GO DEEPER
So… Barcelona are good again?
Especially when it works this well. Barcelona have caught their opponents offside seven times per game this season — on pace for an all-time La Liga record — and foiled Madrid’s attacks that way a dozen times in all at the Bernabeu on Saturday night. Mbappe was responsible for eight of those, the first in only the second minute. It would be wrong to say that set the tone — he and Vinicius Jr needed to get lucky once, after all, and almost did.
But when Mbappe thought he had scored the opening goal on the half-hour mark, only for the semi-automated VAR to confirm he had strayed slightly past Barcelona defender Inigo Martinez, you sensed that he might not have timed a run correctly had he played on until Sunday morning.
Mbappe did get his bearings, on the odd rare occasions, but still struggled to get the better of Barca’s defence. And by that stage, Robert Lewandowski had already taken the game away from Madrid and Flick’s high-wire act had struck the perfect balance.
GO DEEPER
Real Madrid’s Clasico humiliation points to problems on and off the pitch
You knew the narrative coming into this one. Liverpool’s visit to the Emirates was billed as the first real test of new coach Arne Slot’s tenure. You know, a bit like last Sunday’s meeting with Chelsea at Anfield. Or the trip to play Manchester United at Old Trafford in his third official game in charge almost two months ago now.
In fairness, this was Slot’s first test against a team widely recognised as title challengers. And up until the early part of the second half, it was one Liverpool were struggling to pass.
Arsenal’s first-half performance was one of — if not, their most — impressive of the season to date, demonstrating that they can dominate even opponents of a similar calibre to them, provided they keep their full complement of players on the pitch.
Yet which players are on the pitch matters almost as much as how many, and that dominance noticeably waned after the break, particularly once two of their starting back four were forced off.
GO DEEPER
Darwin Nunez and the power of perseverance
Gabriel’s substitution nine minutes after the break left Mikel Arteta without both his first-choice centre-backs, with William Saliba also unavailable yesterday through suspension, and a side who have generally trended as one of the best defensive units in European football over the past 18 months appeared increasingly vulnerable.
But the dam did not burst until the loss of Jurrien Timber, who had impressively shut down Mohamed Salah for the most part, with 14 minutes of the 90 to go.
(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Without Timber around, Salah was free to drift inside a makeshift back line and put away a composed square pass from Darwin Nunez to level things at 2-2.
Despite Arsenal already building a team full of centre-backs, it turns out you can never have too many.
GO DEEPER
Arsenal can’t catch a break — but it is vital they don’t let this demoralise them
Arteta’s side ended with the same number of shots (nine) and less possession (45 per cent) than opponents they initially had dominated, and it was hard not to see the enforced exits of Gabriel and Timer as pivotal.
The story of Thiago Motta’s start to life at Juventus has been one of safe possession, defensive solidity and — in all honesty — not a lot of excitement. Thankfully, the Derby d’Italia could hardly have diverged any further from that script.
Juventus’ defence was previously the best in Europe’s major five leagues. Yet they conceded four. Their attack had previously delivered fewer goals this season than Wolverhampton Wanderers, Las Palmas and Heidenheim. But they scored four. And of those eight goals in all, five were on the board after 37 minutes.
The problem for Motta was that, at that stage, it was 3-2 to Inter. But if his early days in Turin have been marked by a rather rigid, dogmatic approach, then there were signs that the man hired away from Bologna in the summer is capable of fixing things on the fly.
Just past the hour-mark, with Juventus now 4-2 down, Motta replaced first-half goalscorer Tim Weah with winger Kenan Yildiz. He also swapped Nicolo Fagioli, a midfielder, for right-back Nicolo Savona, so allowing Andrea Cambiaso to move into midfield alongside Manuel Locatelli.
Yildiz soon repaid Motta’s faith quickly, using his direct ball-carrying skills to lead a counter-attack, dumbfound Inter’s Denzel Dumfries and fire low across Yann Sommer. Four-three.
Then, despite desperately seeking an equaliser with 13 minutes of the 90 to go, Motta brought on Samuel Mbangula, a winger, for front man Dusan Vlahovic. Yildiz moved centrally, becoming Juventus’ closest thing to a striker, but effectively in a strikerless system that left Inter without much of a reference point to defend against.
(Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images)
Eleven minutes after his first goal, who was unmarked as a Juventus attack threatened to peter out at the far post? Yildiz, again.
It was a game, and a performance, so far removed from Motta’s principles that you can hardly say things went to plan, but a Juventus side who have sometimes looked short of ideas in the opening months of this season got creative to rescue a point.
Marseille 0-3 Paris Saint-Germain
With only one Le Classique win to their team’s name in 13 years, Marseille’s support inside the Stade Velodrome perhaps knew, deep down, which way this one was likely to go.
Can Amine Harit’s sending-off after 20 minutes really be described as much of a turning point when weighed against that history? Especially as, by that point, Marseille were already a goal down, following Joao Neves’ seventh-minute breakthrough.
Harit’s dismissal ensured Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance, though, and although it is debatable whether it was deserving of a straight red card, it was also avoidable.
As in true Roberto De Zerbi style, after their patient build-up baited PSG’s press, Marseille played a long ball up into midfield to exploit the gaps left by their visitors. Harit jumped into a 50-50 challenge with Marquinhos and came out the better of the two, reaching the ball with his outstretched left boot, but also slammed that same boot into the PSG captain’s torso on the rebound.
(Christophe Simon/AFP via Getty Images)
It was not intentional but it was arguably reckless. Or at least, reckless in the opinion of referee Francois Letexier. Marseille’s attack was not the most physically imposing, though, and so the wisdom of relying on them to win long, direct balls forward could also be questioned.
Luis Enrique’s more balanced attack were three up at half-time through a Leonardo Balerdi own goal and Bradley Barcola, and comfortable enough that they could afford to spurn several good second-half chances.
Once down a man, Marseille were not coming back.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
Source link : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5877682/2024/10/28/real-madrid-mbappe-timber-injury-yildiz-psg-red-card/
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Publish date : 2024-10-28 11:55:00
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