Another entertaining weekend of European football action is in the books, with the main headlines going to Barcelona, sending a statement to Real Madrid with a 4-0 thrashing at the Santiago Bernabeu to remain top of LaLiga.
Meanwhile in the Premier League, Arsenal were unable to close the gap with league leaders Manchester City as they could only settle for a 2-2 draw against Arne Slot’s Liverpool. Meanwhile, Cole Palmer continues to create an instant impact for Chelsea as he was instrumental in the Blues beating Newcastle United 2-1.
In Germany, there was further disappointment for Borussia Dortmund as they lost 2-1 to FC Augsburg, while Bayern Munich continued to set the pace at the top of the Bundesliga. In France, Paris Saint-Germain made easy work against their rivals Marseille in Le Classique and in Italy, Internazionale and Juventus played out an eight-goal thriller that ended in a 4-4 draw.
What else happened around Europe this weekend? ESPN’s Weekend Review puts a bow on all the continental competition.
Premier League
Top takeaway: Reds snatch crucial point away at the Emirates
Following the 2-2 draw between Manchester City and Arsenal last month, the second big clash between two title contenders this season in the Premier League offered another top game.
As we wait for Liverpool against Manchester City on Dec. 1, Arsenal against Liverpool didn’t disappoint on Sunday and also finished in a 2-2 draw. However, for the first time this season, Liverpool boss Slot admitted that his team, who had won 11 of their 12 games in all competitions, were second best.
The Gunners led twice but the Reds showed some character and great depth despite the absence of Diogo Jota. They never gave up while waiting for a mistake from their opponents. That mistake happened late and only after the North Londoners — who were already without Martin Ødegaard, Riccardo Calafiori and William Saliba — were further depleted by Gabriel’s injury and Jurriën Timber’s cramps. Their back four for the last 20 minutes consisted of Thomas Partey, Ben White, Jakub Kiwior and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Mohamed Salah subsequently punished Arsenal’s makeshift defence and the draw felt a bit fortunate for Liverpool, but hard to take for the hosts. Manchester City’s manager Pep Guardiola, was watching at home on his sofa and surely enjoyed both teams dropping points.
It meant that his City side was not only top of the table but one point clear of Liverpool and five of Arsenal.
Best match: Brentford 4-3 Ipswich Town
On paper, Brentford against Ipswich might not have appealing on a Saturday afternoon, but it should have been because it was epic. The visitors led 2-0 before Frenchmen Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo changed everything to put their team 3-2 up. There was still time for Ipswich to come back to 3-3 just minutes before the final whistle. However, Mbeumo’s late dramatic 4-3 winner was enough to cap off an incredible game at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Best goal: Mateta’s winner gives Palace their first win
Once again, this is more about the assist than the finish itself. Eberechi Eze’s superb back-heel pass for Jean-Philippe Mateta for Crystal Palace against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday was something else. And above all, it gave their team its first league win of the season.
MVP of the weekend: Chelsea’s Cole Palmer
Another cold performance for the Chelsea star in their 2-1 win against Newcastle United. One goal, coming off a solo effort at the start of the second half which would prove to be the winner again and one wonderful through-ball for Pedro Neto who put it on a plate for Nicolas Jackson to score the opening goal. The England international might just be the best player in the Premier League at the moment.. — Julien Laurens
LaLiga
Top takeaway: Barcelona’s Clásico dominance dispels all doubts
There was a lot of talk ahead of Saturday’s Clásico about the potential weaknesses in Hansi Flick’s Barcelona, waiting to be exploited by Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior and company at the Santiago Bernabeu. Barça’s high defensive line was vulnerable to a pacey forward line. Iñaki Peña was a rookie liability in goal, and so was Marc Casadó in midfield. Also, none of the front three consisting of Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha had ever scored against Real Madrid in LaLiga.
Instead, all of those projected weak points turned out to be Barcelona’s match-winning strengths in their 4-0 thrashing of their archrivals. Mbappé alone was caught offside a career-high eight times by Barça’s inch-perfect offside trap. Peña made four saves, keeping a clean sheet with an xG (expected goals) against of 1.48. Casadó, 21, excelled, playing a line-breaking pass from deep for Barça’s opening goal. And all of Lewandowski, Yamal and Raphinha were on target. Lewandowski scored twice and could have had a hat trick, hitting the post with a straightforward chance.
It was hard to pick a highlight, but Yamal’s top-corner finish — with his wrong foot — might have been it. “They [my teammates] said they didn’t know I had a right foot!,” he said afterwards. “I said I do, when I have to.” Yamal is 17. Six of Barça’s starters were 21 or under. No wonder Flick was doing somersaults on the touchline.
Best match: Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona
Sorry. It’s El Clásico. Were you expecting something else? This was a thrilling, statement win from Barcelona, confirming Flick’s team as the best side in Spain, and one of the best in Europe. And it was also a chastening experience for the hosts, such a comprehensive defeat that it’s already causing soul-searching about this entire Real Madrid project. Four goals, 10 big chances between both teams and enough storylines and debates to keep the Spanish media busy for weeks to come. What more could you want? Unless you’re a Real Madrid fan, obviously…
Best goal: Lukebakio with a stunner
Both Yamal and Raphinha could easily have been awarded goal of the weekend, and probably should have — we spoke about Yamal’s finish above, and Raphinha’s late scoop over Andriy Lunin was a delight — but let’s move on from El Clásico and celebrate some other highlights from this weekend. On Friday, Dodi Lukebakio scored twice to give a Sevilla team in desperate need of points a 2-0 win at Espanyol, his first goal an effortless shot from distance. Sevilla fans haven’t had much to cheer about this season. Thanks to Lukebakio, they’re now safely in midtable.
MVP of the weekend: Villarreal’s Álex Baena
Lewandowski or Lukebakio’s braces might have been recognized here, but let’s go for Baena, who created a season-high seven chances in Villarreal’s 2-1 win at Real Valladolid on Saturday. Villarreal are the third-best team in LaLiga this season, and Baena is a shoo-in for the best player outside the big two. It’s hard for any non-Madrid or Barça player to stand out on Clásico weekend, but Baena managed it. — Alex Kirkland
Bundesliga
Top takeaway: Şahin under pressure following yet another loss
The top teams in the Bundesliga experienced a horrible week in European competition. Other than Bundesliga side Nuremberg. Last weekend, his team beat Greuther Furth 4-0 in the tradition-rich Franconian derby, causing Furth to sack both their head coach and sporting director.
On Friday, Klose’s side made headlines once again, beating Regensburg 8-3 in what turned out to be a game-of-the-year contender. Granted, Regensburg are last in the league table and have seemed overmatched in many games, but it was nevertheless impressive how Nuremberg swept across Regensburg in the second half after the guests had staged a comeback before the half-time break, as they scored two goals making it 2-2 at the interval.
Nuremberg don’t have the financial resources to compete with some of the powerhouses in the 2. Bundesliga, but they at least provide their fans with some excitement and goals — something Klose became famous for during his active playing career. — Eckner
Le Classique serves more controversy as PSG dominate
We will never know what would have happened if Amine Harit, the Paris-born and bred Marseille player, had not been sent off for a dangerous high foot on Marquinhos after just 20 minutes at the Stade Velodrome on Sunday night, but the red card did change everything.
Before that, PSG were very dominant and already 1-0 up but for a match being played 11 vs 10, there was no match. There was nothing that Adrien Rabiot, the former PSG midfielder and now playing in the south of France, and his teammates could do. In the end, they only lost 3-0 despite the Parisians creating many more chances. While Luis Enrique’s side were wasteful in front of goal, and they have continued their incredible unbeaten run in Ligue 1 in Marseille: in the league, PSG have not lost there since 2011 and haven’t there since 2017.
Hummels’ nightmare debut in Roma’s rout
Five months ago, Mats Hummels played in the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund against Real Madrid. He hadn’t played an official game until Sunday night with his new club AS Roma, away at Fiorentina. And let’s say that the evening didn’t go well at all for the 2014 World Cup winner.
After coming on in the 67th minute, Hummels took just four minutes to score an own goal, adding further insult to what was already a humiliating 5-1 defeat. After only making the bench in the last few games, his very anticipated debut was an absolute nightmare. It will join a long list of terrible debuts with the likes of Jonathan Woodgate with Real Madrid or Chris Smalling more recently in the Saudi league. — Laurens
