European soccer review: Are the Premier League’s best burnt out?

It was anything but business as usual in the Premier League or the Bundesliga this weekend. Some of the biggest clubs in England and Germany dropped points, others laboured to claim what ordinarily would’ve been run-of-the-mill wins.

In Spain, Barcelona sat out the action, mourning the death of their team doctor. While they sat idle, their LaLiga title rivals had contrasting fortunes.

And in Italy, Christian Pulisic may have just saved his manager’s job. Sam Tighe, Alex Kirkland and Constantin Eckner look across Europe for the big takeaways and highlights from the weekend.

Premier League

Top takeaway: Are the Premier League’s best burnt out?

The Premier League has now officially hit the home stretch. The vast majority of teams have just 10 games left to play, news that will be music to the ears of those who, this weekend, showed serious signs of burnout.

Liverpool were the highlight example of this, playing so wretchedly in the first half against 20th-placed Southampton (and falling behind) that Arne Slot could not hide his disgust. The following day, Chelsea huffed, puffed and missed a penalty en route to a 1-0 win over relegation-bound Leicester City. And Arsenal quickly ran out of ideas at Old Trafford, with exasperated faces the visual hallmark of their afternoon.

Elite football’s fixture congestion crisis is no new issue — managers and players have spent years warning and complaining about it — and it’s early March that you typically see the results of it. Right on cue, this weekend we saw Cole Palmer miss from 12 yards (ending a perfect 12-for-12 record from the spot in his Premier League career), Diogo Dalot hammer a cross into the second tier and Ryan Gravenberch exhaustedly run the ball out of play.

There’s no letup for these players and teams in question — each will play a high-stakes European game this week — nor for the others affected, like Tottenham Hotspur, whose season now solely rests on the UEFA Europa League, or Aston Villa, who put every last breath into a 1-0 win at Brentford on Saturday.

Best match: Tottenham 2-2 AFC Bournemouth

Tottenham always find themselves in this section. Their commitment to entertaining the footballing masses is hugely appreciated. They were lucky not to be 1-0 down inside 15 seconds, lucky to only be 1-0 down at half-time, deservedly 2-0 down after 65 minutes … then somehow fought back to earn a draw. The Cherries will feel extremely hard done by, but missed chances and a goalkeeping error cost them dearly.

Best goal: Marcus Tavernier at Tottenham

Tavernier may have been the goal scorer, but this move was all about Milos Kerkez. The £50m-rated Bournemouth full-back intercepted a pass intended for Brennan Johnson, sprinted up the pitch on the counterattack, then slowed to compose himself before sending one of the best crosses we’ve seen all season to the back post for an easy finish.

MVP of the weekend: Ismaïla Sarr, Crystal Palace

Sarr was the hero at both ends on Saturday, not only scoring the only goal of the game to earn Palace a 1-0 win over Ipswich Town — and what a calm, dinked finish it was — but popping up with a goal-line clearance in the aftermath of a corner, too. No one did more to earn their team three points than the Senegal international. — Tighe

At the end of the game, a thunderous chorus of whistles accompanied Can and his teammates as they exited the pitch of Signal Iduna Park.

Best match: Bayern Munich 2-3 Bochum

If Bochum manage to avoid relegation, we might look back at this game as a pivotal point in the team’s campaign. Both fan groups showed a stadium-wide tifo before the game showcasing the longstanding friendship between Bayern and Bochum, celebrating 125 years since Bayern’s foundation. Things went pretty much as expected until the 30-minute mark. As Bayern were leading 2-0, Bochum defender Jakov Medic pulled one back before Palhinha was sent off. This allowed Bochum to turn the tide completely. One of the biggest surprises of the season.

Best goal: Nadiem Amiri at Borussia Monchengladbach

Mainz have more than a decent chance of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time. One of the key players has been Amiri, who was largely written off following his underwhelming stint at Leverkusen. He scored the deciding goal for a 3-1 win against Gladbach on Friday, and it happened at a point during the second half when the hosts were getting a grip on the game. Amiri exchanged passes with Lee Jae-Sung and converted with an unstoppable effort past goalkeeper Jonas Omlin from 18 yards out, showing once again Mainz’s brutal efficiency.

MVP of the weekend: Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, Augsburg

Augsburg’s captain not only scored the winning goal via a looping header, but he also organised his team’s steely backline against Dortmund’s countless attempts to find a way through it. Augsburg haven’t conceded a goal since early February, meaning in five consecutive games in which Gouweleeuw was on the pitch for every minute. — Eckner

What else you missed this weekend

Milan show life in Pulisic-led comeback win

Rumours that AC Milan manager Sérgio Conceição could already be out the door at the end of the season have ramped up in recent days. The 50-year-old took over from fellow Portuguese Paulo Fonseca in late December but has failed to breathe new life into the Milan dressing room. Instead, the Rossoneri are en route to missing out on qualifying for the Champions League or Europa League.

While Fonseca, now at Lyon, is in even more serious trouble given his nine-month ban for an altercation with a referee, his successor at Milan can at least continue to influence things from the sideline for the time being. He did so to an extent in the final half an hour against Lecce on Saturday.

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Did Christian Pulisic save Sérgio Conceição’s job?

Julien Laurens reacts to Christian Pulisic’s two-goal performance in AC Milan’s 3-2 win against Lecce.

Milan were down 2-0 but managed to turn the score around, with Christian Pulisic scoring twice — the equaliser from the penalty spot and the deciding third goal following an assist from Rafael Leão, who Conceição had brought on at half-time. Obviously, wins like these won’t save Conceição’s job but help to keep hopes alive that Milan won’t be stranded in the midfield of the Serie A table. — Eckner

Dembélé makes it 20 in 2025

Ousmane Dembélé warmed up for Tuesday’s monumental Champions League second-leg clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool the only way he currently knows how: He scored, then he scored again.

Sent on in the 64th minute against Stade Rennais, he netted twice in stoppage time to complete a 4-1 win and take his personal goal tally this year to 20. That’s this year, as in, since 2025 began.

It extends a frankly incredible run of form that’s generated whispers around a potential run at the Ballon d’Or. They were quiet and half-joking at first, but the more he scores, the louder and more serious those whisper will get.

Netting at Anfield, turning around a 1-0 aggregate deficit against Liverpool and booking a place in the Champions League quarterfinals would go a long way to turning doubters into believers. He looks raring and ready to give that a go. — Tighe