Juve’s invincible dream over
Sticking in Italy, Napoli ended Juventus’ unbeaten start to the Serie A season, sparing us what may well have been Europe’s worst invincible campaign. Frank Anguissa and Romelu Lukaku‘s second-half goals helped Antonio Conte’s side come from behind to reaffirm their place at the top of the table, after Randal Kolo Munai had given Juve the lead on his debut. Incredibly, considering they are a staggering 16 points off the pace, it was the Old Lady’s first league defeat of the campaign but they’ve won just eight of their 22 Serie A games, drawing 13, and slumping to fifth following this weekend’s loss. — Marsden
Panic stations at Benfica?
It has not been a great month for Benfica, who suffered their third defeat in four league games with a surprise 3-1 defeat to Casa Pia this weekend. They are now seven points behind leaders Sporting CP. Throw in the midweek 5-4 loss to Barcelona — a game they led 3-1 and 4-2 — in the Champions League and the pressure is on when they travel to Juventus on Wednesday, attempting to book their place in the knockout round of the competition. — Marsden
AS Monaco end weeks of misery
The winter months have not been nice to Monaco. Following their win over Toulouse in early December, Monaco stumbled from one disappointing result to the next … until this week. First, Adi Hütter’s side beat Aston Villa in the UEFA Champions League thanks to a Wilfried Singo header, improving their chances of qualifying for the first knockout round. Then, they beat Rennes 3-2 in a real shootout on Saturday.
Hütter, who recently extended his contract until 2027 despite the recent slump, must feel some relief. With 30 points after 16 matchdays, Monaco had an identical record as last season. But it seemed like Hütter’s team could not maintain their level of performance this time around. Perhaps the two recent wins mark a turnaround.
Paris Saint-Germain might already be too far ahead in the Ligue 1 standings, but finishing second once again would still count as a success for the Austrian manager. — Eckner
