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It was another fantastic weekend of European football with goals, drama, and movement from both top & bottom teams.
In the Italian Serie A, an impressive Sampdoria side drove into a 3-goal lead over defending champions Juventus before two late goals from Gonzalo Higuain restored a smidgen of respect to the scoreline.
Valencia & FC Barcelona continued their impressive form in Spain with huge away wins at Espanyol and Leganes respectively.
AS Monaco continued to stumble in Ligue 1 as they could only draw at Amiens while leaders PSG romped to a 4-1 win over a stubborn Nantes sided.
Bayern continued their winning streak under Jupp Heynckes in the Bundesliga while Schalke 04’s remarkable season continues to gather steam as a 2-0 win over Hamburg helped push the Royal Blues into 2nd place on the table.
#5 AC Milan can’t buy a win against the big teams
Vincenzo Montella must be wondering what else he can do again to help lift the Giallorossi from the terrible run of form they are currently in. With just 2 wins from the last five matches, Milan has been cut adrift of the top six title-and-UCL chasing teams (a top six that includes a team like Sampdoria).
The team’s record against the top six this season has been beyond abysmal with 6 losses from the 6 games played so far against the current top 6.
This inability to go toe-to-toe with their supposed equals is an indictment of the playing and coaching staff as some of the performances especially in the 4-1 hammering by Lazio and the 2-0 loss to Sampdoria bordered on the abysmal.
There is confusion as to what shape or style of play the team is using and Montella needs to fix this fast as the vultures have begun circling with an out-of-work Carlo Ancelotti and other out-of-work-big-name coaches in European football heavily linked to the job.
The embattled coach needs to get his expensively assembled squad to gel and while there were signs of improvement defensively in the loss to Napoli, the 3-man backline of captain Leonardo Bonucci, Alessio Romagnoli & Matteo Musacchio need to learn to keep their shape better as both of Napoli’s goals came on the counter.
One suspects that Montella is almost on his way out and given the next five fixtures which are very winnable (Torino is the only one of the opponents currently in the top half), he is condemned to get as many points as he can.
#4 Guardiola shows he has learnt new tricks
The 4-2 loss to Leicester City last season would have really annoyed Pep Guardiola as his team wasn’t beaten by any cleverly put together tactics or skills but rather lost due to the ineptitude of the backline he had.
Fast forward to the new season and Pep would have been mightily impressed with his side’s display in their 2-0 win over the same opponents.
The Citizens were calm, controlled and precise in their play, never rushing to score a goal or force the play. This meant that Leicester could not find the gaps which they had profited from in the corresponding fixture last season.
In Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Fernandinho, Guardiola has one of the best midfield in Europe and the trio showed their class in the way they ran and controlled the game forcing Claude Puel’s men to run themselves into the ground seeking to win the ball back.
The two goals were things of beauty and on another day, an out-of-sorts Gabriel Jesus could have easily bagged a hattrick.
Guardiola has shown himself to be one of the most adaptive creatures in world football and the victories over Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester City which were games that dented last season’s title charge shows that he has learnt from those losses and has set up his team to play to their strengths while nullifying the threats posed by the opposition.
Also read: Leicester City 0-2 Manchester City: 5 Talking Points
#3 Both Madrid teams need to spend in January
El Derbi Madrileno was an exercise in attritional football with two teams short on form and confidence slugging it out. Probably the worst derby in recent memory, the game was symptomatic of the malaise that seems to have gripped both teams firmly.
No two players typify the current form of both clubs than Antoine Griezmann and Cristiano Ronaldo. These two star men scored 41 goals between them last season; Ronaldo (25) & Griezmann (16).
So far, this season, both have scored a total of 3 goals; Griezmann (2) & Ronaldo (1). The players alongside their teammates have looked jaded, leggy and out of ideas, making heavy work of opponents they would have dispatched easily last season.
Atleti coach Diego Simeone will be eager for the January window to come around as he will be able to call upon the services of Diego Costa and Vitolo, a pair which cost the club £90m & will provide much-needed quality upfront to inject life into the Los Colchoneros attack.
Zinedine Zidane and Real have different issues though as it seems the forward line has run out of ideas on how to score. Who to get in January will be a big issue as most of their reported targets (Eden Hazard, Harry Kane and others) will not be willing to move in mid-season.
10 points behind league leaders FC Barcelona & second in its UCL group, Los Merengues need to rediscover the title-winning form of last season and soon.
Also read: Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid: 5 Key Talking Points
#2 Peter Bosz still can’t coach a team to defend
There is much to admire about Borussia Dortmund as they are a credit to German and European football. However, the club’s insistence on going for the lesser options in both player and coach recruitment isn’t one of them.
Peter Bosz’s record before being employed as coach of Die Schwarzgelben (The Black and Yellows) is average at best and why he was seen as an ideal replacement for the erratic Thomas Tuchel is something only sporting director Joachim Watzke can answer.
While he should be credited for Ajax’s run to the Europa League final, the fact that the team conceded 18 goals in 15 games is a pointer to his inability to coach teams to defend.
Dortmund already had a good attacking unit before his arrival but while there have been new defensive arrivals in the form of Omer Toprak & Jeremy Toljan, the team has gone backwards defensively.
The team has conceded 16 goals in the league and have fallen from first to fifth place on the table.
There has been a glaring lack of cohesiveness or any form of defensive planning from the coach with games having three goals and more a feature of the team’s season.
They are as good as out of the UCL (and may even lose out on Europa League qualification) so unless something changes and soon, Peter Bosz may be the next Dutch coach to get the sack in European football the season.
#1 Pulis out, Clement next in Premier League sack race
Following the news that Tony Pulis has been sacked by West Bromwich Albion, attention has shifted to Swansea City's manager; Paul Clement as the next man to face the managerial executioner.
His Swans team have been dire, staid and lacking in any sort of form, flair, and drive. The performances of the team have given voice to pundits who point to his failure at Derby County as evidence that he is a better assistant coach than a manager.
While Clement may not be completely at fault for the team’s incredibly bad player recruitment, he is at fault for the way the team has been playing with players, fans, and pundits confused as to what the team is meant to be; a possession based team, a defensive team, a counter-attacking team or a team that presses high.
A continuous spiral of negative results with Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham the only bright spot so far has helped to dampen the mood around the Liberty Stadium.
With Chelsea and an imperious Manchester City among the teams they will face in the next five Premier League games, the weekend’s upcoming fixture against Bournemouth has taken on a significance far greater than the manager would have liked.
The gale of managerial sackings in the English top-tier this season has begun to mirror that of other European leagues and as the cult of the manager continues to dwindle in its last stronghold; England, expect Paul Clement to become the latest victim if things do not change.
