Damien Kayat looks back at an action-packed weekend of European football which saw Liverpool and Napoli taste heavy defeats, Arsenal move closer to clinching the league and more.
City thump Reds to keep title race alive
Pep Guardiola’s side kept their faint title hopes alive with an emphatic victory against Klopp’s anaemic Reds. These City-Reds games have become the high watermark of British football in recent times.
This was their most one-sided game in some time (despite the absence of goal-scoring virtuoso Erling Haaland). Surely it’s time for Klopp to seriously consider pushing Trent up the field permanently.
Jack Grealish terrorized the full-back in arguably his most complete performance since that big money move. Liverpool’s midfield deficiencies were almost comedically exposed, with De Bruyne and Gundogan enjoying a near monopoly of possession in the middle of the pitch.
The Citizens will be hoping that Klopp’s side will rally when they host a flying Gunners side at Anfield next week. This is probably the first time in the German’s illustrious tenure that his position has looked somewhat rocky. His favouritism towards established squad members is starting to hinder the side while his substitutions all feel premediated and perfunctory.
Surely he should have engineered a way to get Darwin on earlier at the weekend. I just can’t see this club going on a ridiculous winning streak to secure an unlikely Champions League qualification.
✅ Man City, Arsenal, Newcastle
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) April 3, 2023
❌ Liverpool, Chelsea, Man United
Spurs are in action against Everton tonight and can go third with a win. pic.twitter.com/8IkbcLynFV
Gunners look exceptional
Any fears that Mikel Arteta’s side would lose some momentum in the international break were quickly allayed by a resounding 4-1 victory against Leeds. This match followed a similar pattern to many of Arsenal’s recent matches.
They had a cagey start where things couldn’t quite connect. But their undoubted class shone through and they romped home to victory in the second stanza. Gabriel Jesus has returned to action and he has bought the chaos with him.
This Arsenal side just look like a different beast with him harrying the opposition from the front. He scored twice in a performance that bodes well with some crucial matches around the corner.
Major summer signing Leandro Trossard is looking an inspired piece of business while Mudryk absolutely bombs at Chelsea. Next week’s trip to Anfield is obviously all-important. We have all seen how dangerous a wounded Liverpool team can be at home (just ask United fans).
Interestingly, Arteta’s side are only one point behind Wenger’s Invincibles at the same stage of their respective campaigns. How is that for impressive?
Arsenal are currently:
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) April 2, 2023
34 points ahead of Chelsea
30 points ahead of Liverpool
23 points ahead of Tottenham
22 points ahead of Man United
📈📈📈 pic.twitter.com/RyaH7fbBDE
Napoli humbled by AC Milan
This was slightly shocking. Napoli were trounced 4-0 by AC Milan at the Maradona Stadium. Napoli can’t dwell on this and allow the wound to fester: they are scheduled to play AC Milan in the upcoming Champions League quarterfinals.
Where did this come from? Is this simply a case of Luciano Spalletti’s side taking their foot off the gas with the Scudetto virtually assured? Or does the absence of Victor Osimhen have a major role to play in this aberration? Whatever the case, Stefano Pioli’s side were worthy winners in a swaggering display.
Brahim Diaz and Rafael Leao were effervescent going forward, ripping through the Partenopei seemingly at will. The defeat cut Napoli’s humungous lead to a ‘mere’ 16 points.
So, I don’t think there’s any chance of a cataclysmic demise. But this isn’t exactly the sort of result you want lingering in your subconscious as the season approaches its climax.
Napoli 0-4 Milan 🔥
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 2, 2023
👀 What will happen when they meet again in the quarter-finals?#UCL pic.twitter.com/lXaQLPP5DU
Thomas Tuchel off to blistering start at Bayern
What a start to the Thomas Tuchel era at Bayern. To be honest, I’m still wrapping my head around Nagelsmann’s termination. Sure, they weren’t at their imperious best on the domestic front this year.
But they just saw off PSG with minimum fuss in the Champions League and were still well positioned to reclaim their title. Nagelsmann became the victim of his own obsessive need to tinker. Tuchel was a risky appointment considering his Dortmund connections and general volatility.
But he couldn’t have asked for a better start than a 4-2 win in Der Klassiker. It was an all-too-familiar Allianz Arena capitulation for Dortmund. Gregor Kobel’s comeback from a five-week injury break could not have been more disastrous.
He scored a comical 13th minute own-goal after a quite frankly embarrassing miskick. He was also culpable for the 2nd, punching a Leroy Sane pass right into Thomas Muller’s path.
The veteran German utility forward scored twice as Die Roten romped to a 4-0 lead. The Blacks and Yellows pulled two goals back but couldn’t repair the damage done by that naïve first-half display.
Bayern take over first place from Dortmund ⬆️
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 1, 2023
The Thomas Tuchel era begins 👀 pic.twitter.com/eAz9jSLr06
Spanish giants stroll to victory
Table-topping Barcelona travelled to table-propping Elche and what followed was as predictable as you average Marvel movie. Xavi’s men won 4-0 and hardly got out of 2nd gear.
To be fair, they didn’t need to. This was the ideal tune-up for the Catalan giants ahead of their midweek Copa Del Rey Clasico. They absolutely dominated proceedings, looking equally dangerous in possession and on the counterattack. Supreme marksman Robert Lewandowski scored a brace while Gavi effectively ran the game from midfield.
Madrid were arguably more emphatic, completely decimating Real Valladolid 6-0 at the Bernabeu. It doesn’t do anything for their La Liga hopes- they still trail Barca by 12 points.
But it does highlight just how dangerous the reigning European champions will be in their upcoming knockout competitions. Top marksman Benzema looks in fine touch while Vini Jr continues to look borderline unplayable.
Barcelona have conceded at least 10 goals less than any other team in the top five leagues this season. pic.twitter.com/pGUVdKHsJH
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) April 3, 2023
Player of the Week – Karim Benzema
Given his goal-scoring feats for Madrid, I was surprised that this was the first time in Benzema’s Real career that he scored a first-half hat-trick. It was also the fastest hat-trick for Real Madrid in La Liga match since Fernando Hierro’s three goals in six minutes against Espanyol in 1992.
The reigning Ballon d’Or holder was merciless against Valladolid, dovetailing brilliantly with the Brazilian duo of Vini Jr and Rodrygo. And the hat-trick really showcased his range as a striker.
He headed home the first after an exquisite Vini Jr cross. He curled in the second before completing a nifty close-range overhead kick. This performance turned up the heat in the La Liga Golden Boot race (Benzema now sits just three goals behind Robert Lewandowski).
KARIM BENZEMA SCORES A SEVEN-MINUTE HAT-TRICK 🤯 pic.twitter.com/kvQcqIwmhk
— GOAL (@goal) April 2, 2023
