The last European soccer weekend is in the books before the three-week international break has been and gone, and we have a lot to talk about. We’ll begin in LaLiga with the biggest game of the weekend: the Madrid derby. Jose Mourinho is back on the sideline for Real Madrid and we got a game that had a throwback feel, with fouls, a red card and contentious refereeing decisions overshadowing a 2-1 win for Atletico Madrid that ultimately helps Barcelona — whose 3-1 victory at Sevilla takes them five points clear after just seven games — most of all.
The big shock in the Premier League was Brighton’s masterful 3-0 drubbing of defending champs Arsenal, a game that was as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests. Will Gunners boss Mikel Arteta be able to shake it off quickly and get his team back on track? Elsewhere, we got talking points galore for Inter Milan and Roma (who played out a revealing 2-2 draw), Manchester United (who gutted out a draw at Fulham), Borussia Dortmund (who stayed perfect in the German Bundesliga), Liverpool (another goal for Alexander Isak!), and much, much more.
It’s Monday morning, so what better time for some musings? Let’s get into it.
– Carrick keen to find Man Utd positives, but there aren’t many right now
– VAR review: Why no penalty for Manchester United at Fulham?
– Lindop: Has Isak finally found form at Liverpool?
Madrid derby reopens a familiar can of worms … but there was also a game played in the middle of it all
And we’re back — back where we once were, and where we really don’t want to be, talking about referees, officiating appointments and conspiracies. Back in a world that, according to Jose Mourinho, he had hoped to have left behind when he left LaLiga in 2013. (Evidently he hasn’t been watching Real Madrid TV the last couple of years.)
It’s a familiar situation. Real Madrid lose. Some big decisions go against them. Mourinho talks about the officiating — both referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias (“felt the pressure” … “not an international standard referee and never will be one”) and VAR Daniel Jesus Trujillo Suarez (“he has a history with us” … “he feels no pressure … or maybe he feels pressure from certain places”) — and we end up not talking about Atletico’s win or the fact that Real Madrid are a whopping six points behind league-leading Barcelona even though it’s still just September.
Many Madridistas will nod along knowingly and talk about robbery and conspiracies. Many Mourinho-haters will talk about the same old playbook: deflect, deny, disorient. The thing here is that on the two big decisions that Mourinho cited, with the help of two A4 color printouts, he sort of has a point.
VAR correctly intervened to reverse the yellow card shown to Jude Bellingham after a clash with Cristian Romero and cautioned the Argentine instead, but that could easily have been a red. Romero has a reputation and it’s not unjustified: He knew what he was doing, leaving his boot in. On the other hand, the trend in many European leagues this year is to let play run, call fewer fouls and show fewer cards, and Arias Ortiz is that sort of referee. It’s the difficult line officials tread. They want red-blooded tackles, they’re in the sports entertainment business and a first-half sending off can spoil LaLiga’s “other” showcase clash. I can live with his decision in the moment.
The tackle by Lee Kang-In on Fede Valverde is another matter. It looks bad on replays, and it looks downright horrendous in the still-frame Mourinho was waving around. Ortiz Arias had a clear view: You assume his decision to not intervene with a caution was down to Valverde staying on his feet and not looking particularly hurt.
I think he got it wrong. It merited at least a yellow card, and if the VAR had intervened and he had seen it again, it might have been a red. But here, we need to remind ourselves — again — that the VAR can intervene only if it’s a “clear and obvious mistake” that would result in an indisputable red card. Ortiz Arias saw it, judged it (incorrectly in my view) and because of this, the VAR didn’t feel it was clear-cut enough that he was going to jump from a simple foul to a straight red.
Mourinho is correct when he says that if both Lee and Romero had been sent off, Real Madrid would likely have won this game, playing at 11 vs. 9 for more than an hour. (Thank you, Captain Obvious.) But that doesn’t mean the calls were as obvious as he says.
Nor does it mean he’s on the receiving end of a vast conspiracy. (By the way, conspiracies are usually driven by financial considerations: What’s the benefit to LaLiga of penalizing Real Madrid, the world’s most popular club, and denying the league a seasonlong head-to-head battle with Barcelona?)
Of course, all of this takes away from the match itself, which is a shame. After a first half that offered very little from both sides — I’m not blaming them here, as derbies are more “can’t lose” than “must win” — the game turned on Dean Huijsen’s red card and penalty. (Weirdly, Mourinho said he didn’t see the replay so couldn’t judge, but based on what he was told in the dressing room, Ortiz Arias got it correct depending on where you spot the foul.)
Down a goal and a man with 38 minutes to go away to Atleti, there’s only so much you can do, but the reaction from Real Madrid was nevertheless disappointing. Mourinho evidently felt the same, and made a big (but correct) call in replacing Vinicius with Yan Diomande. The fact that Jonathan David (are you watching, Juventus?) scored the second almost straight away definitively took the wind out of their sails before Antonio Rüdiger‘s garbage-time strike. Thibaut Courtois performed his usual miracle saves, and it felt like damage limitation after that. (Mourinho knows three weeks without a game is a long time and it’s better to lose 2-1 while complaining about refereeing than to get your butt handed to you 5-2, as happened last year.)
3:28
What went wrong for Real in the Madrid derby?
As for Atleti, Romero still sails too close to the wind for my liking, Julián Álvarez got booed when he came on (but was left alone after that) and Johnny Cardoso did a fine impression of Pablo Barrios in midfield. Giuliano Simeone dominated the game, too: He set up David’s goal and his defending on Kylian Mbappé late was a joy to behold. (His Papa will be proud.) With Alexander Sorloth returning after the international break and David scoring his third goal in three games, it gives the club the option of slow-rolling Alvarez’s reintegration and taking pressure off him, which is another big positive.
Arsenal got trounced at Brighton, and it’s now up to Arteta to make sure it was just a blip
Brighton & Hove Albion fans, watching their team demolish the reigning Premier League champions, gleefully sang “Are you Tottenham in disguise?” It’s the sort of trolling that winds up any fanbase — especially given the current state of Spurs — but for obvious reasons, it strikes a particular chord with Arsenal.
Make no mistake about it: The 3-0 defeat is a bloody nose. The challenge for Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is to decide how much of it is down to things beyond his control — like Brighton being exceptional, or some of his players making craven mistakes — and how much has to do with flaws in his setup … weaknesses future opponents may be able to exploit. (Thankfully, they don’t play Brighton every week.)
The funny thing is that the stat line doesn’t tell the story of how much better Brighton were. Arsenal had 60% possession and won the expected goals battle (1.63 to 1.31). Both teams missed two big chances (it’s not an exaggeration to say Brighton could have scored five or six), and Arsenal had more touches in the opposition box. So how were they so bad?
0:53
Hislop: Arsenal have lost one game, there’s no need to panic
Arteta said there “wasn’t enough intensity,” which is coachspeak, but also true: Brighton ran harder and ran smarter. He also blamed technical errors — also true — and it was weird to see how poor the marking was for Chema Andrés‘ header or how Gabriel Magalhães and Ezri Konsa got their positioning wrong for the other Brighton goals. Then there was Bruno Guimarães, who had one of his worst games since coming to England. And Declan Rice who seemed to lose his head and might have been sent off late in the game.
The intensity bit is what it is. Arsenal usually show more than enough to win. The reality is that unless you rotate heavily game to game against most teams — something Arteta is loath to do, and with good reason — it’s not really an issue. It’s the other mistakes that he needs to figure out in the next three weeks. I’m tempted to chalk most of them up to one-offs and Brighton making them look bad. Arteta sees the players every day, so he may well feel differently.
Should Arteta blame himself too? The knee-jerk reaction is to wonder why you would wait until the hour mark (when you were 3-0 down) to make your first substitutions especially when you have such a deep squad.
While you assume, having conceded the second just before halftime, that he played the old coaching/motivational favorite — “I’m not making changes, you guys got us into it, you guys get us out of it!” — at the break, it’s pretty evident that with so much talent (and potential game changers, at least in terms of giving Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler something different to worry about) on the bench, waiting that long wasn’t a good idea. The whole point of having quality options is to be able to change things around and gain an edge when things aren’t going your way.
Roma and Inter both have regrets after draw, but both come out stronger
Saturday night’s 2-2 draw between the Serie A league leaders was plenty entertaining, but also the kind of game that lends itself to second-guessing.
AS Roma boss Gian Piero Gasperini, whose side was 2-0 up at halftime, lamented some missed chances and his side running out of gas after the break. His opposite number, Cristian Chivu, said Internazionale had to “act, not just react” and noted how much better they were after the break.
Far be it for me to question their narratives and, of course, there’s plenty of truth in their respective readings of the game. But there are far more positives for both to take away. Gasperini can be happy that his side is confident and has totally bought into his way of playing. That first half was pretty devastating not just on the attacking front (maybe the goals were a little fortuitous), but defensively too, as Roma limited Inter to one shot on target.
When you go man-for-man in so many areas of the pitch, it’s physically taxing and mistakes are costly. You just have to accept that you’re trying to outscore the opposition, not just concede fewer goals. And when the other side is both battle-tested and more technically gifted, sure, there’s always the risk that it will keep the ball and pass its way through your press. But that’s what being brave is all about, and Roma are nothing if not that.
As for Inter, this is the fourth straight game in which they went 2-0 down (before the Roma draw, they came back to beat Napoli and Udinese and lost to Real Madrid) and of course, the media is focusing on that and the fact that they’ve kept just one clean sheet all season. I’m not suggesting it’s irrelevant, but when so many of the goals conceded are due to goofy mistakes or unforeseen circumstances (like the ball going through Manuel Akanji‘s legs) it’s less concerning. Anyone can make a mistake at any time. You worry when the errors are systemic and when the individuals aren’t good enough, which isn’t Inter’s case. If you really want to find fault with Inter’s squad, it’s perhaps the lack of creativity and one-on-one unpredictability. (The former becomes even more evident when Hakan Çalhanoglu is out.)
Quick hits
10. Raphinha on Messi-esque record-writing pace as Sevilla humbled: After his hat trick in Barcelona’s 3-1 away win over Sevilla on Saturday, Raphinha is on pace to score 65 LaLiga goals — a rate that would pulverise the record held by Lionel Messi (who bagged 50 in 2011-12). It’s silly to even contemplate, I know. Seven games aren’t much of a sample (though he also has two in the UEFA Champions League), there are tougher games to come, and nobody “human” has ever scored more than 40 in LaLiga (Cristiano Ronaldo, like Messi, did surpass that mark).
There’s so much in the Raphinha story that is remarkable, though. Like the fact that he spent most of his career playing out wide or in the No. 10 hole before moving up front (by necessity) this season. Or, indeed, the fact that as late as age 25, he had spent his career at clubs like Stade Rennais or Leeds United (no disrespect). Or the sheer technical beauty of his performance Saturday, like the control with which he put Arouna Sangante on his backside for the opener, or the delicate dink for the third goal or the fact that he nearly scored an “Olympic goal,” hitting the post direct from a corner. Brazil fans (and Carlo Ancelotti) are left to wonder what might have been had he been fit at the FIFA World Cup.
Tactics nerds will argue over whether his scoring is a function of Hansi Flick’s dominant system (i.e., Joe Schmo would score plenty in this setup). Stats guys will keep making projections. Me? I just love watching.
1:05
Hislop: Right now Raphinha is the world’s best player
9. Paris Saint-Germain remember who they are in Le Classique: If you were wondering when Luis Enrique’s trademark slow start would end and the two-time European champions would finally get into gear, you got your answer on Sunday night. Marseille may be bruised, battered and struggling financially, and they went into the game on the back of four straight defeats, but it’s still the Velodrome — with PSG fans banned from attending — and France’s biggest game.
Don’t let the 2-1 score fool you. This was one-way traffic in the first half, and PSG raised the bar further after the break. Marseille keeper Jeffrey De Lange was arguably man of the match, Ferran Torres came off the bench to break the ice, making it six goals in five games, and PSG racked up a whopping 5.09 expected goals. Even after Marseille’s equalizer, you just knew this was only going one way. As for Marseille, Bruno Genesio is off to the worst start of any coach they’ve had in more than two decades. That’s not a good sign in terms of job security heading into an international break.
8. Christian Pulisic shines in his first league start for Milan: And it’s not a coincidence, because not only is he qualitatively better than most (if not all) their attacking players, he’s also a natural fit for Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 formation and a natural foil for a center forward like Goncalo Ramos. Pulisic’s opener in Milan’s 3-0 win over Lecce was a clinic in close control, timing and tracking a long pass over the top. He was also involved in Adrien Rabiot’s second, though a lot of credit should go to Ramos’ delicious no-look assist.
That said, the win ought to be placed in context. The worst thing you can do is draw massive conclusions from a victory over Lecce, who aren’t very good. Some are already doing that, noting how the holdovers from last season — Pulisic and Rabiot, but also Luka Modric and Alexis Saelemakers — all played well and how even Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 was more of a back four in disguise, with Pervis Estupinan dropping deep and Mario Gila going wide to right back. I’d pump the brakes on that. Amorim isn’t going to go back to being a Portuguese version of Max Allegri anytime soon. It’s not why he was brought in and, frankly, you wouldn’t want it anyway.
7. Manchester City stay perfect, but Enzo Maresca can’t be happy: And, in fact, he isn’t, saying: “I prefer to win 1-0 than 5-3.” Especially when you concede two sloppy goals, your back line looks disjointed and you get bullied by (no disrespect) Brian Brobbey. It finished 5-3, it could have been 8-5, and while Sunderland played with intensity and quality — in particular Enzo La Fee and Granit Xhaka — you just know that a manager who likes to talk about “control” as much as Maresca is going to fret about this for some time.
City have enough firepower to overcome all sorts of defensive wobbles: Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki were excellent, Enzo Fernandez was, too, beyond his goal, and then there’s that Erling Haaland guy. But this isn’t the first time they’ve been shaky at the back, and when you look at the quality (and cost) of their individual defenders, it’s fair to ask what’s not working. They shouldn’t be worse as a unit as they are as individuals, and yet too often, it has looked that way. Still, these are “good problems” to have. Maresca and City are three points clear at the top and have won six of six games in all competitions.
1:50
Was Man City vs. Sunderland the best game of the season?
6. The good news for Juventus is we have a Kolo Muani sighting (but no goal yet): The stat is still there: Randal Kolo Muani has scored one league goal in the past 16 months. But in Sunday night’s 2-0 win over Atalanta, he was arguably man of the match. That matters, because Juve’s other option at center forward is Nick Woltemade and while Kolo Muani’s finishing leaves a lot to be desired, he can at least impersonate a striker better than the Germany international.
Atalanta were a far more credible test than NEC Nijmegen (whom they beat 5-0 in the UEFA Conference League) in terms of establishing where Juve are following the traumatic defeat at Sassuolo a week ago. And while there’s plenty that can (and must) be improved, at least coach Luciano Spalletti seems to have found a bit of tactical balance with Nico González as his wingback and Weston McKennie making his first league start since opening day.
It’s worth reminding ourselves too that this is still a team without its most gifted player — Kenan Yildiz won’t be back until late November at the earliest — and that their first-choice midfield, Manuel Locatelli and Khéphren Thuram, won’t be available until the new year. To stay afloat, they’re going to need more Kolo Muani performances like this one.
5. Isak hasn’t turned the corner, but it matters tons that he is scoring: You engineer a move away from your old club and turn into a villain. Your new club makes you one of the most expensive players of all time and you repay them by playing poorly, getting injured, missing three and a half months, and then playing badly again upon your return. To make matters worse, the “other” striker they signed, Hugo Ekitike, the guy who was supposed to be your understudy, goes on a tear and you sort of become the forgotten man … until Ekitike gets hurt and you’re shoved back into the starting lineup.
That has kinda been Alexander Isak‘s past 12 months. And while he won’t get sympathy, it’s pretty obvious that his fate and Liverpool’s (at least until Ekitike returns) are intertwined. A month into the season, and he has produced four goals in five league games while still playing like a shadow of the player he was at Newcastle United. It’s a start and an important one, because Liverpool’s forwards simply aren’t particularly prolific.
Sunday’s 1-0 win at AFC Bournemouth was emblematic of where Isak is now. He showed glimmers, did little to lift the side (which was pretty humdrum back to front), but was there to score and secure the three points. Right now, you take it. But you also know that if Liverpool are going to achieve anything significant this season, they will have to kick it up many notches. And the only way that’s going to happen is if Isak keeps scoring.
1:26
Nicol: Liverpool were lucky to claim 3 points vs. Bournemouth
4. Borussia Dortmund stay perfect, but this was a scare against VfB Stuttgart: You can’t ignore four wins in four games and top of the Bundesliga, especially after a road victory against a side like Stuttgart, who are in the Champions League. And of course, when you field four guys age 20 or younger, you also have to allow for youth and inconsistency and all that. But this Dortmund side are a work in progress, and manager Nico Kovac looks like a guy throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks.
His knack for game-changing substitutions (Jobe Bellingham and Konstantinos Karetsas came on and turned the match) can either be read as genius or getting things wrong to begin with. In Saturday’s 1-0 win, they nearly gifted the opposition two goals in the first half before sneaking the winner on the counter, mostly because Stuttgart weren’t happy with a draw. There’s work to do, but if you’re a glass-half-full type of person, those four wins loom large, and with so much youth, there’s plenty of room to level up.
3. Manchester United draw 1-1 at Fulham as Arbeloa takes a page from his old buddy in Madrid: Man United needed a reaction after getting knocked out of the League Cup by Brighton in midweek, and I thought they got one at Fulham. They took the game to the opposition away from home, they hit the woodwork twice, and they forced Bernd Leno to make some absurd saves. Was it entertainment worthy of the prime Sir Alex Ferguson era? No. Would it have been better to get all three points against a side that has yet to win? Of course. But this is a long journey, and for now, at least the players’ effort and belief in Michael Carrick seems to be there.
Whether Carrick is giving them the right inputs to succeed is another matter, of course, but he has the dressing room, and that’s not nothing. Matheus Cunha’s equalizer came late and was deflected, prompting Fulham coach Alvaro Arbeloa to say it was “lucky.” Then he doubled down, saying that because of what happened in the Manchester derby — with referees admitting their error in allowing Erling Haaland’s goal to stand — he knew that officials wouldn’t not “let Manchester United lose.” It’s a stupid thing to say, and we’ll see if action is taken against him. Of the many great things Arbeloa could have learned from his years with Mourinho, this isn’t one of them.
1:49
Leboeuf: Man United can’t be happy with a point vs. Fulham
2. Rosenior needs a reality check (and probably a fine or suspension): On Saturday, moments after leading his new club (Paris FC) to a 2-1 home victory over one of his previous clubs (Strasbourg), Liam Rosenior ran over to the visiting fans’ section and from the safety of the pitch, appeared to taunt them, waving his arms in the air, thumping his chest and shouting repeatedly. This caused a melee, with security and Strasbourg players — many of whom previously played for him — dragging him away. Afterward, Rosenior simply said that “a small section” of Strasbourg fans were “disrespectful” to him and to his family, and that he was “obviously sending a message.”
The backstory here is that a significant portion of Strasbourg fans really dislike Rosenior and what he stands for. They don’t like being the junior varsity team within BlueCo, the multiclub ownership group that also owns Chelsea, they don’t like being a stepping-stone, they don’t like Rosenior (who had enjoyed success in his 18 months there) for bolting to Stamford Bridge halfway through the season last January. Rosenior is a bright guy, and he should realize this. He should also realize that those fans — unlike him — are going to be loyal to their club. He left, they stayed. He also ought to know that without supporters, he wouldn’t have a job. And especially since it was (his words) “a small minority” of disrespectful fans, and Strasbourg is (also his words) “a fantastic club,” he should have just stayed put.
Most of all, he should have known that what he did was stupid and dangerous. That concept ought to get drilled into his head by a fine or suspension. The other stuff? If he really doesn’t understand their anger, maybe he is the out-of-touch, entitled nepo baby some claim he is.
1. Defensive horror show costs Spurs dear (but at least they scored): Now, they need to figure out how to break the doom loop. (Maybe the goals, even though they came late in garbage time, will help do that.) Because the reality is that until four minutes from time, Tottenham hadn’t scored a league goal since May. Still, they’re propping up the Premier League table and have three long weeks to think about their 3-2 loss to Aston Villa. Manager Roberto De Zerbi would do well to cling to his positives, a first half in which they created chances and appeared to at least execute what they were being asked to do. (The problem is, some of these guys just aren’t that good.)
You’d assume the defensive meltdown we saw after the break — a brain fart from Andy Robertson, and Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke doing their best turnstile impressions — is a one-off. At least you’d hope. Because the way things are going, you just don’t know. Credit must also go to Villa. Johan Manzambi lived up to the billing, but it was Nicolas Jackson, playing with a chip on his shoulder (understandably), who stole the show and has some folks saying “Ollie who?” Did Villa ride their luck a little? Probably. But that’s what happens when your opponent is in that doom loop.
