Liverpool: performance problems
A bright attacking game was expected from the match between the champion of England and the leader of the championship.
However, according to the results of the confrontation between Manchester United and Liverpool, the scoreboard still showed zeros.
In part, they could be explained by the tactical maneuvers that coaches resorted to to neutralize the opponents' leaders.
Indeed, Bruno Fernandes and Mohammed Salah got lost in massive rebuildings that kept the severity to a minimum.
However, this is how to explain the draw - to see only the tip of the iceberg.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, whose “Manchester” for the first time since 2017 settled at the head of the standings, habitually acted from the opponent, counting on a counteroffensive.
But the attacking Liverpool did not squeeze anything out of the abundant number of creative players.
And this is already a systemic problem: since the last time the Reds distinguished themselves in the Premier League, there have been three complete meetings.
This has not happened since 2005.
On the other hand, although Manchester United remained on the top line of the protocol, it is hardly very happy about the outcome.
Indeed, in the next match with the representatives of the "big six" (top teams of the Premier League), they again did not win.
In all five matches, they either achieved a draw or lost, and the number of goals in them remained at the modest "1" mark.
Man Utd's record against the 'Big Six' this season in the Premier League:
Man Utd 1-6 Spurs
Man Utd 0-0 Chelsea
Man Utd 0-1 Arsenal
Man Utd 0-0 Man City
Liverpool 0-0 Man Utd
Winless in all five games.
pic.twitter.com/JoFuiXny9e
- Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 17, 2021
From other events of the weekend in England, we note the first victory of Sam Allardyce at the head of West Brom.
The elite Blackbirds' oldest squad has beaten Wolverhampton since spring 2018, despite the fact that the debut goal in the Premier League was scored by the most expensive player in the history of the Wolves, Fabio Silva.
The outsiders were rescued by Matheus Pereira's double from the penalty spot and a bit of luck in the end.
We also note the winning goal of Michael Antonio: in the 400th professional match, the forward scored the 40th goal in West Ham uniform.
The blow, by the way, turned out to be the only scoring chance in the confrontation with Burnley.
Jovic: the return of an idol
During the two years spent at Eintracht Frankfurt before the transfer to Real Madrid, Serbian forward Luka Jovic has become a real sporting symbol for Frankfurt.
In 54 games, he scored 25 goals, earning a reputation as a superbombardier.
And because the move to La Liga was perceived by the fans - with all the chagrin - with understanding.
In Hesse, the striker achieved everything he could and had to move to a higher level.
However, in Real Madrid, Jovic was constantly hampered by injuries, discipline problems and pressure - from the media, fans, management.
As a result, in the form of "creamy" striker spent only 21 matches in La Liga and was marked by two accurate shots.
Then he returned to Eintracht on loan.
On the fields of the Bundesliga, it took Jovic less than half an hour to transform into a former (and half-forgotten) superman.
Luca scored a double in 28 minutes in his debut match for the new (old) club.
And he helped Eintracht defeat Schalke 3-1, which brought the Hessians' winning streak in the Bundesliga to four matches.
Luka Jovic at Real Madrid:
👕 32 games
⚽ 2 goals
Luka Jovic today:
⌚ 28 minutes
⚽ 2 goals https://t.co/GvfVOLEXLi
- Goal (@goal) January 17, 2021
From the trend of the tour, we note the loss of points by all pursuers of the leader of the table - "Bavaria".
And if Red Bull, as well as Borussia Dortmund drew, Bayer Leverkusen conceded only once and lost to Union - for the first time in history, Berliners distinguished themselves in 17 Bundesliga matches in a row.
Marseille: scandal at the presidential level
The defeat to Nîmes (1: 2), which is threatened with a demotion, provoked a violent reaction in the camp of the vice-champion of France.
The next morning after the failure, the president of Marseille, Jacques-Henri Eyraud, gathered the players at the base and sharply criticized them.
In addition, as some of the players told the press on condition of anonymity, he promised to sell in the summer transfer window those legionnaires who will not learn French by the end of the season.
He also demanded that the players, whose contract expires in six months, decide within two days whether they will continue their careers at Marseille or not.
If not, he told them to find a new club within 13 days.
But the position of the team in the championship is not so deplorable.
Yes, the gap between the leading PSG is ten points.
But “Marseille” has two games in reserve, which seriously changes the situation.
But Nantes has really global problems.
The home draw with Lens (1: 1) was the 11th meeting, where the team was left without a victory.
This is the group's worst streak in 20 years.
And it's not a fact that Raymond Domenech will save the club from relegation, especially given the ten-year downtime at the highest level.
On the other hand, Lille is performing excellently, on a par with PSG.
On the account of "dogs" 42 points after 20 fights - the best result in 70 years.
Another victory turned out to be strong-willed: the team scored twice, responding to Zeneli's goal in the first half, and scored the winning goal in stoppage time.
Conte: the teacher beats the student
In 2011, Antonio Conte took over as Juventus after finishing seventh for two seasons in a row.
The rage and assertiveness of the mentor so charged the players that in the next four seasons, under the leadership of the former midfielder of the club, black and white became champions.
Andrea Pirlo was among the players who were influenced by the mentor.
Last Sunday, Andrea himself, as a beginner mentor, had to shake up the Turin people and charge them with faith in himself.
After all, the strongest team in Italy was to face its principal rival - Inter, which is currently headed by Conte.
However, Pirlo was not really able to prepare his charges for resistance: the pressure and positional defense of Juventus were simply terrible.
Gaps in the lines made black and white vulnerable in defense, and the absence of Dybala made them indistinct in attack.
The Milanese, on the other hand, dominated in the center of the field due to the combination of Vidal and Barella.
As a result, the Chilean, who has experience of playing in the form of Juventus, scored the first goal in Serie A for the black and blue, and the Italian scored two points on the goal + pass system.
Inter beat Juventus in Serie A for the first time since 2016.
2010 - Inter have won a Serie A match vs Juventus without conceding any goal for the first time since April 2010 (Maicon and Eto'o the scorers).
Poop. # InterJuvepic.twitter.com / mwfuUjY0ll
- OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) January 17, 2021
Roma looked just as helpless during the Roman derby.
Lazio scored three unanswered goals for their fellow countrymen, and at the same time allowed Ciro Immobile to become the hero of the blue and white.
The veteran has distinguished himself for the fourth time in his career in the derby, and now among his teammates in this nomination, only Tommaso Rocchi (5) and Silvio Piola (6) are second.
Barcelona: Koeman loses the Super Cup
As a blue garnet player, Dutch defender Ronald Koeman has won the Spanish Super Cup three times.
And along with it four gold medals of the national championship, the King's Cup, the European Champions Cup and the Continental Super Cup.
However, having turned into the head coach of the Catalans, Ronald Koeman could not take the trophy from the first attempt.
Twice thanks to Griezmann's double, his team took the lead in the final against Athletic Bilbao, and both times the Basques won back.
And again - literally a few minutes before the whistle about the end of regular time.
In overtime, Iñaki Williams scored, who had previously assisted a partner and became the first player of the season to score a goal + pass into the Catalan goal for a single match.
🏆 1984
🏆 2015
🏆 2021
Los Leones have won the Spanish Super Cup for the third time.
https://t.co/6WOedEhYDO
- Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 17, 2021
Fans of Barcelona, right up to the last seconds, were waiting for a saving goal from Messi, however, except for the wasted free throws, the Argentine was remembered only by the removal at the very end.
The video assistance system of the referee recorded how Leo hit his opponent with his elbow, for which he saw a red card in front of him for the first time in his club career (753 matches).
The Basques ended a trophy-free streak that had been running since 2015.
Blaugrana's defeat overshadowed news that would have earned European attention at any other time.
Former Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres headed the reserve team of his home club, having received his debut job as head coach.
Previously, he entered the headquarters of Ricky Alonso and, according to the assurances of Spanish journalists, simply fascinated the youth with the way he conducted training.
Now the former striker of the Spanish national team will have a real opportunity to realize his tactical ideas as much as possible and to fully demonstrate his coaching talent.