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7 points in 7 days – Real’s horror show at the Camp Nou

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This is a week where the relative insignificance of on-pitch results on has been reinforced by tragic events off it. Nonetheless, seven days of domestic and European has produced a number of talking points.

Liverpool Go Top of Group C

Group C of the Champions League saw plenty of goals this week as Liverpool hosted Red Star Belgrade and Napoli travelled to PSG. It was ultimately a comfortable night under the lights at Anfield for Jurgen Klopp’s men. Roberto Firmino opened the scoring after a typically dangerous delivery from Andy Robertson; goals from Mohamed Salah either side of half time put the result beyond doubt, and although Mane was denied from the spot he eventually made his way on to the scoresheet to top off a fruitful evening for Liverpool’s ‘fab three’. There were four goals in Paris too, but they were spread out in a rather more even and much more dramatic fashion. The Neapolitans twice led courtesy of Lorenzo Insigne and Dires Mertens, but an Angel Di Maria strike deep into stoppage time ensured that the points were shared. This leaves Liverpool with a narrow lead at the top of the group after three matches.

Barcelona Deliver a Thumping in El Clásico

It was some former Reds who ran the show in Barcelona’s showpiece clash with Real Madrid. Los Blancos have been struggling hugely of late, and a trip to Camp Nou is a daunting prospect at the best of times; the absence of Lionel Messi through injury may have given the beleaguered Julen Lopetegui a ray of hope, but it was quickly extinguished. Barcelona were lethal in their exploitation of the age-old rivals – Philippe Coutinho put the Catalans in front before Luis Suarez doubled the lead from the penalty spot after half an hour. Marcelo’s goal shortly after the break briefly threatened to breathe some life into the contest, but Barcelona were too good. Suarez struck once more with fifteen minutes to go, and then completed his hat-trick in the 83rd minute: he joins an elite group to have scored three in a Clásico, a status he shares with the likes of Gary Lineker and Ferenc Puskas. Arturo Vidal completed the rout with three minutes left of normal time. This surely seals the fate of Lopetegui. It was a happier week in La Liga for fellow Spaniard Iago Aspas, who just hours after becoming a father netted a hat-trick against Eibar in a 4-0 win. Congratulations on both counts.

 

Dreamland for Dortmund

Back in the Champions League, Borussia Dortmund also dealt out something of a thrashing. The eagerly-anticipated clash with Atletico Madrid was expected to be a close-fought encounter, but the side currently sitting top of the Bundesliga ended up running away with it. The game was relatively even for much of the ninety minutes, and even after Dortmund finally broke the deadlock through a deflected Witsel strike towards the end of the first half the visitors still looked in the contest; they struck the woodwork twice in their attempts to find a way back into the match. A Guerreiro goal killed much of the resistance, however, and young English talent Jadon Sancho put things beyond all doubt with a goal seven minutes from time. A fourth was gifted to Lucien Favre’s men by that rarest of things, an Atletico Madrid defensive error – a stray pass made its way to Guerreiro, who made no mistake in getting his second of the match. Diego Simeone is known as a defensive master, and Atletico have conceded just five goals in the league all season: to say that this particular result was not on the cards would be an understatement.

Sometimes Maybe Good, Sometimes Maybe…

It was not a good day at the office for Gennaro Gattuso in the Europa League. His AC Milan side hosted Real Betis in a Group F match, and were put to the sword: Antonio Sanabria and Giovani Lo Celso goals proved too much to overcome despite a late strike from Patrick Cutrone. Gattuso did not shy away from responsibility in the press conference, admitting that his job should be under question following a string of poor results. The weekend did at least bring a little relief, however, as Suso scored the winner in a 3-2 triumph over Sampdoria to send Milan up to a respectable fifth. Elsewhere in the Europa League, Ruben Loftus-Cheek enjoyed something of a coming of age. The promising youngster has struggled to break into the Chelsea first-team setup despite shining while on loan at Palace last season, but Sarri afforded him a chance in the Europa League meeting with BATE Borisov. He seized it with both hands, scoring his first ever professional hat-trick on the way to a 3-1 win. He was duly given an opportunity off the bench against Burnley in the league, and scored another one: this man’s career is only heading in one direction.

Leeds Cause a Stir

Speaking of which… Niall Horan was involved in an unlikely spat with the Leeds United Twitter account this week. The Irish musician took to the internet to praise the football of Derby County after the Rams defeated West Brom by four goals to one. He was promptly invited to send some luck the way of Leeds; the former One Direction man was not impressed, succinctly declaring that “no one likes Leeds”. The Yorkshire side did not take kindly to this, and lashed out against Horan’s solo career – the social media manager was left to deal with a horde of angry fans for the next few days. Bizarre.

Forest Out of the Woods

Fellow Championship side Nottingham Forest might have been starting to feel like away misery at Bolton was the story of their life, but they finally broke a long-standing record with a 3-0 victory in the north-west. Joe Lolley opened the scoring after 12 minutes before a second-half brace from Lewis Grabban sealed a remarkable first away win against the Wanderers since October 1991. This unhappy record stretching back across ten visits to what is now known as the University of Bolton Stadium included a 3-2 defeat towards the end of last season. Forest will be hoping that this result can spark a surge up the table; they followed the win up with a respectable draw against high-flying Leeds, and are now just one place away from the play-off positions and fierce rivals Derby County.

Monaco’s Gamble Not Paying Off

One unwanted record that is yet to be brought to an end is Thierry Henry’s winless start to his fledgling managerial career. Monaco took a gamble in appointing their former player – things could hardly have got worse than they were under Jardim in the latter stages of his reign, but they haven’t really got better either. A league defeat to Strasbourg was an inauspicious start, and that has been compounded this week by uninspiring draws with Club Brugge and Dijon. The former result has all but ended the Principality’s chances of escaping an admittedly tough Champions League group, while the league results leave Monaco down in a lowly 19th place. This is quite the fall from grace for a side that broke PSG’s vice-like grip on the French title just two seasons ago; it might be too much to ask for Henry to restore this kind of glory any time soon, but for now just a win would be a relief.

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