The return of Club football certainly shattered expectations this weekend with wins from Barca, Man City and all of Germany’s big guns. A memorable night for Antoine Griezmann and more in this week’s European Football Wrap!
Insipid Gunners rescue point
They do say that great teams are able to pick up points when they aren’t at their best. Arsenal ticked off that box with some aplomb on Saturday, salvaging a 2-2 draw at the Bridge after arguably their worst performance of the season. Pochettino’s side did everything right, dominating the midfield battle through the relentless work-rate of Caicedo and Gallagher. Ex-City wingers Sterling and Palmer truly bamboozled a pretty static Arsenal backline. In fact, the Blues should have sealed the deal after creating a couple of brilliant moments in search of a 3rd. But you just can’t legislate for goal-keeping howlers (just ask Andre Onana). In fact, Arsenal didn’t really look capable of unlocking the stygian Chelsea defence prior to Sanchez’s inexplicable ‘assist’ to Rice. That braindead decision sent a shockwave of doubt throughout a side that has been struggling for self-belief all season.
Sure, Declan Rice was hugely responsible for bringing Arsenal back into the match with a wonderfully opportunistic strike. But this was the first time I have seen him genuinely bypassed in midfield. I think it really shows just how much the Gunners miss Partey in these big games.
Jorginho is not the solution in these high-octane matches and Odegaard was left marooned in that no-man’s land between attack and midfield. Still, it says something about this Gunners side that they were able to retain their unbeaten streak without establishing any real pattern of play. Arteta’s biggest enemy in this quest to end Arsenal’s title drought will be himself. I’m specifically talking about his insistence of not leaving well enough alone.
He has created an unnecessary goal-keeping power struggle by dropping Ramsdale- a firm fan’s favourite- without due cause. He should have integrated Raya into the team more organically. Now Raya’s every move is being forensically scrutinized and he just looks like a ticking timebomb.
Barca close gap on Real Madrid
It really looked like it was going to be one of those nights at the Nou Camp on Sunday. Injuries to likes of the Lewandowski and Raphinha forced Xavi to field a weakened side against Athletic Club. And Barca lacked rhythm all night, with Ferran Torres struggling to make an impact on the right wing.
Felix wasn’t comfortable up front and only started to look menacing when dropping back into a deeper role. But it was once again a youth academy product that bailed out the Blaugrana. 17-year-old Marc Gigu needed less than a minute to break Athletic Club hearts, helping Barca close the gap on Real to just one point.
He and Lamine Yamal have a combined age of 33 and they- alongside Gavi and Pedri- represent a glorious future for the club. Real came up against a pretty resolute Sevilla side this weekend. The Sevilla midfield did a number on Jude Bellingham, consistently fouling the Englishman before he could get into his formidable stride.
Sevilla took the lead through a David Alaba own goal (he is really looking shaky at the heart of that defence). But the ever-industrious Dani Carvajal levelled matters, finishing from Toni Kroos’ excellent set piece delivery.
Juventus resurgence continues while Inter go top
I honestly thought that Allegri had reached the end of his tether following Juventus’ 4-2 defeat at Sassuolo. But the six-time Serie A winning manager has managed to refocus his side brilliantly and they were at their frugal best in their 1-0 win at AC Milan.
Inexperienced Milan defender Malick Thiaw gave Juventus the ultimate gift, moronically pulling down Kean when he was bearing down on goal. The ref had no choice but to send the youngster off and Juventus then had a stranglehold of the game. Then fate struck, with Manuel Locatelli scoring Juventus’ winner seven years to the day after scoring the winner for Milan against the Old Lady. Crazy.
Juventus secured their 4th successive clean sheet and now sit just two points off the top of the table. Inter picked up a routine win at Torino, with Lautaro Martnez continuing his brilliant goal-scoring streak. Perhaps the most relieved manager this week will be under-fire Napoli boss Rudi Garcia.
The Partenopei have made a stuttering start to their title defence (alienating Victor Osimhen in the process). But they managed to pick up a comfortable 3-1 win at Verona, with underperforming winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia finally bursting to life with a killer brace.
Surreal German standings continue
We should really take some time to appreciate the current state of German football. Bayern will ultimately win this year’s Bundesliga title- with RB Leipzig and Dortmund about 6-7 points behind them. But it’s quite special to have two sides- VFB Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen- keeping those giants at bay after nine games.
Outside of Borussia Dortmund, current league leaders Bayer Leverkusen have been the true ‘nearly men’ of German football for some time (they have finished inside the top six in each of the last six seasons). Current manager Xabi Alonso has got them playing with great fluidity and they will certainly be threatening Champions League places come the end of the season. Sebastian Hoeneβ has really worked miracles at Stuttgart this year, taking them from the brink of relegation to and transforming them into a swaggering unit.
His possession-based style has really started to thrive- as demonstrated in his sides’ brilliant 3-0 win at Union Berlin this weekend. It is just refreshing to see two teams putting up such stiff resistance to the entrenched title contenders. Speaking of which, Bayern, Dortmund and RB Leipzig kept up the pressure this weekend with their respective victories.
Player of the Week – Antoine Griezmann
World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann is enjoying a new lease on life since resigning for the club that launched his career: Atletico Madrid. His spell at Barcelona was tinged with disappointment and you got the impression that he never felt fully embraced by the notoriously exacting Barca fans.
But his hat-trick at Celta Vigo this weekend was a timely reminder of his finishing prowess. It also helped Diego Simone’s side extend an impressive domestic winning streak that sees them sitting just three points behind bitter city rivals Real (with a game in hand).
