated by the Napoli player, who then went down in the box. The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) did not intervene and the referee initially did not give it, but the linesman apparently signaled to the ref, who then decided to award it nearly 10 seconds later. There’s a lot wrong here — and not just the linesman’s interpretation, but the fact that Mariani allowed him to change his mind, possibly thinking the VAR could “fix” matters if he got it wrong. (Theoretically, he might have, but evidently he didn’t feel it met the “clear and obvious” criteria. A directive reportedly given to VAR officials to use a “high threshold” when getting involved probably didn’t help, either.)
The logical thing for the referee to do here given the situation was to ask for an on-field review — something he’s entitled to ask for, but that very rarely happens because it amounts to admitting you’re not sure. And refs don’t like to do that.
A bad call, however, doesn’t explain what happened to Inter, who started brightly and should have taken the lead via Lautaro Martínez, only to wilt after the penalty. Scott McTominay‘s long-range strike early in the second half only made things worse, and despite Hakan Calhanoglu pulling a goal back from the spot, they never got into the game, and André-Frank Zambo-Anguissa’s strike fixed the final score at 3-1.
Inter chief executive Beppe Marotta said the Napoli penalty changed the game. I much prefer the interpretation of his own coach, Cristian Chivu: “We can’t use it as an alibi and complain about the referee. We should look at ourselves.”
That’s what Inter lacked, along with decent defending from Francesco Acerbi and Manuel Akanji — the sort of determination to get punched in the face and fight back. You know, the kind of drive Napoli — who got spanked 6-2 by PSV in midweek — showed. Sure it’s easier to sit, defend and be solid after someone gifts you a penalty. But lest we forget, Napoli had David Neres up front as a makeshift forward, no Stanislav Lobotka in midfield and, after half an hour, no De Bruyne, either.
Inter are, by some distance, the best team in Serie A, but it’s Napoli who move to the top of the league table, alongside Roma. If Chivu’s crew are going to win it, they need to kick it up several notches.
Quick hits
0:46
Is 17-year-old Lennart Karl Bayern Munich’s next superstar?
Shaka Hislop reacts to Lennart Karl’s goal in Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga.
10. Bayern Munich equal record with 13 straight wins: It was top vs. bottom in the Bundesliga, which means Bayern’s 3-0 win away at Borussia Moenchengladbach isn’t much of a surprise. The fact that they played with an extra man from the 19th minute onward, but didn’t actually score until Joshua Kimmich‘s strike nearly halfway through the second half, might raise some eyebrows. But this was the classic game in which one team parks the bus, especially after going a man down. Bayern’s xG before the goal was 2.41, and Gladbach’s only shot in the entire match was the Kevin Stöger penalty he sent against the post with 15 minutes to go.
That makes it 13 wins in all competitions for Bayern to start a season, matching the record for a Big Five club set by Milan back in 1992-93. And as I wrote last week, it’s remarkable when you consider what the mood was like at the close of the transfer window.
9. Defending and set pieces power Arsenal as they extend Premier League lead, and it could be key to winning a title: This isn’t a criticism, just a fact. They beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to go four points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to another set piece strike (though, to be fair, Eberechi Eze still had a lot to do against his former club). At the same time, they limited Palace, who had scored in every game this season, to a single shot on target. They’ve conceded a league-best three goals this season (on an xG of 5.3, also a league best) and have scored a whopping 11 set-piece goals, while just five have come from open play.
What’s the upshot? Their top-notch defending keeps them in games and the set pieces allow them to score goals others might not. That translates into points even when they’re not playing particularly well, as was the case against Palace. Can they kick it up a notch? Probably, when Bukayo Saka gets back to his 2024-25 levels and when Martin Odegaard (and Kai Havertz) return to fitness. Until then, they will ride the back four and dead balls as far as they will take them.
0:59
Nicol: Arsenal have the consistency to win the Premier League
Steve Nicol analyses whether Arsenal are the favourites to win the Premier League after their victory over Palace to be top the table.
8. Paris Saint-Germain roll past Brest as Luis Enrique manages minutes: We should probably get used to more games like these. Brest parked the bus away to PSG (who ended the game with a whopping 75% possession) and it became a question of when, not if, Luis Enrique’s crew found a way. They did so twice, via Achraf Hakimi (the latter after more genius from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia), to virtually end proceedings in the first half, before Désiré Doué came on to add a third in garbage time. Whatever chances Brest may have thought they had were squandered when Romain Del Castillo slipped (a la John Terry in Moscow) and sent a penalty over the bar.
No injuries and a reshuffled squad (Marquinhos, Ousmane Dembélé, Doue and Nuno Mendes all started on the bench) allowed for plenty of rest. Luis Enrique couldn’t have asked for a better Saturday.
7. Newly promoted Sunderland beat Chelsea to fly high up the table, and the Blues still have a Cole Palmer problem: I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but Palmer dependency is a thing for Chelsea, especially in games like this. You take the lead early, at home, against a side that varies deep defending with coordinated pressing — and therefore should offer opportunities — and you really need to do better. But with Marc Guiu offering almost nothing (two touches in the opposition box in 76 minutes), João Pedro having an off day and Alejandro Garnacho disappearing after scoring early, there just wasn’t enough attacking oomph. Estêvão from the start might have helped, but let’s not forget, the kid is 18 years old and settling into a new league.
You can point to the defensive issues that led to Sunderland’s winner, but conceding in transition in injury time is always risky if you’re trying to get the three points. The bigger issue is at the attacking end. Palmer papers over cracks, and when he’s not there, the lack of chemistry shows. All that said, credit Sunderland and coach Regis Le Bris, who outcoached Enzo Maresca on Saturday (and would have done so even without Chemsdine Talbi‘s late winner). Third place in November is beyond their wildest expectations.
1:37
Michallik: Chelsea were chaotic in loss vs. Sunderland
Janusz Michallik reacts to Chelsea’s 2-1 loss to Sunderland in the Premier League.
6. Don’t look now, but Borussia Dortmund could actually be finding some solidity: Yeah, I know, it’s still Borussia Dortmund, so pinch of salt and all that, but it’s legitimate to wonder if something is brewing here under Nico Kovac. Their 1-0 win over Koln on Saturday felt like the sort of game in which they would have lost points in past years. At home against a counterattacking opponent, they gave the ball away and nearly paid a hefty price even as the ball refused to go into the net at the other end until Maxi Beier’s injury-time goal. But there’s a resilience and, dare I say, a humility to this Dortmund side that wasn’t there before. The shot count after the 35th minute was 22-0 for BVB. They never lost belief. Felix Nmecha is finally playing to his talent. Kovac isn’t afraid to set up blue-collar style and leave the likes of Julian Brandt, Jobe Bellingham and Marcel Sabitzer on the bench. Let’s see whether it lasts.
5. Are we ready to say Manchester United have turned the corner (despite another late scare)? Sort of. First, the good news. It’s three league wins in a row, and that hadn’t happened since February 2024. Players know what they’re supposed to do: execute to the best of their ability and appear suited to the role (with the exception of Bruno Fernandes, who remains a square peg in a round hole — an extremely gifted square peg, mind you). And when Brighton clawed two goals back — one a free kick, the other a defensive error off a set piece — to make it 3-2, United didn’t lose their heads but instead added a fourth, which is also good.
On the flip side, this is still a reactive team that was more effective without the ball than with it. Matheus Cunha‘s opener was from outside the box, while their second, also from way out, benefited from a huge deflection. Four goals from an xG of 1.29 tells you things did go a little wacky, so baby steps for sure. But the direction of travel is promising, and they’re two points out of second place, which is not nothing.
1:38
Has Ruben Amorim proved the doubters wrong?
Gabriele Marcotti and Stewart Robson react to Manchester United’s 4-2 victory over Brighton and debate if Ruben Amorim has proved the doubters wrong.
4. RB Leipzig‘s reset after last season’s embarrassment is coming along nicely: The 2024-25 season was a veritable nightmare for Leipzig and their energy drink owners. Seventh place — their worst league finish since you-know-who got involved 16 years ago and the money started pouring in — some hideous European performances and a manager change midseason. Rather than prolonging the pain, they blew up the team in the summer, moving on Benjamin Sesko, Xavi Simons, Loïs Openda, Lutsharel Geertruida, Arthur Vermeeren and even Yussuf Poulsen.
New-look Leipzig under new boss Ole Werner are a work in progress, but after the 6-0 road thumping of Augsburg, they’re up to second in the table. The playbook is the same — spend money on gifted kids and develop them — and it has been a slow burn (Christoph Baumgartner and Antonio Nusa are stepping up), but the lack of European football is a huge plus this season, and they may be Bayern’s biggest (only?) domestic challengers.
1:16
Why do Tottenham perform better away from home?
ESPN’s Steve Nicol believes Tottenham play with more pressure at home compared to playing away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
3. Spurs romp past Everton 3-0, but it shouldn’t paper over the cracks: Two Micky Van de Ven headers off set pieces sent Spurs on their way to a 3-0 win away to Everton (Pape Sarr added a third in garbage time), so naturally some folks are talking about Tottenham emulating Arsenal’s dead-ball prowess. (This is of course nonsense, given that Thomas Frank was big on set pieces at Brentford, too.) It’s an important win and their fourth in five league road games, but you’d hope Frank knows there’s plenty to work on still.
Guglielmo Vicario was once again Lanky Saint Vic, making two huge saves. Everton more than held their own, while Spurs once again looked limited in possession. Randal Kolo Muani doesn’t yet look like the answer up front, Xavi Simons was quiet again and Mohamed Kudus sometimes looks like a guy playing on his own. Between them, the trio combined for zero goals, one shot and three touches in the opposition box. Spurs have a long injury list, and Frank will be glad he has more options.
2. Juventus lose to under-strength Lazio, but piling on Igor Tudor is foolish: Nothing like overreaction driven by results rather than performances, eh? After three defeats in a row and eight games without a win, Tudor has failed to save his job, with news Monday morning that the club had fired him. It’s evident Juventus haven’t been good, and Tudor’s choices haven’t helped. Many wanted to see two forwards on the pitch, and we got that (Jonathan David and Dusan Vlahovic), but it came at the expense of Kenan Yildiz, which is hard to understand.
That said, they were coming off a narrow loss to Real Madrid, and they got none of the breaks against Lazio. They go a goal down after nine minutes to a deflected shot. Still, they create a bunch of chances (handily winning the xG battle) and, perhaps most importantly, should have had a penalty when Gila came down on Chico Conceicao’s foot at the hour mark. That’s the funny thing: Had they converted that penalty and not missed their sitters, they would have had three points and Tudor would be (relatively) safe.
1:12
Is Pep’s playing ‘philosophy’ the problem at Man City?
Steve Nicol discusses why Pep Guardiola’s playing tactics might be the problem at Manchester City after loosing to Aston Villa.
1. Not as simple as no Erling Haaland goal and no Manchester City points, but it’s not far off, either: After 13 games for club and country, Haaland failed to find the net and Manchester City lost away to Aston Villa. That much is hard to ignore, just as it’s hard to ignore that — precisely because Pep Guardiola was trying to address concerns his team was becoming somewhat one-dimensional — he mixed things up vs. Aston Villa. With Rodri unavailable, he tried Tijjani Reijnders, not really a defensive midfielder, in front of the back four in an effort to juice his team creatively.
It worked in terms of making City more varied — Haaland ended up with just four touches in the opposition box and three shots, two of them in the last 20 minutes — but on the day they were no more effective. Credit Villa manager Unai Emery, who on his day, can tie the opposition up in knots with the best of them. It’s not a tragedy, just dropped points. Guardiola does need to fix the issue (Haaland is not a machine, he just comes across as one sometimes) and with the creativity available to him, he will get there. It’s just a question of how quickly he does.
