City substitutes also win

EFL Cup:

During the week the round of 32 of the English League Cup was played, in which only clubs from the four professional categories participate. The highlight of the day came on Wednesday with a City-Chelsea. Both managers played with unusual teams, although, especially in the case of City, their substitutes are so good that they are scary. Ederson, Cancelo, Walker, De Bruyne, Foden, Bernardo Silva, or Haaland were not there, but even with those Guardiola was able to have an eleven that would be the envy of many teams. The Manchester team won 2-0 with a new goal from Julián Álvarez. Four Premier teams had played on Tuesday.

Leicester beat Newport County (3-0) with a brace from Vardy, the day the veteran English striker turned 400 games for the Foxes. The surprise was given by the modest Gillingham, from the fourth division, who drew 1-1 against Brentford and won on penalties. The remaining two, Bournemouth and Everton, faced each other and the cherries thrashed Lampard’s team (4-1), which offered a terrible image. The next day the bulk of the day was played, where two teams from the big six were eliminated, Arsenal against Brighton (1-3), and Tottenham against Forest (2-0). Just as Arteta lined up ten substitutes, Conte took out a fairly recognizable eleven, but the result was the same.

The other game that was resolved in 90 minutes was Wolves-Leeds, in which Lopetegui’s men won 1-0. The remaining four matches were decided on penalties. Liverpool and Southampton faced two third-class teams, Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday (0-0, 3-2) and (1-1, 6-5) respectively. West Ham were eliminated by Blackburn (2-2) after taking ten penalties each team and Newcastle eliminated Crystal Palace (3-2 on penalties) after drawing 0-0 at the end of regulation time.

A league:

Napoli seem unstoppable. The only argument that could be used against Spalletti’s boys is that last season they also had an immaculate start and then deflated, but it has expired. It was precisely in these days of the previous campaign when the Neapolitans began to deflate, but now they continue to win, and the World Cup is also coming, which will give the players a long rest before facing the second part of the championship. Yesterday they won with suffering against Empoli (2-0), in a match that stalled until the 70th minute, when Chucky Lozano converted a penalty. The day was round for the Partenopeos, because hours later Milan drew 0-0 in a theoretically affordable duel against Cremonese, widening the distance to eight points.

Wednesday’s session was opened by Atalanta who surprisingly lost to Lecce (2-1) and lost the opportunity to draw with Milan in second place. Roma didn’t take advantage of the puncture from the Rossoneri either, as they drew 1-1 against Sassuolo. After the game, José Mourinho left some incendiary statements stating that “the effort of a team that played as a team was betrayed by a player with an unprofessional attitude”. The Portuguese did not clarify which player he was referring to, but the doubt may be clarified this weekend, seeing the call-up of the Setúbal player. Then Inter played, who got rid of all the doubts generated by the defeat against Juve with a 6-1 against Bologna. Inzaghi’s men placed third at the expense of the two games remaining to finish the day, with Juventus visiting Verona to face Hellas and Sarri’s Lazio hosting Monza.

Bundesliga:

Bayern showed no mercy to Werder Bremen. Newly promoted after dramatic relegation two seasons ago, this German league classic had started the season well but was hit by a steamroller on his visit to Munich (6-1). Choupo-Moting did not score, which is news, and thus sees his streak of seven consecutive scoring games interrupted. The bad news for Nagelsmann’s men was the injury of Sadio Mané, who had to leave the field in the twentieth minute and will not be able to play in the World Cup. Among Bayern’s pursuers, the only one who did not stumble was Eintracht, who beat Hoffenheim 4-2. Of the rest, Borussia Dortmund lost to Wolfsburg (2-0), Union Berlin drew 2-2 against Augsburg, and Freiburg was defeated by Leipzig (3-1), who overtook Borussia and placed fifth.

Eredivisie:

After losing the direct duel against PSV, and with it the leadership, on the last day Ajax played a match that had been postponed and that could allow the ajacied team to regain first position. Quite the opposite happened, as they drew 2-2 against Vitesse and increased doubts about Alfred Schreuder’s project. This weekend the last day of the league is played in the Netherlands before the World Cup and Ajax needs to win and a puncture from PSV if they want to lead the break.