This weekend saw the English Premier League, German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 seasons come to an end, with Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen and Paris Saint-Germain all crowned champions. Only the first one was a bit dramatic, though Arsenal‘s win over Everton couldn’t deny Pep Guardiola’s side from a historic fourth straight league title. At the same time, Liverpool said farewell to Jurgen Klopp, whose nine-year tenure came to an end with a party atmosphere at Anfield and a 2-0 win over Wolves.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund tuned up for the UEFA Champions League final with very different performances, Juventus fired embattled manager Max Allegri despite a week in which they won the Coppa Italia, and the future is uncertain for Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea and Erik Ten Hag at Man United.
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It’s Monday. Gab Marcotti reacts to the biggest moments in the world of football.
History will provide perspective to Manchester City’s Premier League four-peat
Ultimately, Sunday was somewhat anticlimactic.
Two early Phil Foden goals appeared to send Manchester City on their way to another title. We got some drama when, in the space of a minute, Takehiro Tomiyasu equalised for Arsenal against Everton and Mohamed Kudus’ ridiculous overhead kick pulled one back for West Ham at the Etihad. But even then, it was going to take a two-goal swing — the visitors equalising at Manchester City and Arsenal finding a winner — to shift the title away from Pep Guardiola’s crew. Rodri‘s goal, just before the hour mark, ensured that would not happen.
It was fitting, then, that those two — Foden and Rodri — should score. Foden has been on a vertical rise over the past few seasons, and in 2023-24 he cemented his spot as one of the best in the world. He finishes with 19 league goals, all but two from open play. Only Erling Haaland (20) and Ollie Watkins (19) have more, the difference being that the other two are center-forwards while Foden spent much of the season out wide. That may soon change: He started centrally on Sunday, and with Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva not getting any younger, it’s pretty obvious his future is likely to be in the No. 10 role.
As for Rodri, he’s the most — possibly the only — irreplaceable chess piece on Guardiola’s board. His work off the ball has earned him comparisons with Sergio Busquets, which for a certain type of football connoisseur is the highest praise you can get. But Rodri is also a force in possession. He has 19 goals over the past three seasons, which is more than Busquets scored in 15 seasons at Barca. He also had nine assists in the league this season, a ridiculous amount for a guy who spends much of the game shielding the back four.
