United falter again, Bayern catch a hiding, LaLiga big three struggle and more as Damien Kayat looks back at this weekend's European football.
Ralf Rangnick has done little to change the footballing fortunes of this struggling Man United outfit. I don’t believe his status as a quasi-interim manager is helping matters. The players don’t seem hugely motivated to run through walls for him.
And why should they if he is just going to be replaced by Ten Hag or Pochettino? It’s just a recipe for disaster. Ronaldo is staring daggers at everyone who doesn’t pass to him.
There’s just something toxic about the entire vibe at Old Trafford. It was just a matter of time before they surrendered their lead against Southampton on Saturday. How long are they going to persist with Harry Maguire?
Surely it’s time to write off that 80 million as an exorbitant breakage. The guy moves like the titanic and fails to take responsibility for his performances. The arrival of Rafael Varane has only served to underline his shortcomings (like parking a Bentley next to a Honda Civic).
The fact that he is club captain just baffles me. I can’t imagine his buddies respecting him, let alone the likes of Ronaldo and Varane. Rangnick needs to fix that problem asap if he still harbours any dreams of finishing in the top 4.
🚨🚨 Harry Maguire has finally made a successful block pic.twitter.com/USJWzQmrA2
— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) February 12, 2022
Spanish giants struggle
Man United are not the only European giant struggling in their domestic competition. Current Spanish champions Atletico Madrid will also be looking for some European solace this week.
Sure, they managed to eventually beat Getafe 4-3 in a crazy match that saw Felipe sent off in the second period. But they also conceded three goals in the space of 12 minutes.
In fact, they have conceded two goals or more in each of their last six matches. This is almost unimaginable under Simeone’s pragmatic reign. They have now won just eight of their last 22 matches and currently lie a staggering 15 points behind Real.
Simeone hasn’t endeared himself to the Atletico faithful with his ongoing feud with crowd favourite Joao Felix.
And perhaps more importantly, Luiz Suarez’s nightmare form continued this weekend, with the Uruguayan striker missing one of three first-half penalties. Wouldn’t it be poetic if he rediscovered his goal-scoring nick against old enemy Man United?
Real Madrid gave a rather insipid performance against Granada at the weekend, allowing Sevilla to pull themselves back into an unlikely title bid. Real looked so light going forward without the injured Benzema.
His link-up play was desperately absent, with Marco Asensio stinking out the place in a dismal 0-0. I just don’t see how this side can defeat PSG without the French striker. They will be praying that he gets passed fit for Tuesday’s trip to Paris.
Barcelona needed ‘Fergie time’ as they equalised against Espanyol in the 6th minute of added time. Regardless of the result, you have to applaud Xavi for bringing back some positivity to his beloved Barcelona.
Atletico 1-0 Getafe
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) February 12, 2022
Atletico 2-0 Getafe
Atletico 2-1 Getafe
Atletico 2-2 Getafe
Atletico 2-3 Getafe
Atletico 3-3 Getafe
A crazy first half at the Wanda Metropolitano sees 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 🤯
📺 Stream live: https://t.co/0BMWdeEYT3 pic.twitter.com/cuUxkbNHlq
Epic Italian title race
This year’s Serie A title race has more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel. Inter were held to a 1-1 draw by fellow title contenders Napoli. The Nerazzurri actually had to fight back against a spirited Napoli side.
Lorenzo Insigne opened the scoring for Napoli, surpassing the legendary Diego Maradona in Napoli’s all-time scoring list. But the evergreen Eden Dzeko equalised for the champions in the second half.
His goals will prove crucial should Inter stand any chance against a rampant Liverpool side this week. The draw gave bitter city rivals Milan the opportunity to take top spot. They obliged…..barely.
To be fair, their 1-0 victory over Sampdoria was about as one-sided a 1-0 that you will ever see. Sampdoria are edging towards the relegation zone after their 5th defeat in six matches.
Juventus needed a last-gasp equaliser against Atalanta to keep their European dreams alive. It’s really strange to have Juventus so thoroughly out of the title race at this stage of the season.
Incredible distribution from Mike Maignan and the turn of pace from Rafael Leão 👏
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) February 13, 2022
Milan go top of the #SerieA with a 1-0 win against Sampdoria. pic.twitter.com/I4aStZoWox
Bayern rocked by mid-table Bochum
Julian Nagelsmann’s fluid Bayern side looked nailed-on to momentarily take a 12-point lead atop the Bundesliga this weekend. But they were caught on their heels in a major way, conceding four first-half goals in a 2-4 defeat to VfL Bochum.
To put that in perspective, Bayern annihilated Bochum 7-0 when they met at the Allianz earlier this year. Perhaps they had one eye on their midweek Champions League trip to RB Salzburg. But they still put out a very strong side.
Leroy Sane had arguably his worst ever performance in a Bayern shirt. Bayern are just not a side that play good backfoot football. They look like headless chickens when caught on the counterattack (Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard have huge limitations when they don’t have possession).
Dortmund took advantage with a solid away win at Union Berlin. Marco Reus scored twice to cut Bayern’s lead to six points. That’s pretty encouraging for a Dortmund side who could have been 12 points adrift after the weekend’s action.
📽️ The twelfth of February, two thousand and twenty-two. Remember this day. The day @VfLBochum1848EN ran RIOT over @FCBayernEN in the #Bundesliga. 🎇 📅 pic.twitter.com/npvHOT7miV
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) February 12, 2022
Player of the Week- Raheem Sterling
I still think that Raheem Sterling is one of the most underrated players in European football. He keeps churning out the numbers season after season. But he doesn’t seem to get the adulation of Kevin de Bruyne or Bernardo Silva.
But he was amazing against Norwich, scoring a perfect hat-trick as part of their 4-0 away victory. Poor Max Aarons is going to have nightmares of Sterling for some time.
He seems to have got physically stronger, looking to ride challenges when he would have previously hit the ground. That being said, he does still tend to hit the canvas a little too much for my liking.
But he is one of European football’s most devastating wingers in his prime and an underappreciated cog in the City machine.
Raheem Sterling’s game by numbers vs Norwich:
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) February 12, 2022
100% shot accuracy
18 final third passes completed
6 ground duels won
5 shots on target
5 attempted dribbles
3 successful dribbles
3 goals
A perfect hat-trick. ⚽️⚽️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/sZijF0hrlq
