Klopp’s team inflicts on Guardiola’s team their first loss of the season, buoyed up after difficult start
The same day that the classic between Real Madrid and Barcelona was played, England experienced its particular classic, a game of little historical significance but that in recent years has become the great British football match on its own merits. Manchester against Liverpool, Klopp against Guardiola, or what is the same, the teams that have shared the Premier title in the last five years. City came into the match full of morale after an immaculate start to the season, while Liverpool were mired in a sea of doubts, just two wins in the first eight games. The match, however, was the one we have grown accustomed to seeing in previous seasons.
Klopp’s team knew how to neutralize the main virtues of the sky blues and the clash became a duel in the purest premier style, not a second to respite, suffocating pressure from both teams and constant changes in possession of the ball. With Van Dijk overshadowing Haaland, the Reds waited for their opportunity, which came after a free kick for City. Allison blocked the ball, looked long for Salah, and the Egyptian made a spectacular control, on the half turn, to overcome Cancelo, stand alone against Ederson and define masterfully. The final minutes gave us a collection of Darwin Núñez’s decision errors, which bordered on the grotesque. Especially serious was a play in which the Uruguayan had a clear pass to Salah, which left the Egyptian in front of the goal, but in which he chose to finish the play. If he wanted to ingratiate himself with the Anfield crowd after a difficult start, he couldn’t have done worse.
In the rest of the day, the only puncture of the big six teams was that of United, who with Cristiano as starter tied 0-0 against Newcastle. Conte’s Tottenham beat Everton (2-0), tied on points with Manchester City and remaining four behind the leader. Arteta’s Arsenal visited a difficult place like Elland Road and achieved a fundamental victory (0-1). He didn’t deserve it, as Leeds had plenty of chances, but the score didn’t move and the Gunners got a crucial win for their title aspirations. Leeds, meanwhile, has not won for six games and some already miss Marcelo Bielsa. Potter’s Chelsea also won, 0-2 against Aston Villa. Since his arrival, the blue team has not lost and has already won five in a row. Much of the credit for the victory against Villa went to two players who are shining with their own light in this new era: Mason Mount, author of a double, and Kepa, who has regained ownership and made several spectacular saves.
In Italy the top positions are still in a fist. The leader, Napoli, beat Bologna in a hard-fought victory in which they had to come back from an adverse score to end up winning 3-2. The only one to follow in their wake is Atalanta, who defeated Sassuolo (2-1) in a match in which they also had to come back from the Emilia-Romagna team’s opening goal. The next two teams in the table, Lazio and Udinese, faced each other and ended up canceling each other out (0-0). His puncture was taken advantage of by Milan, who beat Hellas Verona (1-2) in the duel that closed Sunday, and is placed third in the table.
Still out of the European places are Inter and Juventus, who won their respective clashes. The Bianconeri team faced the Turin derby with their coach, Massimiliano Allegri, risking their place after the bump in the Champions League against Maccabi Haifa. The Juventinos won with a solitary goal from Vlahovic, which allows their coach to breathe a sigh of relief. Simone Inzaghi found himself in a similar situation just two weeks ago, but the double duel against Barcelona in the Champions League, followed by two victories in Serie A, have greatly strengthened the position of the Italian coach. The day will close this Monday with a Lecce-Fiorentina and a Sampdoria-Rome. A victory for Mourinho’s men could catapult them to the Champions League positions.
The German league gave us two great games this Sunday. The two revelations of the season, Union Berlin and Freiburg, received respectively Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, the best teams in the country in the last decade. Luck was mixed for both. The Union achieved a very prestigious victory against Dortmund (2-0), which allows them to stay in first place. This same week, Real Madrid’s German midfielder, Toni Kroos, had stated that he saw the team from the capital as having a real chance of winning the title. If Kroos’ words could be interpreted as exaggerated, this Sunday’s game proved that this is not the case.
The Union is very serious, it has been five games in a row as leader and still leads Bayern by four points. The Bavarians, precisely, faced a tough match against Freiburg, but they resolved it with solvency, 5-0, to definitively leave behind the bad streak that Naggelsman’s team accumulated, which went four days without winning. In the rest of the matches, the rout of Eintrach Frankfurt against Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen (5-1) stands out. The coach from San Sebastian began his career in Germany with a win against Shalke, but two tough consecutive defeats, in the Champions League against Porto and now in the league, show that he still has a lot of work ahead of him.
The star duel of French football, the classic between PSG and Olympique de Marseille, closed the eleventh day of Ligue 1. The Parisians prevailed, with a goal from Neymar from a pass from Mbappé, in the middle of the controversy with the crack Frenchman, who after his renewal in May now wants to leave the club. The information published in France points to a bad relationship between Mbappé and the Brazilian since his non-exit caused Kylian to feel betrayed by his club. Aside from speculation, both players hugged each other to celebrate the goal that left PSG even more leader.
In the rest of the day, the puncture of Lorient stands out, which drew 0-0 against Stade Reims and missed the opportunity to take the lead for a few hours. Their place as revelations in the championship is now threatened by Lens, who have also had a great start to the season and are fourth, just two points behind Lorient. In fifth position is the Stade Rennais, which spoiled Laurent Blanc’s debut as coach of Lyon (3-2), and now has seven games without defeat. Monaco drew 1-1 against modest Clermont, moving away from the European positions approached by Lille, who beat Strasbourg 0-3 and is already just two points behind the team from the principality.
