(ESP-ENG) Fin de semana de altibajos en el futbol europeo // Weekend of ups and downs in European soccer!
Hello friends, good vibes to all.
This weekend there was action in the main European leagues before the FIFA break that starts this week. The relevant thing is that in all of them there were some results worth commenting on, both in Italy, Germany, Spain and England, results that tell us a little about the situations that some clubs are going through, both positive and negative. On the positive side, we have a Manchester City that continues to be unstoppable thanks to Haaland, a Real Madrid that despite not having its best night yesterday is still on a roll and is undefeated in La Liga, its passage through it is perfect and a Barcelona that only seems to know how to beat much smaller clubs.
The negatives in this case are more striking, we see how Bayern lost against a mid-table team by the minimum and a Juventus that is immersed in a deep sporting crisis by losing against one of the teams that are bottom in the current Serie A. I think we are witnessing an attrition in many of the projects that are underway because talking about a physical decline does not make much sense because of the early season, plus the latter does not have much to do with a team losing the way they did against a club that is in relegation places, I think there is no justification for that.
Yesterday at the Monza stadium, Juventus faced Allegri's Juventus, who I would like to think that he is in a tightrope, but according to one of the club's managers, he is not, and that on the contrary, he has full confidence in him for the construction of a project for the next four years. This kind of statements are hard to understand because they go against what is being reflected on the field, Juve has five consecutive matches without a win, two defeats in the Champions League (they are not eliminated but almost) and only two wins out of seven possible matches in Serie A. But the issue is not losing, it's how they lose, it's the defensive and offensive disaster they have, there is no playmaking or ball possession and an example of that was yesterday's game.
Monza, a team that had not won in the current season and that their first victory was against Juve has to be a big wake-up call for the directors of the Vecchia Signora. And the fact is that yesterday Monza were superior in every way, in possession, shots on goal, passes completed, chances created, in everything, to the point that the team that seemed to be moving up was Juventus. An embarrassment for the fans that Allegri is still in charge, I can understand the project issue but when things don't work, you have to change them.
Real Madrid has gold in their midfield and with the departure of Casemiro they are starting to feel it better. The state of grace in which Fede Valverde is in seems to be taken out of a movie, he has four goals being one more important than the previous one, in addition to having a couple of assists which have been fundamental for the last victories of the merengues. Because that's just it, Valverde is becoming a FUNDAMENTAL player for Madrid and I hope he continues to do so. And if we add to that Tchouameni, who as the games go by is consolidating more and more, we can say that there is a generation that really scares us.
Yesterday in the Madrid derby the Whites were better in the first half, with goals from Rodrygo and Fede they took the lead against Atletico who are not in their best moment either, they are in seventh place but their performance is far from the one shown in previous years. But in the second half those roles were reversed, Madrid lowered their guard considerably and the owners of the match were the red and white pressing on all sides until they got the discount. This drop in performance is very dangerous because with a better Atletico they could have even lost the game, Real almost didn't attack in the second 45 minutes. The same thing happened to them against Leipzig in the Champions League, they went over their heads but still won with a scare.
If we were talking about Madrid having a good generation ahead of them, what can we say about City with Haaland, Foden, Grealish and De Bruyne. I think that one of the best signings that have been made lately in terms of performance has been that of the Norwegian, it is incredible how far his ceiling is, I sound a bit like a broken record but that truth cannot be covered with a finger. He has 11 goals in the last six games and overall that's 28 goals in 19 games. I would like to understand what could be the limit of this player but I do not get it, I think no one, his level is well above average and now in a team where scoring goals may be easier for him, we will have to sit back and just watch.
City won with authority on Saturday, and in the first half an hour they had already sealed the game with goals from Grealish and Haaland. But another detail to take into account is that in their ranks is the player with the most assists in the Premier League, the Belgian Kevin De Bruyne, with six assists. What this guy plays is crazy and he is the perfect partner for a beast in the box like Haaland. Guardiola can rest assured that he will not be short of play and goals this season, this squad is pure quality, one of the best in Europe without a doubt.
And if we talk about goal scoring monsters, we can't leave out Lewandowski who on Saturday scored yet another brace. Haaland's performance is impressive for his age, but isn't the 34-year-old Pole more deserving? - Lewandowski's numbers are also scandalous because he has 11 goals in eight official matches with Barcelona and is currently the top scorer in La Liga and the Champions League. The Culés overcame Elche and that's when I ask myself: is it that Barca can only beat considerably smaller teams? - And this is not just me saying this, but the facts of their last few games.
Teams like Elche, Valladolid, Cadiz, are clubs that in comparison to the blaugranas are almost nothing and we can see it in the results but then when facing the top teams like Bayern in the Champions League they go to zero. I know that Barca was better in that game, they had more chances but the Germans were more convincing and that can be a problem, that with a couple of arrivals they already score two goals. I think the other test is against Inter in a couple of weeks, based on that result we will see if this Barcelona is ready to fight in Europe because in La Liga it is clear that they are not having problems.
!Un abrazo a todos, nos vemos en la próxima!
Well my people, that's all for today, I hope you liked it!
¡A hug to all of you, see you next time!
https://twitter.com/Javyeslavaphoto/status/1571863884029431810
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people( @javyeslava.photo ) sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
La Juventus se rompió completamente, la relación entre futbolistas, afición, entrenador y directiva se encuentra muy dañada y este es el principal motivo de la derrota ante el último lugar de la Serie A, que por cierto logró su primera victoria en la historia del campeonato italiano.
La salida de Allegri parece ser un futuro lejano, pues la directiva, se ha puesto en contra de la afición y han ratificado al italiano, confiando en que puede darle la vuelta a la situación, algo de lo que yo no estaría tan seguro.
Se barajan muchas opciones para su remplazo, como Tuchel, Zidane, y ex-jugadores de la Juventus que están entrenando a las inferiores del equipo. Hay que ver como se desarrolla todo, pero la Vecchia Signora enfrentará sin duda una de sus peores temporadas en años.
De hecho el gerente general creo lo ratificó y estaba convencido de que Allegri era el indicado de aquí a unos cuantos años más.
Creo que cuando el agua les llegue al cuello y la situación sea insostenible ahí darán marcha atrás y saldrán del italiano. Dilatar eso puede ser mortal para la Juve pero bueno...
Saludos amigo!