Monarch’s passing postpones Premier LeagueThe death of Queen Elizabeth II prompted the Premier League and Football League to postpone all their weekend games as a mark of respect. Not everyone agreed — rugby, cricket and golf went ahead, dedicating their events to the Queen — but in these situations, there’s often no clear-cut choice. (There were plenty of suggestions that the decision was also motivated by public order concerns, since police resources were stretched.)
– Olley: How Premier League came to a stop as nation mourned death of Queen Elizabeth II
From a strict Premier League perspective, however, this means that an already brutally congested fixture list got even tighter. There simply aren’t that many free dates between now and the end of the campaign and if English clubs go deep in European competition (as they usually do), we could be facing a serious problem come the spring.
Barcelona win 4-0 at Cadiz, but some things matter more…
The enduring image of Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Cadiz has nothing to do with anything Robert Lewandowski or Ousmane Dembele did. It was Cadiz keeper Jeremias “Konan” Ledesma sprinting across the pitch carrying a defibrillator kit and tossing it into the stands.
Ledesma sprang into action after his teammates interrupted play because a spectator was feeling unwell in the stands. Play was interrupted for roughly an hour and most importantly, authorities confirmed the fan was going to be OK. Meanwhile, those watching — both at the Nuevo Mirandilla and around the world — were reminded that football takes a back seat to life. As it should be.
– Report: Lewandowski strikes again as Barca beat Cadiz
– Reaction: Gavi pulls the strings for Barcelona
As for the game itself, there was an evident sea-change in the 57th minute. Frenkie de Jong had just scrambled in Barca’s opener and, at one-nil, Xavi made a triple substitution: off went Gavi, Ferran Torres and Memphis Depay, on came Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Lewandowski. Cadiz having to chase the game helped Barca, sure, but the leap in quality made even more of a difference as they romped to victory.
It’s not that Xavi’s crew were subpar before that, it’s just that they had many more gears to go through after the change. Given how the fixture list shapes up this year, you can expect more of this.
Rafael Leao sent off, but Milan grab points at Sampdoria
Milan haven’t always played well this season, but they’ve generally stayed in games and found a way to keep the energy level up even when the quality went missing. It’s a hallmark of Stefano Pioli’s regime, and it’s how you win titles.
In this game, the damage was self-inflicted as Rafael Leao was sent off for two bookable offences. The second, frankly, was entirely avoidable: he attempted an overhead kick when he knew there was an opponent right behind him, ended up making contact with him and got his marching orders.
Milan need better decision-making from Leao. You don’t want to discourage players trying something difficult, but he was unlikely to score from where he was and, crucially, he seemed to forget that he has a duty of care toward his opponent. There’s no reason to put yourself in that situation when you’re one of the most important players in the team.
The upshot is that he’ll be suspended and will miss the big clash with Napoli next weekend.
Rodrygo stakes his claim for Real Madrid in 4-1 home win
Carlo Ancelotti made five changes for the weekend visit of Mallorca, but it was up front where things were most intriguing. He opted to play Eden Hazard through the middle, with Rodrigo and Vinicius Junior either side. And as has happened so often with the Belgian, results were wanting to the point that at the hour mark, Madrid shuffled things around and he made way for Luka Modric, with Rodrygo moving to a more central role.
– Report: Real Madrid 4-1 Mallorca
It’s fair to say the Brazilian made it his own, too. He set up Vinicius with a delightful assist to make it 2-1 and scored a peach of a goal of his own with a dazzling stop-start run through the Mallorca back line. Rodrygo though the middle in Karim Benzema‘s absence is not a long-term solution — not least because, in many situations, Ancelotti will need him out wide — but when he’s playing like this, it doesn’t really matter.
Elsewhere, Madrid looked largely solid. Dani Ceballos got the job done in the middle — he’s neither Casemiro nor Aurelien Tchouameni, but when Real have this much possession, it doesn’t matter — and Fede Valverde scored after a blistering run with a weak-footed, long-range strike.
– Reaction: Valverde, Rodrygo too good in Real Madrid romp
The mood is decidedly buoyant; the only regret is that, again, they failed to keep a clean sheet.
“Broz” delivers vs. Torino to get Inter out of a jam
Until Marcelo Brozovic latched on to Nicolo’s Barella’s sublime pass in the 89th minute, Inter were on the verge of failing to win for the fourth time in the past five games. But more than the result, what would have been worrying — and what is worrying — was the performance. Against Torino, they mustered just three shots on target, including the goal, and Sami Handanovic had to make a number of saves.
That said, Handanovic has been criticised (again) this season and some saw Andre Onana starting against Bayern as a harbinger that his days are numbered. Maybe the odd benching will help him stay on top of his game. If he performs like he did on Saturday, Onana will have to wait his turn.
Big guns fire, others less so for PSG
A delicious, turn-back-the-clock assist from Lionel Messi (not his only one, either) set up Neymar for the only goal in Paris Saint-Germain‘s 1-0 win over Brest. But it took two big saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma — one off a penalty, the other from an Islam Slimani strike — for PSG to take home the three points, and that should be a cause for concern for manager Christophe Galtier.
Because while it’s true that there was some rotation and that at least his stars got it done (except for Kylian Mbappe, who had an off-day by his standards), he needs his blue-collar troops to perform too. Otherwise sides like Brest, who are battling to avoid relegation, will come within a whisker of taking points off them at the Parc des Princes, like they did Saturday.
Still no 90-minute performance from Atletico Madrid despite 4-1 win
Things were set up nicely for Atletico Madrid at home to Celta Vigo. They made a half-dozen changes from the dramatic midweek win in the Champions League against Porto and when Angel Correa opened the scoring, you imagined that they would manage the lead: sit tight, hit on the counter, limit the opposition. Except that’s not what happened. Celta came at them and had a host of chances to equalize, before Rodrigo De Paul sent them on their way after the break.
Diego Simeone had the luxury of sending on quality in the shape of Joao Felix and Antoine Griezmann — yes, he came on after minute 60, nothing to see here — but you can’t rely on that every game. This side is still not clicking the way “El Cholo” wants or, if they’re going to challenge, needs.
Dream start for Marco Rose’s RB Leipzig against his old team
No “Kvaramania” this time, but late Raspadori strike keeps Napoli goingNapoli made a bunch of changes after their Champions League win against Liverpool, but that’s not the reason they didn’t score until the final minute against Spezia. Blame it on the heat, and blame it on some subpar finishing (they did take 28 shots on goal).
The breakthrough came from Giacomo Raspadori who is Victor Osimhen‘s backup (the Nigerian international is injured) on paper, but in practice is Luciano Spalletti’s “change-of-pace” forward. Raspadori was called a poor man’s Sergio Aguero earlier in his career, and that might be a stretch. But he has that drive to operate in tight spaces and, crucially for a forward, he forgets about his misses and stays focused on the next chance.
And finally…
Bas Dost started for Utrecht and scored in their 1-0 home victory against Vitesse Arnhem. He now has five goals in six appearances for Utrecht, and is on pace to score 28 goals in the Eredivisie.
This concludes the latest instalment of #BasDostWatch.
