The European soccer weekend didn’t disappoint — does it ever? Let’s review. In LaLiga, Real Madrid and Atlético served up a feisty derby draw that both teams can ultimately feel good about as the title race and Champions League look like they’ll go right down to the wire. The English FA Cup, the sport’s oldest cup competition, delivered as well, with struggling Plymouth Argyle taking down high-flying Liverpool and Manchester City needing to empty the bench of stars in order to get past Leyton Orient in the fourth round.
Oh, and while we’re on the FA Cup, how about the lack of VAR (which enters in the fifth round of the tournament) enabling Harry Maguire‘s clearly offside game-winning goal stand as Man United snuck past Leicester City?
Elsewhere, we had talking points galore from Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Chelsea, Barcelona, AC Milan and much, much more. Here are musings and reactions to the most memorable moments of the weekend.
Real Madrid and Atletico can both turn derby draw into a positive
The last five Madrid derbies all ended in a draw and to some, this is some sort of testament to how well these clubs know each other, from Atletico’s ability to rise to the occasion, to Real’s ability to find a solution even when they’re up against the wall, to — one of my favourite, but generally meaningless, cliches — “two teams canceling each other out.”
This was pretty much the opposite — though another cliche — and what we saw was a “game of two halves.” Atleti had a clear and obvious supremacy in the first 45 minutes, stunning the Bernabeu crowd into an eerie silence. Sure, take away the penalty — which infuriated Real Madrid (more on this later) — and neither team had a shot on target, the combined xG from both a paltry 0.53. But that suited Diego Simeone’s side just fine. They were outworking and outhustling Real Madrid with a smile on their collective faces, knowing that they weren’t giving up any real threat and, in any minute, something — a counter, an opposition mistake, a moment of genius, a penalty (in this case) — could break their way. And it did.
As for Real Madrid, it’s as if all the usual ills came out at once. Fede Valverde and Dani Ceballos were outnumbered in midfield and the makeshift back four — none of whom are first choice in that role — looked overly nervous and deferential toward Antoine Griezmann and Julián Álvarez. But it was the front four who were MIA on Saturday night.
You know the drill; you’ve heard it a billion times. If you’re going to carry three forwards like Rodrygo, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius, plus ask Jude Bellingham to play as a de facto striker, you need them to do stuff off the ball. Like occasionally track back, help the midfield, help build play, make a run to draw a defender out of position. Some were more culpable than others, but it was way too intermittent, way too lightweight and for the first time in a while, Carlo Ancelotti could be seen raging at his front men as he roamed the sideline.
The rousing half-time speech is another mega cliche, though I imagine it applies here because after the break, we saw a different Mbappe and Bellingham (and, to a lesser degree, Rodrygo… Vinicius not so much). They got the equalizer, missed a couple clear chances and generally dominated. Had it not been for Jan Oblak doing his superman routine between the posts, they would have taken all three points.
1:27
Luis García: Bernabéu crowd furious with penalty decision in Madrid derby
Luis García reacts to Atletico Madrid’s controversial penalty against Real Madrid.
I have no idea if Ancelotti tore into them at half-time — it’s hard to believe, but he does get angry sometimes — but the fact that he didn’t make any substitutions until nine minutes from time suggests that his message to the front four was something like “You guys are the stars, you got us into this predicament, I’m going to leave you out there until you turn it around. Show some pride and professionalism and, if not, the Bernabeu will boo the crap out of you.”
Real Madrid’s European season will be decided in the next 10 days, with the two-legged playoff clash against Manchester City. Simply put, even against this weakened, unrecognisable version of City, if the front four play the way they did in the first 45 minutes on Saturday night, they’re going to get eliminated. (With their starting back four, they may have had a chance, with this hodgepodge — Lucas Vázquez is out now against City, too — they simply need those guys to show up.)
That’s the positive message Ancelotti can deliver, more so than the fact that they’ve maintained their narrow LaLiga lead over Atleti. He can hold his forwards to account and show them the second half, hammering the fact that no, this is not a fire drill: They really were putrid in the first half, but equally, with a bit of effort, they tore apart the opposition after the break.
As for Simeone’s positive message: Easy. You went into the belly of the beast and escaped unscathed. You got into their heads. You’re not the ones who are going to implode: Real Madrid just might, and if they do, you’ll be there to take advantage.
2:17
How Real Madrid can throw a ‘curveball’ at Man City in UCL playoff
Gab & Juls look ahead to the first leg of the Champions League playoff between Real Madrid and Manchester City.
As for the penalty, you understand why it was given. In a strict reading of the directives given to referees, stepping on an opponent’s foot is a foul (blame all those metatarsal injuries) and intent doesn’t come into it. Equally though, referee Cesar Soto Grado was right there and did not deem it a foul. That tells you that if Aurélien Tchouaméni‘s foot did come down on Samuel Lino, as opposed to just across, while trying to play the ball, it was far from obvious. And, in fact, the VAR reviews suggested it was by no means clear-cut.
All this does is further fuel Real Madrid’s vast referee conspiracy narrative, and it’s a shame that on this occasion, the VAR didn’t exercise better judgement. (Or, for that matter, the referee, who could have simply stuck to his on-field call.)
Both things can be true: Arne Slot was right, and Plymouth made history
1:30
Marcotti backs Slot’s Liverpool changes despite FA Cup exit
Gab Marcotti defends Arne Slot for making wholesale changes to his Liverpool lineup, despite crashing out to Championship Plymouth.
Plymouth Argyle’s greatest-ever FA Cup run came in 1984, when they reached the semifinal of the competition. Sunday’s 1-0 win over Premier League leaders Liverpool probably ought to top that.
Back in 1984, they were a third division side, who beat just one top-flight team en route to the semis, where they lost to Watford. Today, they sit bottom of the Championship, one tier — and 43 places — below Liverpool, yet the gap in resources is probably far higher today.
And yes, that even applies to the Liverpool B-team that fell 1-0 at Home Park. Liverpool’s starting XI, however weakened, featured no fewer than eight senior internationals, plus another two youth internationals. The centre-forward they brought on while chasing the game (Darwin Núñez) was acquired at a cost close to $80 million. Prior to this game, Plymouth had won one league match in the prior three months, so yeah: if you want to talk feat, this one beats the other one.
That said, Slot is correct in defending his team selection. Any suggestion that he’s somehow “disrespecting” the “greatest cup competition in the world” is somewhere between the deluded and the silly. The irony is that we’ve been here before, with Liverpool in fact: Rafa Benitez was pilloried for resting starters in the cup 20 years ago and some still haven’t learned their lesson.
“They trained yesterday and they will train tomorrow as well,” Slot said of his missing starters. “Most of the things we do for a reason: we don’t just do it. I said before, we have to play many games now. For the last few weeks, we have played twice every week and now in the upcoming weeks, twice again. It’s not just good for them to only have to play once a week, but also good for the ones here today, who need the intensity of the game.”
It’s not “arrogance” that prompted Slot to leave a host of regulars home, including Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Captain Virgil van Dijk. It’s simply the realisation that his players are human, they’ve played a ton of games, they have a ton more to come and he has to prioritise.
Sorry to the Magic of the Cup brigade: The Premier League and the Champions League come first.
I bet the anti-VAR brigade enjoyed this …
0:43
Marcotti: No VAR in FA Cup 4th round was complete nonsense
Gab Marcotti assesses the reason why VAR was not used in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
I heard all the anti-VAR arguments when it was introduced. I listened to the folks worrying about fans, especially those in the ground “not knowing what’s going on” (as if every consultation between match officials pre-VAR was crystal clear to all) to those saying it’s not what those who created football intended. (Presumably, those people also don’t like the offside rule, numbers on players’ backs, substitutes, injury time, red and yellow cards, linesmen, etc. since none were part of the original version.)
I heard those moaning about the loss of “spontaneity” in celebrating goals (presumably they never cheered for a goal, only to notice that the linesman’s flag had gone up) to those who fretted about technology, from camera angles to the impact of slow-motion replays on making a tackle look better or worse. And, of course, I also listened to those who were philosophically opposed: Their opinion is one I can respect because they’re straight up about it, though I obviously don’t share it.
I wonder what they all thought after Harry Maguire’s winning goal for Manchester United against Leicester in the FA Cup, a header that was cravenly offside from a free kick. There is no VAR in the FA Cup until the fifth round, which meant United won 2-1, and Foxes’ boss Ruud Van Nistelrooy lost it postgame.
I imagine those anti-VAR fans shrugging and mumbling something about how the assistant referee made a mistake, mistakes are part of life and let’s move on. Sure, human error is part of life. Yet, weirdly, we try to limit human error when we fly planes, drive cars, perform surgery, install boilers, use calculators, and so on.
VAR isn’t about achieving perfection. Mistakes will still be made. VAR officials are human, processes are imperfect and there’s still going to be some sort of subjectivity on a whole range of incidents. But that doesn’t mean VAR itself is bad. Or that we shouldn’t try to improve and limit errors, just because we’re not going to catch all of them.
QUICK HITS
10. Barcelona show a different dimension as they pull within two points of top spot in LaLiga: It’s not that Barca are soft, it’s just that most of their players don’t have the look or demeanor of “foxhole guys” (Ronald Araújo excepted). Maybe that’s why, in a spiky game at Sevilla that saw Barcelona 3-1 up after an hour (but with the opposition coming close several times), you sensed that when Fermín López got sent off, this match could go the way of the Celta game back in November. (That’s when Barca, 2-0 up, had Marc Casadó sent off and gave up two goals in a classic late-game collapse.) Not here. They matched Sevilla’s physicality in the first half and defended calmly and with purpose a man down. And they even got a fourth goal through Eric García, no less.
9. Atalanta‘s Mateo Retegui won’t stop, as only Salah and Kane are ahead of him in Europe’s Big Five leagues: OK, I’ll admit it, I was a Retegui doubter. He’s not the sort of striker who stands out or who has one (or more) obvious strengths other than finishing, of course, which is rather important for a centre-forward. He bagged four goals in Atalanta’s 5-0 road drubbing of Verona on Saturday, taking his league total to 20: only Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane have more. It helps that he plays for a very attacking side and that he gets plenty of service; the rest is all him. Time will tell if he’s a one-season wonder, but fans of Atalanta — still third in Serie A — might feel a little less stressed that Gianluca Scamacca, their “other” centre-forward, won’t be fit for some time.
1:17
Nicol: Man City are struggling against every team they face
Steve Nicol reacts to Man City’s comeback win against Leyton Orient in the FA Cup.
8. Man City’s trip to Leyton Orient was always going to suck for them: Seriously, the best-case scenario was for Pep Guardiola to rest his stars, give the newcomers and youngsters a game and emerge with a convincing FA Cup fourth-round victory that would soon be forgotten because they’re facing Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday. Instead, he got to rest only some of his stars (he still had to press Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden into action, which he clearly did not want to do), the kids and newcomers weren’t great and Nico Gonzalez‘s club debut lasted just 22 minutes before he limped off injured. Oh, and they came within 11 minutes of needing extra-time on a bad pitch against an opponent playing the game of their lives. The only saving grace of Guardiola’s weekend? Liverpool going out means they’re probably favourites to win the FA Cup though, to be fair, he already has two of those at home. City have bigger fish to fry.
7. Sérgio Conceição goes all-in and it pays off for Milan, as we see the good (and not-so-good) of Santiago Giménez: Conceicao’s Milan remains a model of inconsistency, but you can say this for the guy: he’s gutsy. A hideous first half away to Empoli (3 shots, 0.11 xG and Empoli hit the woodwork) resulted in him sending on Gimenez, Rafael Leão and Christian Pulisic in one go, and when Fikayo Tomori was sent off in the 55th minute, he didn’t take off a striker for a defender (standard fare in this sport) for 15 minutes. The gamble worked, Pulisic served up a picture-perfect cross and Leao delivered one of those far-post Cristiano Ronaldo-esque headers to take the lead, before Gimenez added a second. Say this for the new centre-forward: he brings drive, quality and athleticism. He also has a bit of a dark side, as anyone who saw his clash with Luca Marianucci, which resulted in the Empoli defender getting sent off, will confirm. We don’t need to see that from him.
6. Best-laid plans blow up in Xabi Alonso’s face, but it’s too easy to blame him: Hindsight is always 20/20, which means it’s easy to bash Alonso for resting Edmond Tapsoba, Jeremie Frimpong, Patrik Schick and, especially, Florian Wirtz for the visit to Wolfsburg, which ended in a 0-0 draw. With the big clash against table-topping Bayern coming up next weekend (and 120 minutes of football in midweek), he evidently thought he could get away with it. Instead, Wolfsburg hit the woodwork and despite a flurry of late chances after Wirtz came on, it’s most definitely two points dropped. Coaches have to go with their best judgment, and I’d think Alonso has enough credit in the bank with what he’s achieved that most ought to be comfortable with his call. Yeah, I could have done without seeing Mario Hermoso out there, but Leverkusen did enough to win, and it was right to reward Victor Boniface, Aleix García, Nathan Tella and some of the others who did play.
1:29
Moreno: Leverkusen have made Bundesliga easy for Bayern
Alejandro Moreno believes Bayer Leverkusen dropping points vs. Wolfsburg today could have handed the title to Bayern Munich.
5. Five goals in three games is a dream start for Kolo Muani at Juventus, but I’m not sold yet: At least not as Juve’s long-term solution at centre-forward. Leaving aside the not insignificant fact that it’s going to be very hard to keep him unless they can shift Dusan Vlahovic in the summer, Randal Kolo Muani‘s skills don’t seem to fit a Thiago Motta system (or even a more traditional 4-3-3). He did notch both goals in Juventus’ 2-1 win away at Como on Friday and while one was a penalty, the other showcased strength, speed and technique (really, the first of his five goals in three games that did that), which is encouraging. The question really shouldn’t be about how much he scores, but whether he makes Juventus better. And right now, as they showed again on Friday, they have a long, long way to go.
4. Either Maresca is wrong or he’s doing his job, which involves putting a brave face on Chelsea’s crummy situation: On Friday, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca talked about how there were “no regrets” that Chelsea hadn’t brought in another forward in the January window. I wonder, if you looked closely, if you could see his nose grow. It inevitably became part of the narrative on Saturday, when the Blues — without both Nico Jackson and Marc Guiu — fell 2-1 to Brighton in the FA Cup. Truth be told, Chelsea were already short before the window opened and João Félix departed. Guiu has started one top-flight league game in his life: He is not a viable backup at this level. Christopher Nkunku, who started in Jackson’s absence, is a fine player who probably deserves more minutes, but he’s simply an entirely different profile to Guiu and Jackson and a guy who, before joining Chelsea, had never been asked to play as a lone striker. And while we’re at it, with Felix gone and Mykhailo Mudryk suspended, they’re probably short in the winger department too. I don’t blame Maresca: It’s the company line and all, plus 18 months ago he was an assistant coach, meaning it’s not in his personality to clash with the club. But folks see through this.
3. Napoli are slowing down, and it’s up to Antonio Conte to fix it: It’s now two straight draws — against a second-string Roma away, and Sunday at home to Udinese — for Napoli, which equates to four points dropped. Conte says he doesn’t see it that way, talking instead about how it was “another point towards our goal of qualifying for Europe.” That’s purely saying things for effect: Napoli’s objective this season can’t be Conference League qualification. Not with the season they’re having, not with the players they have (and Conte handpicked), not with the reputation (and wages) of Conte himself. The fact is they didn’t look sharp against Udinese and evidently, fatigue is a thing even when you play just once a week. There are two ways out of it. He can freshen up the squad and rotate a little more (his bench included Alessandro Buongiorno, Rafa Marín, Philip Billing, Billy Gilmour, Gio Simeone, Giacomo Raspadori and Noah Okafor: not exactly the Galacticos, but better than the starters of two-thirds of Serie A clubs) — the options are there, despite the pleas of poverty you sometimes here. Or you find a different tactical solution, one that is less physically taxing, based more on quality and less on athleticism. That’s an option too and if there’s a guy with a vast tactical toolbox — and the clout to implement it — it’s Conte.
2. A bitter Borussia Dortmund debut for Niko Kovac, but at least there was some fight: You can’t really put too much of a positive spin on a home defeat and, against a tired Stuttgart side, it’s more than reasonable to expect more — a lot more — from Borussia Dortmund, especially as the injury list has mostly dried up. They conceded little, giving up an unlucky own goal and an unmarked header (hey, it’s still Dortmund) for an xG of 0.34, but they were chaotic and unimaginative going forward. Kovac was brought in to fix that and, while you can find plenty fault with this group of players, the effort wasn’t lacking. You get one mulligan — this was it. Now get them into that top-four spot, which just got that much more difficult given you lost a six-pointer to a direct opponent for the Champions League spaces.
1:28
Laurens: Tottenham deserved to lose vs. Aston Villa
Julien Laurens and Gab Marcotti were not impressed with Tottenham or Ange Postecoglou following their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup.
1. Postecoglou goes on the warpath as Tottenham are dumped from FA Cup by Aston Villa: Fine, Ange Postecoglou has a point. He has a dozen guys out, he played a League Cup semifinal at Anfield on Thursday, he’s entitled to blow his top when somebody asks him why his team isn’t attacking more. “Because they’re tired mate,” he said after Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa. “Do you think they can press like [we would]?” He drew a parallel with Arne Slot rotating against Plymouth and added: “How did Liverpool do today? And they just did that for one game. Do that for 2½ months. Any team. Do that for 2½ months in multiple competitions. I don’t care about me. People will judge me. But you can’t judge this group of players on what’s happened.” He’s right, and he might have added that with a better finish from an exhausted Son Heung-Min, this game could have taken a very different turn. But I think he’s kind of missing the point. Fans aren’t angry with the players and, while some are annoyed with him, the bulk of the anger is with the club and chairman Daniel Levy and the fact that after nearly a quarter-century in charge, he has delivered just one League Cup.
