Man City humbled by Spurs, Barcelona's wake-up call, more: Marcotti recaps the weekend

What a weekend! We had drama up and down Europe’s top soccer leagues, so let’s review. Manchester City suffered the unthinkable — a fifth straight defeat in all competitions — as Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham cruised to a 4-0 win at the Etihad. Combined with Liverpool‘s win at Southampton, it means that Arne Slot’s side are now eight points clear heading into next weekend’s Liverpool-Man City clash at Anfield.

In LaLiga, Barcelona inexplicably dropped points to Celta Vigo and Real Madrid put three past Leganes to close the gap at the top, while Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a statement win in the Bundesliga and Bayer Leverkusen showed they are far from finished under manager Xabi Alonso. Elsewhere, we had talking points galore involving Arsenal, Milan, Chelsea, Inter and much more.

It’s Monday, and here is Gab Marcotti reacting to the biggest moments in the world of soccer.

Spurs hammer Man City, but Pep Guardiola strikes the right notes

Obviously, the headline is City losing their fifth straight in all competitions. Pep Guardiola had never lost four in a row until his previous game and, obviously, he’d never lost five in a row. It also marked three straight defeats in the league. Technically, it happened before — at Bayern in 2014-15 — but that was after they had already won the Bundesliga, which makes it the equivalent of “garbage time” in sports: nothing to play for, nothing at stake. Throw in the fact that he had signed a contract extension just a few days before — one that was supposed to dampen the anxiety over the future — and you can see how his postmatch words were going to matter.

“I never expected to lose three Premier League games in a row,” he said. “Now, we cannot deny the reality that sometimes happens in football. We cannot run away, we have to face it … the best way to break the position is to accept reality. People say, ‘You cannot be worse.’ Yes, you can be worse. It can happen.”

Managing — and being successful at — sides with the sort of talent Guardiola has had at Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester City involves a different skill set than working in midtable or lower down the pyramid. To paraphrase Mike Tyson, you very rarely get punched in the face and so your plan gets questioned less often. It also means you have fewer opportunities to pick up your team after a setback, which is also a basic managerial skill.

Guardiola has chosen to face this task with brutal honesty. Recognising that things can in fact get worse, starting with next weekend’s trip to Anfield to face league-leading Liverpool. Lose that, he says, and City’s title challenge is over.

To me, it sounds like he’s striking the right notes to motivate and focus his squad. Coaches who work with their guys day after day often know how to push right buttons. The fact is, though, he has rarely, if ever, had to push these sorts of buttons with his players, and what ought to be concerning is there is no one obvious weakness to fix.

Some of the defeats could have easily gone City’s way. Others saw them thoroughly outplayed. In some, they failed to turn in a 90-minute performance. In others they were poor throughout. In some (arguably most), they squandered chances at the attacking end. In others, like Saturday, they made a host of individual errors, mostly in transition.

You can point to Rodri‘s absence (plus that of Mateo Kovacic) and Erling Haaland‘s wayward finishing and yes, sorting out the former and having the latter live up to his (high) standard would paper over a lot of cracks. But there’s a deeper malaise at the back and a predictability on the ball. There are also a bunch of questions needing to be answered, starting with when Kevin De Bruyne (who made his return three weeks ago) will start getting significant playing time?

However, all this City talk shouldn’t overshadow Tottenham’s performance. It’s easy to forget that they went into the break on the back of a defeat (to Ipswich Town) and with many calling for Ange Postecoglou’s head. The vibes were all negative and they traveled to City without their first choice of centerback pairing of Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, as well as Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield. But Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin marshalled the defence, while James Maddison recovered his playmaking mojo.

Tottenham still feel fragile — goodness what knows what will happen in their next game — but these are the sort of performances and occasions in which you get the proverbial shot in the arm. It’s up to you to take it.

Flick is right: Barca’s draw at Celta Vigo should be a wake-up call, and maybe dropping points is what they needed

You could look at the Celta vs. Barcelona highlights through blaugrana glasses and conclude everything is fine. They were 2-0 up late in the game and Raphinha had hit the post, though everything was fine until a couple silly mistakes cost them two goals. But then you’d be wrong.

Don’t take it from me, though; listen to Barca coach Hansi Flick, who said it was a “bad game, not just a bad final 10 minutes.” He’s right.

Barcelona were outplayed in the first half, taking the lead only because of an Óscar Mingueza misjudgment. They were very lucky not to have Gerard Martín sent off in the first half for two bookable offences. They doubled their lead thanks to an errant pass and a favourable bounce that allowed Robert Lewandowski to notch his 20th goal of the campaign. Yes, individual errors — whatever Jules Koundé was thinking and Hector Fort ending up on his backside trying to defend Hugo Álvarez — cost them two goals too, but throughout, Celta looked the better side.

Now that some of the big guns have returned from injury, it might be time for Flick to tweak his approach, particularly as the style of play that has taken them this far is hugely taxing, especially on younger players. That might involve Gavi — who made his first start in a year — operating more centrally. Frenkie De Jong was on the bench, but Marc Casadó could probably use a break (beyond the one he’ll get because he’s now suspended).

Then there’s Lewandowski. He’s 36, and it’s time to be realistic: he does not need to play every game. If you want the best out of him, you need to manage his minutes. Between Dani Olmo, Pau Víctor and Ferran Torres (when he returns), you can find an alternative solution against the right opponents.

STILL TO COME: Gab’s musings on Manchester United, who welcomed Ruben Amorim as manager with Sunday’s 1-1 draw vs. Ipswich…

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Quick hits

“I would have booed us too” is disarming honesty from Fonseca after scoreless Juventus draw: Say this for Milan boss Paulo Fonseca: he doesn’t hide. After Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Juventus, not only did he say that he would have joined in the abuse at the final whistle if he was a Milan fan, but he went even further: “It was one of the most boring games I’ve been involved in. Nobody taking risks, too slow in the build-up, too much respect for the opposition shown.” That’s great, but he’s the manager. Isn’t it his job to ensure this doesn’t happen? Juve boss Thiago Motta, on the other hand, was happy with a point and you can’t blame him given the number of injured players. Still, seeing Juventus play without a center forward (Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik are out, Timothy Weah only played the last six minutes) was rather depressing.

It’s a statement win from Dortmund, but can Sahin build on it? After the lows and grumpiness prebreak, they storm back with a 4-0 home win over Freiburg, who were actually ahead of them in the table. The first half was actually pretty tight — no, Nuri Sahin hasn’t solved the defensive issues — but Dortmund took their chances (even without Serhou Guirassy) and Freiburg didn’t. At 2-0 up, Freiburg had a man sent off and it was lights out (though kudos to the rejuvenated Julian Brandt for his free kick). There are still a bunch of unavailable stars and you still can’t trust this team, but the win relieves pressure and some of the second-stringers have shown they can play a little. That’s not insignificant.

Rumors of Leverkusen’s demise might be exaggerated: You might remember how, before the recent international break, Bayer Leverkusen had gone five games without a win, prompting angry outbursts from skipper Grant Xhaka. Twenty minutes into this weekend’s home game with Heidenheim, they were 2-0 down thanks to Piero Hincapié getting pick-pocketed and Mathias Honsak slipping between Jonathan Tah and Grant Xhaka (resident veteran leaders) as if they weren’t there. Then came the sort of reaction to show that yes, this is a proper team. Leverkusen tallied five goals, three of them from stand-in center forward Patrik Schick, and the opposition were swept away. Coaches often talk about wanting to see their team react in adversity. Well, Xabi Alonso got exactly that.

Martin Odegaard is irreplaceable for Arsenal (at least until Ethan Nwaneri is ready): They’re just a different side when the Norway international starts, as we saw in the 3-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest. You get the best out of Bukayo Saka when Odegaard is on the pitch, and it’s no coincidence that Arsenal’s humdrum run of form, which saw them eventually become overly defensive and offensively unimaginative, came largely while he was out. It’s not just that he’s better than whoever replaces him when he’s out; it’s that he’s different. (The same can probably be said for Kai Havertz, who sat out for Gabriel Jesus in this game. The difference is that when Odegaard’s on the pitch, against many opponents, you’ll notice Havertz’s absence less.)

Enzo Fernández shines in new role for Chelsea, which gives Maresca flexibility: It felt kind of weird that the most expensive player in the history of the Premier League, Enzo Fernandez, should be benched for four consecutive games. On Saturday, he returned in style, scoring one goal and setting up another, powering Chelsea in a de facto 4-1-4-1 system alongside Cole Palmer to a 2-1 win at Leicester. That role — with licence to break forward — suits him far more than sitting in a two alongside Moisés Caicedo. Why did it take so long for coach Enzo Maresca to deploy him there? Possibly because Caicedo has grown too and no longer needs Romeo Lavia (who made way for Fernandez) alongside him. It’s not a knock on Lavia (who in fact will come in very handy in certain games), either; it’s simply playing to your strengths. Incidentally, this system is much closer to what Maresca played last season. We may not see it every week, but surely it’s what Maresca is working toward.

A bit of Salah, a bit of a gift and Liverpool are eight points clear at the top: Sometimes you wonder if it’s the difference between good teams and bad ones. Liverpool weren’t great against Southampton, but were somehow gifted three goals. Their opponents gave the ball away for Dominik Szoboszlai‘s opener, keeper Alex McCarthy took the weirdest of angles on Mohamed Salah for the second, and defender Yukinari Sugiwara handed Liverpool a penalty that Salah converted. It doesn’t mean they were lucky necessarily — though a Caoiminh Kelleher incident with Adam Armstrong could have been a penalty — as the numbers don’t lie: 27 shots to 7, 3.15 to 1.28 xG, five big chances missed. Rather, it suggests that when you’re not at your best, if you just stick to basic execution and limit errors (and have better players, one of them named Salah) you’ll win. That’s a big part of the reason they’re eight points clear at the top and can make it 11 next weekend if they beat Man City at Anfield.

Inter pull Joaquín Correa out of the hat and score five first-half goals: OK, so Verona aren’t particularly good (and they did hit the woodwork early). But still, scoring five goals in 45 minutes is a bit special, especially when the star of the show is Joaquin Correa, a guy whose last goal came in April 2023 (not good when you’re a forward). Correa scored one, set up another two, hit the woodwork and basically looked like the sort of player Simone Inzaghi (who has been obsessed with him since his Lazio days) thinks he is, but few others believe he is. If this is some kind of turning point and he can hit this standard with any sort of consistency, it’s a huge bonus for Inter and Inzaghi, who as we know loves to continually rotate his squad (heck, we even had a Tajon Buchanan sighting). No manager of a top side rotates more than Inzaghi. It’s just a different way to view the game.

Ancelotti mixes it up and suddenly, Real Madrid are four points back with a game in hand: Real Madrid’s quest for balance continues, complicated by the many injuries. Fede Valverde filling in at right back (Lucas Vázquez and Dani Carvajal are both out) might just be something worth getting used to. Dani Ceballos in midfield less so, but with Liverpool coming up in midweek, it made sense to give Luka Modric a breather. Arda Güler seized his chance on the right as he so often does when trusted with a spot in the starting lineup. The most interesting twist was deploying Vinícius centrally and shifting Kylian Mbappé to the left. Mbappe opened the scoring and certainly looked more comfortable, though that might have had to do with his two-week break. As for Vini, playing slightly withdrawn seemed to suit him, both in terms of running at defenders and delivering assists, like the one for Mbappe. Jude Bellingham, who did a lot of hard running, also seemed to benefit. I’m not sure this set-up will work against different opponents — Leganes parked the bus until they were broken down, en route to a 3-0 defeat — but for now it’s at least another option.

STILL TO COME: Gab’s thoughts on Napoli vs. Roma and Atletico Madrid.