Every Monday, I’ll wrap up what happened over the weekend in the top leagues across Europe, and I’ll share what I think are some of the most insightful soccer reads on the web from the past week.
MESSI, RONALDO BOTH SCORE BRACES
Barcelona maintained its seven-point lead over Atletico Madrid atop the Spanish table with a 6-1 destruction of Girona at the Camp Nou on Saturday. Lionel Messi set up Luis Suarez’s first of three goals on the night, and then danced around two defenders inside the penalty area, as Barcelona took a 3-1 lead after 30 minutes. He added another goal six minutes later from a set piece. Cristiano Ronaldo also bagged a brace, scoring in the 44th and 61st minute of Real Madrid’s 4-0 win over Alaves.
It’s interesting to note that even though Messi and Ronaldo both have the same amount of goals in all competitions this season, the Argentine is regularly heralded for being at the top of his game, while the Portuguese star is widely viewed as being in decline.
Ronaldo has now scored the same number of goals as Messi this season… in fewer gamespic.twitter.com/LlRBr4WJDG
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 24, 2018
More on La Liga: Friday roundup || Saturday roundup || Sunday roundup
Worth a read: Luke Taylor of the Football Espana website writes how this has been “a season of below-par performances” for Athletic Bilbao under new manager Cuco Ziganda, but he points out that the Basque club’s future looks bright.
“Both Inaki Williams and Kepa Arrizabalaga have signed new contracts recently, meaning that they should remain at the club for at least the next few years. Despite the departure of Aymeric Laporte to Manchester City, Inigo Martinez not only represents a fantastic replacement but provides a big confidence boost given that they snatched him from rivals Real Sociedad. Furthermore, there have been breakout seasons for Unai Nunez and Inigo Cordoba, who both look like real talents.”
MILAN CONTINUES TO CLIMB
AC Milan took centre stage this weekend, as Juventus’ home game was snowed out, and league leaders Napoli don’t play until Monday. Patrick Cutrone and Davide Calabria, two graduates from the Rossoneri’s youth academy, scored in a 2-0 road win over AS Roma. Milan have gone unbeaten in eight consecutive matches under new manager Gennaro Gattuso, and now sit sixth in the table, within striking distance of the Champions League zone. Sunday’s win was Milan’s first in the Italian capital since October 2011.
More on Serie A: Saturday roundup || Sunday roundup
Worth a read: Anthony Barbagallo of the Football Italia website penned this piece on Turkish winger Cengiz Ünder, and how he is unexpectedly turning heads at AS Roma.
“Since Francesco Totti’s retirement and Mohamed Salah’s departure to Liverpool, Romanisti were left speculating on who would become Roma’s next X-Factor. Was it going to be Stephan El Shaarawy or Roman-born Alessandro Florenzi? Over the course of this month, the Giallorossi have discovered a new prodigy – a Turkish 20-year-old called Cengiz Ünder. Have the Lupi finally found their new rising star?”
BAYERN DROPS POINTS
Hertha Berlin ended Bayern Munich’s 14-game winning run in all competitions with a 0-0 draw on Saturday. Bayern dominated the game, but Hertha held on without conceding for a third consecutive away match. It was Bayern’s first scoreless draw at home since Mainz visited in April 2012. With the draw, Bayern moved 20 points clear of second-place Borussia Dortmund, who hosts Augsburg on Monday.
More on Bundesliga: Friday roundup || Saturday roundup || Sunday roundup
Worth a read: Bundesliga Fanatic’s Critty Smith warns while Borussia Dortmund has been on the rise since Peter Stöger took over as manager from Peter Bosz, the club still faces some issues.
“Despite their recent improvement as it pertains to results and league table positioning, there is something missing at BVB with Stöger that was clearly present under Bosz: a clear offensive concept. During much of Bosz’s tenure at Dortmund the defence had regressed to one of the worst in major European football. Bosz’s 4-3-3 contributed to moments of beautiful offensive football that was attractive to the eye, there is no denying that. However, his strategy of using a high-defending defensive line did more harm than good as the season progressed.”
A COSTLY WIN FOR PSG
Paris Saint-Germain extended its leads over second-place AS Monaco to 14 points with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Marseille in Le Classique. It proved a costly victory, though, as Neymar was stretchered off late in the game after twisting his right ankle, and the Brazilian’s participation in the second leg of PSG’s Champions League series vs. Real Madrid on March 6 is now in doubt.
More on Ligue 1: Friday roundup || Saturday roundup || Sunday roundup
Worth a read: ESPN.com’s Jonathan Johnson argues the selection of Presnel Kimpembe over captain Thiago Silva for Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-1 Champions League round-of-16 first-leg defeat away at Real Madrid could signal a changing of the guard.
“As Kimpembe showed in Madrid, he is not short of talent. The 22-year-old has displayed signs for some time now that he is ready for a regular starting role, such as his rock-solid showing in the 4-0 first-leg win over Barcelona at the same stage of last season’s Champions League, before the second-leg capitulation under Silva’s leadership.”
A GOOD DAY FOR THE CITY OF MANCHESTER
Sunday was a red-letter day for the city of Manchester. Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United came from a behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford to move back into second place in the table. Later in the day, Manchester City over-whelmed Arsenal with goals from Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva to win the League Cup final at Wembley.
More on the Premier League: Saturday roundup || Sunday roundup
Worth a read: World Soccer’s Brian Glanville didn’t hold back in this scathing rebuke of Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra for their roles in the sordid sexual abuse case involving youth coach and scout Barry Bennell.
” Once again, the words of the 18th century political philosopher Edmund Burke seem all too poignantly relevant. For evil to triumph, it is enough for good men to do nothing. And a whole host of good men appear to have done nothing in the sordid case of Barry Bannell, who has now gone to prison – not for the first time – for 31 years.
Since he is reported to be suffering from cancer, I greatly doubt he will serve the whole or even a substantial part of that sentence.
On the alarming evidence we now have, it is all too obvious that people prominent in the game were aware of Bennell’s nefarious activities, yet they turned a blind eye or a deaf ear to them. Both Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra now face crippling damages which could run into millions.”
ALSO WORTH READING
Ryan Huettel of These Football Times wrote this fascinating, historical feature about Major League Soccer and the lasting legacy of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair.
Staying with MLS, FourFourTwo’s Sam Stejskal examines why Targeted Allocation Money is great for the league, but maybe not for domestic players.
Writing for the Daily Telegraph, former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher explains why he thinks Manchester United’s Paul Pogba has not done enough to have a team built around him.
Mike Goodman of The Ringer argues that Paulinho has saved Barcelona since his arrival last off-season.
Brian Bertie profiled Geronimo Barbadillo, one of Peru’s greatest players, for the Peruvian Waltz blog.
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