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FRIDAY, AUG. 26
• Freiburg vs. VfL Bochum, 2:30 p.m. ET
• Real Betis vs. Osasuna, 4 p.m. ET
SATURDAY, AUG. 27
• Hertha Berlin vs. Dortmund, 9:30 a.m. ET
• Schalke vs. Union Berlin, 9:30 a.m. ET
• Bayern vs. M’Gladbach, 9:30 a.m. ET
SUNDAY, AUG. 28
• Barcelona vs. Valladolid, 1:30 p.m. ET
• Espanyol vs. Real Madrid, 4 p.m. ET
I hate labels, but yeah: This is not the role he had at Monaco and yet you feel he has the tools to get the job done at a high level. And that’s what matters.
As for the game itself, the difference-maker was his teammate Luka Modric who, a few weeks shy of his 37th birthday, ran the show, scoring a goal, setting one up for Vinicius and exiting to a standing ovation. It finished 4-1, and Madrid again showed their ruthlessness. What they didn’t show was the ability to press high effectively.
– Reaction: No Casemiro, no problem for Real Madrid
You may recall they attempted to do so last season before Ancelotti abandoned the project, citing the age of Modric and Toni Kroos. Celta played through them too often and again, they were more comfortable in a lower block. It’s something Ancelotti will want to revisit, however, because he doesn’t want his side to be one-dimensional. And with that in mind, you wonder if the departure of Casemiro frees up funds for some last-minute shopping. (Lest we forget, once Casemiro’s departure is official, they will have lost four players from last year and added just two.)
Beyond that, Eden Hazard missed a penalty, suggesting his confidence is still wanting. Between that and his injuries, anything you get from him at this stage has to be a bonus.
Could Bayern Munich actually be better without Lewandowski?
That’s the question some folks are asking after their 7-0 away win at Bochum, giving them the best start in Bundesliga history and an absurd +14 goal difference after three games, though it’s probably best to pump the brakes on that one. They do look better, but it’s not as if the only thing that happened this summer is Lewandowski leaving.
For a start, he was replaced by a guy named Sadio Mane who is, you know, pretty good. Plus they added players like Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Ryan Gravenberch and while they only have one start between them so far, it feels as if the whole level has been raised.
– Baba: How Bayern will play without Lewandowski
– O’Hanlon: Is the Bundesliga too weird for Bayern? (E+)
Most important, perhaps, is the fact that Julian Nagelsmann has had more time with this group. And you can see the effects, starting from the defending: they’ve conceded just one goal and that was down to an individual error by Manuel Neuer (who doesn’t make many). They may or may not be better without Lewandowski, but they do appear better suited as a whole to what Nagelsmann wants to do.
What a difference a year makes for table-topping Arsenal
Squad depth, subs to the rescue for Milan in Atalanta drawSerie A’s defending champions went a goal down away to Atalanta and struggled for much of the first half, before coming back and grabbing a point thanks to a neat goal from Ismael Bennacer. Some are questioning whether they’ve lost some of their mojo, but as I see it, that’s premature.
For a start, this was Atalanta away — a tough nut to crack and a side who, this season, are playing a little more on the counter. Beyond that, the fact that Stefano Pioli changed his entire front four (Ante Rebic, Rafael Leao, Brahim Diaz and Junior Messias replaced by Olivier Giroud, Divock Origi, Alexis Saelemaekers and Charles De Ketelaere) to get back into the game isn’t a weakness, it’s a strength. With five subs at your disposal, you have that luxury.
If rotation is to be a hallmark of Milan this season, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Kane hits 250 as Spurs get past Wolves
Surreal comeback loss is all Dortmund deserveJust like old times for Lukaku, Lautaro partnershipInter’s 3-0 demolition of Spezia turned back the clock (all the way to, erm, 2020-21) as Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku ripped through the opposition en route to a 3-0 win. While it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out Lukaku’s return would make Inter better, it was by no means to be taken for granted that the “Lu-La” partnership should work so effectively 12 months later and under a different coach, Simone Inzaghi.
And to be fair, this Inter side isn’t a carbon copy of Conte’s, which is even more of a credit to Lukaku and how quickly he has settled. Under Inzaghi, it’s less about perfectly executed patterns of play and more about unpredictability and being able to attack in different ways. No matter: Lukaku has embraced it and Inter are off to a flying start.
It was always going to be a war of attrition between Atletico Madrid and Villarreal, but this game would have been a barn-burner if not for some stellar saves from Jan Oblak (no surprise there) and Geronimo Rulli. From Atletico’s point of view, there were some disappointing individual performances (Joao Felix, Marcos Llorente and Nahuel Molina, with his silly red card, above all) and the result obviously stings (Villarreal are a direct opponent in the race for top four), but there were also encouraging signs that the back three can hold up.
For Villarreal, it’s further evidence that few can find edges in a match up the way Emery can. Nicolas Jackson is still raw, but there’s a player in there and if Gerard Moreno stays fit, unlike last year, there’s enough firepower between him, Samuel Chukwueze and Arnaut Danjuma to keep things ticking over at the attacking end.
A final word on Molina’s red card. Yes, Alex Baena’s behaviour was embarassing and you wonder why VAR can’t sanction that as much as Molina’s shove, but he really should know better at this level.
The name doesn’t roll off the tongue, so the 21-year-old Georgian winger is fine with folks calling him simply “Kvara.” If he has a few more performances like he did during Sunday’s 4-0 battering of Monza, and you expect Neapolitan schoolchildren to learn both the pronunciation and the spelling of his name. He grabbed two goals — the first, an absolute peach — and battered Monza down the flank, linking well with the magnificent Victor Osimhen.
Napoli fans were angry at the club following the departures of big hitters like Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens and Kalidou Koulibaly and understandably so. But it looks like Napoli have managed to reload on the fly between Kvaratskhelia, Gio Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori up front and Leo Ostigaard and Min-Jae Kim at the back, while also cutting the wage bill and bringing in some much needed transfer funds.
The side feels refreshed and re-energized and if, as appears likely, Luciano Spalletti manages to bring in Keylor Navas between the sticks (he’s down on Alex Meret for some reason), another top-four finish, and maybe even a little more, could be on the cards.
