Man City’s crisis, Milan derby drama, lucky Liverpool, more: Marcotti recaps the weekend

The weekend is over and Deadline Day is upon us, but we have a lot to unpack following another wild weekend across Europe’s top soccer leagues. Pep Guardiola and Manchester City fell to a 5-1 thrashing at Arsenal that was entirely deserved given their poor performance, leaving him a lot to figure out. The Milan derby delivered a ton of fireworks in Serie A, with Inter’s late goal earning them a 1-1 draw and showing that they’re a credible contender for the title despite Napoli‘s slender three-point lead atop the table.

Elsewhere, Liverpool got a fortunate win at in-form Bournemouth despite not playing brilliantly: should Arne Slot & Co. be concerned about the squad’s fitness levels heading into a critical period of the season? Oh, and Real Madrid lost at Espanyol in dramatic fashion and surely prompting more cries of foul play from LaLiga’s biggest team when it comes to refereeing.

Beyond that, there was a lot to unpack around Barcelona, Tottenham, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen and more, so let’s get to it. Here are musings and reactions to the most memorable moments of the weekend.

It’s not the score that should concern Pep Guardiola, but the performance

Break it down and you can explain away several of Arsenal’s goals — arguably those of Ethan Nwaneri, Miles Lewis-Skelly and Thomas Partey — to individual brilliance and randomness, as evidenced by their combined xG of 0.11. Take them out of the mix as things beyond a manager’s control and it’s a 2-1 defeat rather than a 5-1 away defeat against the second-placed team in the table, which isn’t terrible.

Oh, but if you did that, you’d be deluded. The real concern, as I see it, is that Manchester City managed a single shot on goal — Erling Haaland‘s equalizer — in the second half. More than the five goals, that’s the humiliation: one of football’s greatest ever attacking machines reduced to this. You have to try really, really hard to be this bad.

You can deal with folks making mistakes because they try something difficult or risky or simply because they’re not that good. The chances City gifted Arsenal in the first half fall into those categories. Harder to deal with is the futility we saw after the break, whether from Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva — who are supposed to be leaders on this team — or from Omar Marmoush, who basically disappeared after the break. Yeah, you win and lose as a team and Pep Guardiola gets paid the big bucks to bear the responsibility, but he was let down on Sunday and it’s not the usual scapegoats (Stefan Ortega and Manuel Akanji) who need to be held to account.

I’ve made this point before, and it stands. It’s not a good look for Real Madrid — the richest, best-supported, most successful club in Spain — to needle match officials in this way (especially when they do it preventatively, via house organ Real Madrid TV). That said, Saturday felt like (at least) two points dropped through bad officiating. A stopped clock is right twice a day.

QUICK HITS

10. Simeone hits 500 and Atletico Madrid hit form just in time for the derby: Diego Simeone, taking charge of his 500th Liga game (eighth-most, but unlike the others, all with the same club), guided Atletico Madrid to a 2-0 win over Mallorca that confirms his team’s state of grace. It’s not so much that they’ve won 18 of their last 20 games in all competitions, but more the fact that when called upon, the right people are stepping up at the right time. On Saturday, it was Koke, Alexander Sorloth and Samuel Lino who answered the call, which only serves to further underscore just how deep this team is. With the Madrid derby — and a chance to go top — a week away, the only stain on his weekend was Robin Le Normand‘s caution, which means he’ll be suspended for the Real Madrid game.

9. Ousmane Dembélé on fire for PSG as Luis Enrique does things his way: The word “fluid front three” is a bugbear of mine. (Almost as much as “false nine,” which gets used whenever someone who is not a centerforward plays up front, regardless of whether they do “false nine” stuff or play as an orthodox front man.) But with Paris Saint-Germain and Luis Enrique, it makes sense. Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (making his PSG debut) really did play that way for the hour or so they were on the pitch together in the 5-2 away win against Brest. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of time on the training pitch to build the necessary chemistry. But if anyone has the doggedness and vision to make it work — as well as the string of not-so-critical league games in which to learn how to do it — it’s Luis Enrique.

8. Lamine Yamal‘s highlight moment overshadows routine 1-0 win over Alaves: This wasn’t the sort of performance to write home about, but against a parked bus — and with a bit of fatigue after their Champions League exertions on Wednesday — you’re not going to blame Barcelona for not running up the score. The fact that Alaves managed an xG of just 0.09 tells its own story. The highlight for me wasn’t Robert Lewandowski‘s tap-in, though we should note he’s up to 30 goals this season and it’s still early February — not bad for a 36-year-old — but Lamine Yamal’s early run, an absurd combination of technique, awareness, athleticism, strength and balance. On the Gab + Juls show, Julien Laurens and I debated whether it was reminiscent of Lionel Messi or George Weah. The fact that it called to mind both players tells you just how special Yamal is. Oh, and he’s still too young to vote.

7. Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich need to grow up: Sometimes the “maturity” card gets played unfairly. Not here. You can’t be 4-0 up at home against the second-bottom team in the league and concede three times, squeaking a 4-3 win. It’s just not what grown-up clubs of Bayern’s magnitude do. Bayern started slow, could have easily gone down a goal early, dominated for a long-stretch and then suffered a late defensive collapse with those two injury time goals. The result was never in peril really, but the damage done to the confidence in this team is real.

6. Don’t be fooled by Randal Kolo Muani‘s goal, as it’s still baby-steps for Juventus: At least it’s a win after two straight defeats, right? And given that 4-1 victory over Empoli was only their second of 2025, that’s not nothing. Still, you need to take it with a pinch of salt. Yes, it’s nice that Kolo Muani bagged two goals, but the first came after his opponent crumpled to the ground and he shot from three yards out, while the second consisted of Tim Weah’s shot deflecting off him and into the net when his back was turned. Juve’s other two goals came in injury time. I’m not a Renato Veiga guy, and even less of a Lloyd Kelly guy, and I hate seeing Dusan Vlahovic come off the bench (though maybe his goal will change that). In other words, I’m confused as you are about Thiago Motta and what he’s trying to do.

5. Borussia Dortmund still have plenty at stake for Kovac: If you wanted to be really cynical, you might suggest that the players wanted to look their best for incoming boss Niko Kovac, who takes over Monday. Whatever the case, they dominated for long stretches in the 2-1 win over Heidenheim and served up a reminder that, for all their ills and foibles, there is still a lot of talent here. Sure, they’re in the bottom half of the table, but they’re just five points from the top four and are still alive in Europe, which a manageable opponent (Sporting CP). Kovac’s tenure can’t be seen as some sort of long-term rebuilding: there are goals to reach in the here and now, and they have the tools to do it.

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Why Antonio Conte will be angry over Napoli’s draw with Roma

Gab Marcotti explains why Napoli manager Antonio Conte will be unhappy after his club surrendered a late goal to Roma.

4. Napoli drop points at Roma and only have themselves to blame: Manager Antonio Conte tried to put a brave face on it, noting that Roma’s celebrations after Angeliño‘s injury time equaliser made it 1-1 somehow showed how feared and respected his Napoli side are. Maybe it was a way to distract from the fact that Napoli really should have done better. Yes, Roma away is a tough out, but the game was sandwiched between a key Europa League match and the Coppa Italia quarterfinal against Milan on Wednesday, and so Claudio Ranieri left no fewer than six regulars on the bench (including Paulo Dybala, Artem Dovbyk, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Leandro Paredes). Napoli took a first half lead and then wilted, managing just two shots (with a total xG of 0.09) in the second half. Some blame fatigue, but it’s hard to accept when this team gets a week-long break in between each game. Others blame lack of depth; again, hard to swallow when you consider they had Gio Simeone, Giacomo Raspadori, Cyril Ngonge, Billy Gilmour and Philip Billing on the bench (the last three being Conte signings). It’s OK to say you get it wrong sometimes.

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Can Tottenham’s win against Brentford turn their season around?

Janusz Michallik reacts to Tottenham’s 2-0 win away at Brentford in the Premier League.

3. Tottenham finally win, and do it by playing the opposite of “Angeball:” Yeah I know the cliche — a win is a win, especially when you haven’t had one in the league since mid-December — and we can praise Spurs’ resilience and effort in the face of adversity (starting with the laundry list of injured and unavailable players). But Sunday’s 2-0 away victory over Brentford should fool nobody. The home side had the upper hand and created plenty more chances, Tottenham looked nothing like an Ange Postecoglou team (not passing judgement here, just noting how they were on the back foot for much of the game) and the opener was a gift from the opposition keeper. It’s three points and you’ll take them, but we’ll need to see something different if they’re going to scale their way up the table and, more importantly, lay the foundation for something better next season.

2. Boniface is back with a bang, but Leverkusen need to check themselves: They’re rolling along nicely — Sunday’s 3-1 win over Hoffenheim was their 13th in their last 15 games and they’re second in the Bundesliga table — but there are lessons to be learned for Xabi Alonso’s crew. They could have killed this game off early, but, instead, with the help of Alex Grimaldo’s sending off, risked letting Hoffenheim back in. That’s something they need to fix. Beyond that, the additions of Emi Buendia (unlucky to be subbed off after the red card) and Mario Hermoso add depth, though what really moves the needle is the return from injury of Victor Boniface, who got on the scoresheet too. Last year, they came within a whisker of a historic Treble. That probably won’t happen this season, but they’ll go deep — provided they don’t beat themselves.

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Ogden: PSR may trump Amorim over Garnacho future

Mark Ogden believes Ruben Amorim wants Alejandro Garnacho to stay at Manchester United however the board are open to selling the forward.

1. I was kinda half-joking when I said Man United should tank the league and focus on the cups: And yet, that’s maybe what Ruben Amorim is doing? Go past the headline (embarrassing as it is) of the 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace (they have five defeats in their last six league games at Old Trafford) and consider instead his decision to start Kobbie Mainoo at centerforward (and, by extension, Bruno Fernandes in midfield). What if this is what he’s actually doing? Experimenting in the league knowing they won’t be relegated and, realistically, won’t be qualifying for the Champions League? Putting all the eggs instead on winning the Europa League and the FA Cup? He won’t — and can’t — admit it, but it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad decision, provided it helps him assess his squad and gives him the answers he needs to rebuild in the summer.