The European soccer season is back! After a three-week international break in which absolutely nothing happened — nope, nothing at all — we got a huge Premier League game as Man City snuck into Anfield and emerged with a 3-0 win over Liverpool that, while impressive, does little to remove the fog of anger that will follow Erling Haaland & Co. around for the rest of the season (and probably beyond).
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Man United and Tottenham battled to a 1-1 draw that did little to dispel the pressure on their managers, Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi, even though Spurs should be walking away a little happier with the result. Beyond that, Arsenal got another win despite looking sloppy after the break.
Outside England, Real Madrid battled for a 1-0 win over Villarreal, a game that will be remembered as much for Jose Mourinho’s all-too-familiar antics as it will for Vinícius Júnior‘s deserved red card. We also got talking points galore for Barcelona (can Lamine Yamal get some rest?), Bayern Munich (it’s time to talk about Manuel Neuer), Paris Saint-Germain (who still haven’t gotten going this season) and much, much more.
It’s Monday morning, so what better time for some musings? Let’s get into it.
– Man City show defiance in wake of cheating scandal, trounce Liverpool
– Late draw with Spurs shows how much trouble Carrick & Co. are in
– Arsenal fight back as Premier League resumes under cloud of City verdict
Man City seal off the outside world and do what they do best at Anfield
Their coach Enzo Maresca called it “noise,” which is inappropriate when viewed from the outside. “Noise,” like “rumor” and “speculation,” implies some sort of trivial annoyance, not to be taken too seriously when you have a job to do.
City’s guilty verdict is anything but “noise” — it’s a near-existential threat to the club. And no matter how convinced you are of their innocence and how much of the City Football Group spin you believe, if you think overturning the verdict is going to be a slam dunk, you’re either a fool or badly deluded.
But from Maresca’s perspective, it works. Give your fear a name — “noise,” in this case — and then block it out. Professional athletes do this sort of stuff all the time. Control what you can control. Let others worry about what you can’t. It’s Psychology 101 and City nailed it, as they showed in a rousing second-half performance while winning 3-0 at Anfield.
0:52
Nicol: I have no sympathy for Manchester City players
At the same time, let’s not over-egg this. City’s players were booed and called cheats by the Liverpool fans (as you’d expect), but it’s safe to say they’ve faced worse throughout their careers. Nor is it the case that the guilty verdict came out of the blue, somehow shattering their peaceful existence. They all knew it was a possibility when they joined the club, which is why several of them put specific clauses in their contract. Most of all, like most guys who play sports for a living, they express themselves best and are most comfortable on the field of play.
Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola evidently tried to channel the situation and energy of the occasion, but when you’re without Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo (plus Hugo Ekitike, of course) there’s only so much you can muster. They turned in a low-key first half, had a couple chances after the break and then the worm started to turn, beginning with Ryan Gravenberch‘s second yellow.
Was it harsh? I thought the first one was — the second not so much, given he’s stopping an attack from behind with no real attempt or opportunity to win the ball. It wasn’t that long ago that English referees might treat players on a booking a little differently not wanting to “spoil the spectacle with a red card” (to use a dumb expression we used to hear regularly in the Premier League). But times change, consistency wins over discretion, and Chris Kavanagh is a paint-by-numbers referee. Gravenberch should have known better, simply put.
– VAR Review: Should Gravenberch have been sent off?
Even just before the red, at 11 vs. 11, Haaland should have put City ahead but down a man (one of Liverpool’s best men on the day), this was only going to go one way. When you have a debutant in Lewis Koumas up front (and playing out of position), the ghost of Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola, who isn’t Batman and at best can play Robin — and more usually, Robin’s friend, the one who rides in the trunk of the Batmobile — there’s only so much you can do.
Iraola’s Liverpool remain a work-in-progress and will continue to be just that until they metabolize his football and their injured guys return. Not getting an on-loan, live body as short-term cover for Ekitike is another in the club’s long list of boneheaded squad choices. As for City, they’re one of the two most talented sides in the league by some distance and they showed it once more in the second half at Anfield. Sunday’s result was anything but a surprise.
Real Madrid won, so why did Jose Mourinho whip out the old playbook?
And, by that, I mean why did he tantrum postgame and skip the news conference after the 1-0 win over Villarreal?
According to multiple reports in Spain, Mourinho was so angry at the officiating (and, presumably, in particular, Vinícius Júnior‘s red card) that he opted not to face the media because he feared he’d say something that would get him in trouble and cause him to be suspended for Real Madrid’s upcoming games, with Sevilla and, especially, Barcelona the following weekend. And so, he declined to fulfil his media duties, becoming the first Real Madrid boss in 13 years to do so. (The last one? Why, it was also Mourinho, during his previous stint.)
It’s the usual, familiar conspiracy trope about referees penalizing his team. As in-house media outlet Real Madrid TV helpfully pointed out, Los Blancos received five yellow cards despite committing just eight fouls, whereas Villarreal, who committed 13, got just two. (There’s no point explaining it, but that’s not how cautions work.)
Mourinho also fumed about the fact that Vinícius’ goal was disallowed, and the Brazil international was sent off after VAR noticed that he pulled Nathan Saliba‘s hair in the buildup. (Actually, he didn’t just pull it; he yanked it to the point that you can see the player’s head snapping back.) The rules are pretty clear and why Mourinho (or, for that matter, Vinícius, who reacted with childlike incredulity and protested vehemently) doesn’t seem to get this is hard to understand. (Weirdly, Mourinho didn’t have a problem when VAR — correctly — intervened to overturn the assistant referee, ruling that Yan Diomande was onside when he scored the only goal.)
0:48
Kirkland: Mourinho will get more time than most Real Madrid managers
Unless, of course, you choose to be cynical and conclude that the fact that we’re talking about Mourinho and refereeing conspiracies means we’re not talking about another bumpy performance from Real Madrid, who struggled to break down a stubborn Villarreal. (It might have been different if Kylian Mbappé had taken his early chances, including the one that hit the post. Then again, it would have been different — but in a bad way — if Thibaut Courtois hadn’t reached into his bag of miracles to deny Carlos Romero late.)
The uncomfortable reality is that this version of Real Madrid looks uncomfortably like that of Alvaro Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso and Carlo Ancelotti’s final year. It’s a side that doesn’t play good football and when it wins, it does so thanks to individual exploits from its superstars (up front and Courtois on goal). And that’s as much down to how this squad was constructed as it is to the manager.
When 1-1 feels like a win for Spurs and a defeat for Manchester United
Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi went into this game leading the way in the Premier League sack race. The 1-1 draw probably doesn’t change much for either of them, but from the bookies’ perspective, it spoke volumes about which team is going in the right direction.
It’s not Manchester United.
It’s not just that they played the league’s cellar dwellers at home and could muster just 0.06 xG for the first 62 minutes of the game. Nor is it the fact that Kobbie Mainoo and Youri Tielemans looked like two guys who met for the very first time Saturday morning, such was their lack of chemistry, on and off the ball. (When Conor Gallagher‘s deft touches are tearing you to shreds, you’ve got a problem.)
It’s not even the fact that deep in injury time, hanging on to a 1-0 lead, nobody thinks it might be a good idea to shut down Sandro Tonali, who had all the time in the world to pick out Dominic Solanke, who is somehow picked up not by the bulky Harry Maguire, but rather by the Smurf-like Lisandro Martínez. Rather, it’s the general sense of drift, a team that leaves you wondering what they actually do in their training sessions. Fans sense it too, which is why the team was booed at halftime as well as at the final whistle.
1:34
Michallik: Man United are still all over the place
Solanke’s goal gave Spurs a point, but even before that we saw the fight and chance creation De Zerbi craves. Even after Rodrigo Bentancur got sent off for the headbutt on Luke Shaw (who somehow got away with a yellow card after making a beeline for Bentancur and shoving him to the ground with both hands), Spurs kept going.
It’s not just about showing character, it’s about individuals too. Solanke and Mohammed Kudus simply give you more than Omar Marmoush and Mathys Tel. (Admittedly Solanke is a bit of a special case — the prototypical “confidence player” — but if De Zerbi pushes the right buttons, he’s got himself a viable center forward.)
There’s still a ton to work on, mind you, and Spurs are certainly not out of the woods. But if you want to talk about who’s trending in the right direction and you’re prepared to look beyond the final score, the answer is clearly Tottenham. Carrick can turn it around for United, of course he can, but you’d feel a lot more confident about his chances if United weren’t playing midweek football — something he has never experienced as a coach.
Quick hits
10. Barcelona rotate and stay perfect … but did we need to see Lamine Yamal? Anthony Gordon‘s early goal (his first for the club) pretty much put an end to this game. The dark magic of Azulones boss Javier Bordalas rarely works when his teams are chasing the game from the second minute, and Getafe have the lowest possession stats in the league for a reason (they finished at 17%, which tells its own story). Meanwhile, Barça have eight wins out of eight in all competitions, the club’s best start in 90-plus years, and they’re averaging 4.25 goals per game.
Hansi Flick’s side wasn’t necessarily devastating Saturday, but it didn’t need to be — not when you have opponents like Zaid Romero opting to dribble in his own penalty box against three Barça players. And with the coach resting Pedri (for the first hour) and Pau Cubarsí, we saw a hybrid lineup aimed at conserving energy and managing minutes. All of which sort of makes the decision to give Yamal 90 minutes a bit surprising. It’s not even mid-October yet, and he has already started 12 games this season. That’s a lot for a 19-year-old, especially when (even with Raphinha injured) you have options on the bench.
1:35
Garcia: Flick deserves credit for Barcelona’s strong form
9. Internazionale wrap it up quickly and efficiently against Parma, just how Cristian Chivu likes it: When you go up 3-0 within half an hour in your first game back after an international break and you’re heading into a UEFA Champions League week, it’s bound to bring a big smile to your coach’s face. Maybe that’s why Chivu was beaming on Saturday as Inter put their foot on Parma’s neck early and never relented.
You’re not going to get carried away given the caliber of the opposition — there’s a reason Parma fired their coach during the break — but the performance confirmed Inter’s depth up and down the lineup (Chivu rotated liberally) and the fact that no matter who’s out there, the script and approach don’t change. That continuity makes managing minutes so much more straightforward as we enter the most jam-packed period of the season.
8. Chelsea find their answers in midfield: one obvious, one less so… : They have issues in every area of the pitch, but midfield was the single most glaring weakness for Chelsea thus far this campaign. So the return of a fully fit Moisés Caicedo (Chelsea’s best player, in my book) for his first club start of the season made all the difference in the 5-1 hammering of AFC Bournemouth.
That part was not a surprise, unlike the performance of his midfield teammate, Jordan Henderson, whose only other appearance had come in the ugly 3-0 loss at Brentford. Henderson delivered two goals (the second, a scrumptious free kick) and the easy narrative is that his experience (he’s 36) and leadership (he’s likeable and respected) provides exactly what Chelsea missed last season. That sounds a tad facile to me, and if we see too much of Henderson, it will likely mean things aren’t going right for Xabi Alonso. But all credit to him: he proved a lot of doubters, including me, wrong on Saturday.
1:25
Michallik: Jordan Henderson could be the Granit Xhaka of Chelsea
7. Lazio are joint-top of Serie A … will they stay there or thereabouts? Every single indicator, except for the league table after the 3-1 win over Monza on Sunday, says “no.” They’ve scored more than xG suggests (11 vs. 9.3) and conceded far less than xG suggests (4 vs. 8.1). Other than AC Milan, with whom they drew, they haven’t faced a big side. And their keeper, Christos Mandas, is performing weekly miracles.
And yet they’re playing with drive and intensity and have been Serie A’s surprise package this season. Nobody (certainly not me) expected Rino Gattuso of all people to lead them to the top of the Serie A table. And lest we forget, all this is playing out a time when many fans — furious with owner Claudio Lotito — are boycotting home games, limiting themselves to following the team on the road. Logic suggests it won’t last and Gattuso, to his credit, is the first to dampen enthusiasm. But if it did, what a story it would be…
6. Álex Baena channels his inner Ricardo Quaresma to lift Atlético Madrid at Alavés: Old-timers will remember Quaresma, the Portugal winger who regularly turned to the trivela: hitting crosses with the outside of his foot. It’s not something you see often for two simple reasons: it’s hard to pull off with any accuracy and most players today are competent enough to cross with their weaker foot. But that’s just what Baena did delivering a peach of a ball for Cristian Romero winner in the 2-1 away win. Did he have to do it? Probably not. Was it fun to see? You bet.
The win keeps Atlético second in LaLiga and for much of the game, they were the better team (though Robin Le Normand reminded us why he’s not top of Diego Simeone’s Christmas card list, and they got help when Ángel Pérez got himself sent off for a demented tackle on Johnny Cardoso). Oh, and Julián Álvarez is reportedly switching agents following his botched summer move. Atlético fans will be hoping it helps purge all the venom of the last transfer window.
5. SC Freiburg are also top of the Bundesliga and it’s unlikely to last, so enjoy it while you can: In some ways, their ascent into first place (after the 2-1 short-handed win over Schalke on Sunday) is more remarkable than Lazio’s, though in some ways, it isn’t. They’ve come to epitomize the plucky underdog “community” club standing up to the powerhouses in recent seasons (they finished seventh and fifth) and, of course, they reached the Europa League final last year, but few would have expected them to start the campaign with four wins in five, especially after a summer in which they lost Johan Manzambi and keeper Noah Atubolu to summer transfers.
So what’s the special sauce here then? Continuity, for one. The legendary Christian Streich left after 12 seasons in 2024, but Julian Schuster, his former assistant, has kept the ball rolling. Igor Matanovic has come into his own as a center forward, and the back line is as stingy as ever. But — and I hate to rain on the parade here — they’ve also had a “friendly” schedule (four of their games have been against the bottom six clubs) and ridden their luck a little bit. They’ll come back to Earth, but the way the season shapes up in the Bundesliga, a Champions League place is certainly not out of the question.
4. Paris Saint-Germain are maybe not as deep as we think: Take it with a grain of salt, of course, because the first outing after an international break (especially this unprecedented three-week version) is always a bit screwy. But PSG’s 3-1 win over Le Mans on Saturday was nowhere near as comfortable as it looked. Paris Saint-Germain rotated heavily, but a number of understudies (from Lucas Hernández and Illia Zabarnyi at the back, to Dro Fernández in midfield to Mika Godts, making his first start, out wide) didn’t exactly seize the day.
In fact, with half an hour to go, it was 1-1 and PSG were facing the very real possibility of dropping points for the fourth time in six Ligue 1 games. Luis Enrique sent on the cavalry in the form of Vitinha, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Fabián Ruiz, and the European champions eventually changed it around. But Saturday night leaves them with plenty food for thought ahead of their trip to face Manchester City in the Champions League this midweek.
3. Arsenal look sloppy in comeback home win over Leeds United: Mikel Arteta will hope it’s just classic postbreak rust. At the hour mark on Saturday, Arsenal were a goal down at home and looking awkward and tame. They had put together 0.46 xG (to Leeds’ 0.60) and offered James Justin a veritable highway for the visitors’ opener (blame Noni Madueke for that one).
Goals from Riccardo Calafiori (with a little help from James Trafford) and substitute Bruno Guimarães turned it around to deliver the 2-1 win. But that first hour was rough, and while a lot of credit has to go to Daniel Farke’s side, you expect more composure from Arsenal at home. With Declan Rice starting slowly (before reaching devastating levels after the break) and Myles Lewis-Skelly stymied, you can’t help but wonder about Martín Zubimendi. A year ago, he was seen as the missing piece of the puzzle; now, despite being good enough to feature in three of four games over the break for world champions Spain, he’s a guy who has started one game for Arsenal since May 1.
1:03
Michallik: Arsenal always find a way to win
2. Juventus squander chances as their manager glitches (again): Let’s not overcomplicate this. Juventus are far from perfect (they’re not even particularly good), but they’re not the mess some make them out to be. Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Cagliari was a result of horrendous finishing (gee, who could have expected that when your strikers are Nick Woltemade and Randal Kolo Muani?) but based on performance, they deserved the three points.
That matters, and it matters that they’re doing it without their first-choice midfield (Manuel Locatelli and Kephren Thuram) and their best player (Kenan Yildiz). Strip those pieces out of any team and see how much fun it is. Manager Luciano Spalletti is doing the best he can on the pitch; off the pitch, though, he can do better. Getting yourself sent off at full time for clashing with the opposing coach is pointless, especially when it’s over such a banal point. Spalletti says all he did was congratulate his opposite number for “being good at time-wasting” and when Fabio Pisacane said “what time-wasting?” things got needlessly heated. Juve don’t need Spalletti getting involved in this nonsense, they need him to do what he does best.
1. Bayern Munich, we need to talk about Manu… : As in Manuel Neuer, who got caught on the ball conceding the opener away to FC Augsburg in Saturday’s 2-2 draw (after just 8.4 seconds no less, the fastest goal in the history of the Bundesliga). He wasn’t great on the second goal either, pushing the ball into the path of Rodrigo Ribeiro. For Bayern, those are two points dropped in an away derby that they otherwise dominated, as evidenced by the 4.96 xG, 30 shots on goal and seven big chances created.
Neuer is 40 years old and one of the greatest — some might say THE greatest — keepers in Bundesliga history. His ability on the ball, coupled with his prowess between the sticks, made him unique; his character and intensity made him a leader. And truth be told, even when he was among the best in the world, he would make the occasional howler (something his critics blamed on overconfidence). The difference is that the lag time between his major errors is getting shorter and shorter. We saw at the FIFA World Cup as well, when he unretired for an improbable swan song that turned out to be just that. Bayern have been planning for the post-Neuer era for years (remember Alexander Nübel?) and it is starting to feel as if he’s still around due to an unwillingness to have tough conversations rather than a belief that he should still be No. 1.
