Another weekend of headlines, golazos and unpredictable finishes across Europe’s biggest leagues. From Borussia Dortmund‘s dramatic 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich, to Liverpool dropping even further back in the Premier League title race, there was no shortage of drama.
ESPN correspondents Rob Dawson, Julien Laurens, Sam Marsden, James Tyler and James Olley break down the big stuff you need to know about the weekend.
Erik ten Hag is wary of leaving himself short of options during the most hectic season he has ever had to navigate and he can’t rely on Martial to be available regularly. The Frenchman has already missed games this season because of hamstring and Achilles injuries and Ten Hag can’t leave himself in a situation where Marcus Rashford is the only fit striker in his squad.
If Martial can’t stay injury-free, Ronaldo’s move away will have to wait until at least the end of the season — Dawson
Are Liverpool out of the title race already?
The Premier League season is not even 25% played but Liverpool’s hopes of a second title under Jurgen Klopp already look remote. Sunday’s 3-2 defeat at Arsenal left them 14 points adrift of the Gunners with the fact they have a game in hand offering only a glimmer of hope a desperate situation can be rescued. They are 13 points behind favourites Manchester City and even 10 behind Tottenham Hotspur, who have largely failed to convince this season but still occupy third place.
There is still time for Liverpool to rescue their league campaign and few would doubt this group of players were capable of putting together a winning run to put them back in the picture but Klopp admitted the gravity of their plight when speaking on Sunday night: “We’re not in the race … we’re in a tough moment and we want to get through this together and that’s what we are working on.”
It already feels as though time is against them. — Olley
