Chelsea the weekend's big winners as Europe's giants stumble
We’re getting awfully close to Christmas now and a number of Europe’s big clubs must have been distracted by thoughts of presents under the tree and turkeys on the dinner table.
How else could Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus and Bayern Munich all dropping points be explained?
We saw a number of excellent comebacks over the weekend, and a number of world-class strikes as well.
What else did you miss around Europe this weekend? ESPN’s Julien Laurens, Sam Marsden and Constantin Eckner recap all the action in this edition of ESPN’s Weekend Review.
Top takeaway: The weekend’s big winners? Chelsea
Christmas arrived early for Enzo Maresca and his Chelsea players. Santa Claus delivered pretty much the perfect weekend: a 2-1 win for the Blues against Brentford at Stamford Bridge, while rivals Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa all dropped points.
It means that Cole Palmer & Co. are now just two points behind league leaders Liverpool (who still have a game in hand against Everton) but four points clear of the Gunners in third, six ahead of Nottingham Forest in fourth and a seven from City in fifth.
Sunday’s performance against Brentford was another typical one for this season’s Chelsea. They created a lot of chances and squandered plenty as well. In the end, Maresca’s side only scored two and gave away enough opportunities to their opponents, who could also have scored more than just one. On another day, either team could have won this game 4-3.
Nevertheless, Chelsea will be happy with another win — their 10th of the season — just one less than Liverpool. The Blues have 34 points after 16 games. They had 19 points at the same stage last season.
Best match: Southampton 0-5 Tottenham Hotspur
Each team probably thought it was the best time to play the other, considering each other’s poor current form. But it was only true for Tottenham who were 1-0 after 36 seconds, 3-0 after 14 minutes and 5-0 by half-time. It was an extraordinary first half of football from Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Best goal: Rodrigo Muniz vs. Liverpool
In an ideal world, Muniz’s lovely back heel goal, after a brilliant cross by man-of-the-match Antonee Robinson, at Liverpool would have been the winner and provided the Brazilian striker an even more joy. Diogo Jota and the Reds equalised, but it was still a great moment for the Fulham forward.
MVP of the weekend: Amad, Manchester United
It’s performances like these that make you shake your head when you think that Erik Ten Hag hardly played Amad when he was the Manchester United manager. The Ivory Coast international was the star of the show in Sunday’s Manchester Derby, leading United to a famous win; the first one against City for Ruben Amorim, who is getting the best out of his No. 16. — Laurens
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Michallik on United’s win: Two unbelievable gifts for Diallo
Janusz Michallik analyses Manchester United’s 2-1 win against Manchester City where Amad Diallo gained a penalty and scored the last minute winner at the Etihad.
Top takeaway: Stuttering Barça lose again
Barcelona‘s blip is in danger of becoming a full-blown crisis after they were beaten 1-0 by Leganés at the Olympic Stadium on Sunday. They have now won just one of their last six LaLiga games and have seen their lead at the top evaporate. They were nine points clear after beating Real Madrid in October. They are now level on points with Atlético Madrid, and one point ahead of Real Madrid having played a game more than both. It sets up a huge game when they host Atléti next weekend.
One of several reasons why Barça, who won 11 of their opening 12 league games, have stopped winning matches is because the goals have dried up. They are still the league’s top scorers with 50 goals in 18 games, but back-to-back home defeats against Las Palmas and Leganés have been punctuated by a failure to take their chances. They managed 20 shots against the latter but were denied by an inspirational Marko Dmitrovic in the visitor’s goal and a wasteful Robert Lewandowski. The Poland striker had six shots — and amassed 1.65 xG on his own — but could not find the back of the net.
Hansi Flick’s side will seek solace in the midweek win over Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League and the fact they have delivered in the big games this season. They will need to do so again next week against Atlético. The pressure is growing.
Best match: Rayo Vallecano 3-3 Real Madrid
Real Madrid trailed by two, led by one and ended up drawing a six-goal thriller away at Rayo Vallecano. Like Barça, they continue to stutter, although not quite to the same extent. They have won just five of their last 10 games in all competitions and have been overtaken by Atlético in LaLiga. It did look like they would leave Vallecas with the three points this weekend as they battled back from 2-0 down. Jude Bellingham was on target for the sixth successive league game, Federico Valverde scored a screamer and Rodrygo also netted. But there was a final twist as Rayo grabbed a point. The game ended with Madrid complaining that a penalty was not given at 3-3 for a challenge on Vinícius Junior.
Best goal: Federico Valverde vs. Rayo Vallecano
Midfielder Valverde’s goal to get Madrid back into the game against Rayo was a beauty. He took one touch to control the ball, another to set himself up and then fizzed an unstoppable low shot into the bottom corner from almost 30 yards. The Uruguayan now has four goals this season in LaLiga — and all four have come from outside the box.
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Fede Valverde’s long-range beauty gives Real hope
Fede Valverde slams in a long-range effort to bring Real Madrid within a goal of Rayo Vallecano.
MVP of the weekend: Jesús Navas, Sevilla
There were tears at the Sanchez Pizjuán this weekend as Jesús Navas played his final home game for Sevilla before hanging his boots up at the end of the year. The winger made his debut for the club in 2003 and, with a brief spell at Manchester City in the middle, has gone on to make over 700 first team appearances. He got the send-off he deserved with a starting role in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Celta Vigo. — Marsden
Top takeaway: Ugly incident in Berlin could spark political debate
The Bundesliga is often rightfully praised for its matchday atmosphere. Sold-out stadiums and passionate crowds often make for a great experience that has become a selling point to global audiences. But every once in a while, things can get out of hand.
After over 90 minutes of intense battle between Union Berlin and VfL Bochum on the pitch of Alte Försterei, a home fan threw a lighter at Bochum goalkeeper Patrick Drewes who was hit in the head and unable to continue. The match was interrupted for almost half an hour before both teams returned to finish stoppage time, with both sides agreeing a “non-aggression pact” for the remaining minutes.
Because bottom club Bochum had already used up all of their substitutions, striker Philipp Hofmann replaced Drewes in goal for the last few minutes. The game ended 1-1, but Bochum will lodge a protest arguing that they were put in a disadvantageous position with their goalkeeper indisposed by an opposition fan.
Union officials emphasised that it was an act of a single individual who the police have already identified. It will be intriguing to see whether this incident not only leads to a result change but also to any ramifications for stadium-goers. Politicians have argued in the past that checks on entry need to be stricter and the use of pyrotechnics should be punished more severely. Saturday’s events in Berlin could fuel the fire for this argument.
Best match: Mainz 2-1 Bayern Munich
Mainz managed to stun injury-hit league leaders Bayern, who slipped to their first league defeat of the season. The hosts did a wonderful job isolating Jamal Musiala. The 21-year-old starlet is seemingly much less effective at the moment with Harry Kane currently on the sidelines due to injury.
Best goal: Armin Gigovic vs. Borussia Monchengladbach
Gladbach cruised to a 4-1 home win against struggling Holstein Kiel in a one-sided affair. However, there was a brief moment of hope for second-bottom Kiel when Gigović pulled one back for the visitors just four minutes after the hosts had taken a 2-0 first-half lead. Gigović hit the ball perfectly from about 25 yards out, leaving Moritz Nicolas absolutely no chance in the Gladbach goal. The shot had an expected-goals value of only 0.03.
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Spectacular Gigovic goal cuts Gladbach’s lead in half
A spectacular strike from Armin Gigovic cuts Borussia Monchengladbach’s lead in half for Holstein Kiel.
MVP of the weekend: Lee Jae-Sung, Mainz
Scoring twice against Bayern Munich in a shock win is justification enough to be named MVP. Lee joined Mainz in 2021 after three years at Kiel in 2. Bundesliga. During his time in Germany, the South Korea star has regularly scored goals in crucial games, be it in relegation playoffs, in the final weeks of a season, and now against the previously unbeaten table leaders. — Eckner
What else you missed this weekend
Emotions on the rise at Juventus
Thiago Motta was hired to re-energize Juventus, but the Bianconeri remain as dull as they were under former boss Massimiliano Allegri. Following an impressive 2-0 win over a struggling Manchester City side in the Champions League on Wednesday, Juventus were back to normal on Saturday, playing to a 2-2 draw with bottom side Venezia. The injury-riddled Bianconeri still remain the only unbeaten side so far this season in Serie A, but with 10 draws in 16 league games they slip down to sixth in the standings after Saturday’s share of the spoils.
Motta was suspended at the weekend after receiving his marching orders during Juventus’ 2-2 draw with his former club Bologna last week. Hence, he was not present when striker Dusan Vlahovic lost his temper and lashed back at protesting supporters. Vlahović scored from the penalty spot in stoppage time preventing Juventus from suffering their first league defeat. But still, no one was happy at the final whistle.
“I think it’s normal, frustration exists on everyone’s part, first and foremost the players because they know perfectly well that we can do better. We need to stay united and together. The criticisms are right because we are not where we need to be,” Motta said after the game.
“The public has the freedom to express feelings and emotions. Duna [Vlahović] is the first who wants to change the situation, these are things that have already happened and that we hope can change in the future.” — Eckner
Silverware for Celtic after Old Firm thriller
Celtic got the better of Old Firm rivals Rangers on Sunday as they won the Scottish League Cup on penalties after a six-goal thriller at Hampden Park. It was a final packed with entertainment. Rangers led 1-0 at the break before the game exploded into life in the second half. Celtic led 2-1, Rangers levelled at 2-2 and then Celtic thought they had won it in the 87th minute through Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn only for Danilo to level a minute later.
A calmer 30 minutes followed in extra-time, giving way to a penalty shootout in which Kasper Schmeichel emerged as the hero. The veteran Danish goalkeeper saved from Rıdvan Yılmaz to ensure the first piece of silverware of the Scottish season went to Brendan Rodgers’s side. — Marsden
