Juventus have had more joy in the Coppa Italia than Serie A in recent seasons. After dismantling Cagliari tonight they face Empoli at home in the quarters. Another deep run beckons in what is likely to be their best and only chance of silverware yet again for another season.

Real Betis 1 Real Madrid 1

An excellent tactical match between two wise old men in the dugout as Manuel Pellegrini and Carlo Ancelotti pitted wits against each other. As is often the case when Real come to the Benito Villamarin, they were made to suffer against an excellent Betis side. The stars on the pitch were Jude Bellingham, who scored yet another goal (who else?) and Isco, who almost scored the game winner at the death when his header crashed of the post. Isco’s redemption at Betis is one of the stories of the season in Spain, probably just behind Bellingham’s emphatic start to his La Liga career. Despite the excellence of these two midfielders, watching this game, I couldn’t help but wonder how much closer these two sides would be to achieving their respective aims if they had someone who could finish chances ruthlessly in the final third. 

United 0 Bournemouth 3

For those of a Red Devils persuasion, the galling aspect of this defeat wasn’t so much the ineptitude of the home side, but simply the fact that nobody was really surprised that an excellent Bournemouth side on the up could and ultimately would win at Old Trafford. United’s midfield dysfunction and lack of defensive organization is so obvious, that Andani Iraola’s well-coached Cherries looked a cut above tactically and comfortable in every other facet from kickoff to the final whistle. A 5-0 scoreline wouldn’t have flattered the visitors. And that’s the not the first time someone has said that about an away side playing United this season. How Erik ten Hag fixes this is beyond me. A possibly season-defining double-header against Bayern and Liverpool up next is hardly going to fill the United faithful’s heart with any sense of hope. As for Iraola, he’s only the latest Basque coach to pitch up and show his quality in the Premier League as he gradually leads a classy in-form Bournemouth side up the table.

Eintracht 5 Bayern 1

The first thing to say is that this kind of defeat is not uncommon no matter how many one-sided jibes one may hear about the Bundesliga. Bayern have their bogey teams, Frankfurt, Hoffenheim and Borussia Monchengladbach to name a few. Also, Frankfurt over the past few years have done this to many teams — Barca, Arsenal, Napoli and a quite a few others. The home side decided to go toe-to-toe with Bayern, an approach that can pay dividends against the serial German champions, especially considering their glaring absence of a number 6. The alarm bells won’t be ringing just yet for Thomas Tuchel. After all, on most weekends they’ll overwhelm their domestic opponents and they aren’t likely to face a credible threat in the Champions League until the quarterfinals. However, Tuchel may yet end up getting a small but significant victory as a result of this defeat as he builds the case for the board to prioritize signing a defensive midfielder in January.  

Palace 1 Liverpool 2

Jurgen Klopp pulled no punches in his post-comments when he said his team were really bad for 76 minutes and then were really good once they had a man advantage. Not for the first time this season on the road, Liverpool lacked control in midfield, causing issues not only when it came to their defensive organization, but also in terms of having any fluency with the ball, lacking clearly defined patterns when it came to attacking Palace. Jordan Ayew’s extremely harsh second yellow provided a timely boost as the Reds naturally found more spaces to run into, delivering yet another comeback win to take them top of the table. Klopp also rightly stated that Liverpool’s substitutes have been the story of the season. While their squad may not offer much in terms of tactical variance, the fact that guys like Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo can come on fresh in the second half of matches means the Reds are always capable of breaching tired defences provided they stay alive in a game. They may not pass the eye test, but momentum for an unexpected title tilt increases as Liverpool now have the opportunity to lay down the gauntlet with back-to-back home games against Manchester United and Arsenal up next.

Juve 1 Napoli 0

The kind of performance and win that has been the bedrock of many Juventus title wins in the past. Not fussed about dominating with the ball or creating loads of chances, but based on exemplary defensive focus, organization, work rate and making efficient use of their opportunities, which this season have primarily come from set pieces and crosses. The fact that for the second successive game the match-winning goal was scored by a Turin-based centre-back in Federico Gatti only adds to the parallels between this team and successful Juve sides of the past. For all the justifiable critiques of their style, downplaying their credentials and delivering results is all that Max Allegri will care about. There may be more entertaining teams in the league, but the Bianconeri and their grizzled manager don’t often get beaten in close races.

As for Napoli, successive defeats to Inter and Juve remove any lingering hopes of defending their title. Walter Mazzarri could say that in both games his team had their moments only to be deprived by some outstanding goalkeeping, but in truth the champions looked a cut below both this season’s pacesetters. Mazzarri now has to work on keeping his players motivated for this season’s core target, qualifying for the Champions League again in what looks like a proper scrap between three to six teams at this point in the season. The talent of the squad is not in doubt, but the new returning manager has a task on his hand keeping a clearly disgruntled set of players on track for the second half of the season.

Champions League Matchday 1

Like every season, I find myself excited and looking forward to the beginning of the group stages of the Champions League. Even in this busy season, Matchday 1 just brings a unique sense of anticipation as European giants take on each other across borders. Here are the six games I am most eager to follow on Matchday 1:

Celtic vs. Real Madrid

PSG vs. Juventus

Salzburg vs. Milan

Inter vs. Bayern Munich

Napoli vs. Liverpool

Tottenham vs. Marseille

A whole season of picks

This is ultimately trivial, but purely as an exercise in persistence I finished a whole season of making picks for every single league game in the top 5 leagues. These were the results:

Premier League — 191/380 (50.26%)

La Liga — 182/380 (47.89%)

Serie A — 172/380 (45.26%)

Bundesliga — 137/306 (44.77%)

Ligue 1 — 161/380 (42.3 %)

Turns out my best effort was just barely above 50%. Goes to show predictions are a mugs game. As I said, this was an exercise in persistence, but I want this microblog to be about passion. Hence, we won’t be seeing picks anymore. 

Bundesliga Picks Final Tally

Final Round — 6/9

Season — 137/306 (44.77 %)

Serie A Picks Final Tally

Final Round — 3/10

Season — 172/380 (45.26 %)

La Liga Picks Final Tally

Final Round — 3/10

Season — 182/380 (47.89 %)

Ligue 1 Picks Final Tally

Final Round — 2/10

Season — 161/380 (42.37 %)

Premier League Picks Final Tally

Final Round — 7/10

Season — 191/380 (50.26 %)

Premier League Picks Matchday 38

Palace vs United — Draw

Arsenal vs Everton — Draw

Chelsea vs Watford — Home

Leicester vs Southampton — Home

Brentford vs Leeds — Away

Burnley vs Newcastle — Draw

City vs Villa — Home

Norwich vs Spurs — Away

Brighton vs West Ham — Home

Liverpool vs Wolves — Home

Last round — 0/3

Season — 184/370

Ligue 1 Picks Matchday 38

Brest vs Bordeaux — Home

Clermont vs Lyon — Home

Lens vs Monaco — Away

Marseille vs Strasbourg — Draw

Lorient vs Troyes — Home

PSG vs Metz — Home

Lille vs Rennes — Away

Angers vs Montpellier — Home

Nantes vs St Etienne — Away

Reims vs Nice — Draw

Last round — 4/10

Season — 159/370

La Liga Picks Matchday 38

Real vs Betis – Home

Rayo vs Levante – Draw

Valencia vs Celta – Away

Elche vs Getafe – Home

Alaves vs Cadiz – Away

Granada vs Espanyol – Home

Osasuna vs Mallorca – Away

Barca vs Villarreal – Draw

La Real vs Atletico – Home

Sevilla vs Athletic – Away

Last round – 7/10

Season – 179/370

Serie A Picks Matchday 38

Torino vs Roma – Home

Genoa vs Bologna – Home

Fiorentina vs Juve – Home

Atalanta vs Empoli – Home

Lazio vs Verona – Home

Spezia vs Napoli – Draw

Inter vs Sampdoria – Home

Sassuolo vs Milan – Away

Venezia vs Cagliari – Home

Salernitana vs Udinese – Home

Last round – 5/10

Season – 169/370

Premier League Rescheduled Picks

Villa vs Burnley — Home

Chelsea vs Leicester — Home

Everton vs Palace — Draw

Last round — 2/9

Season — 184/367

Premier League Picks Matchday 37

Spurs vs Burnley — Home

Wolves vs Norwich — Home

West Ham vs City — Away

Watford vs Leicester — Home

Leeds vs Brighton — Home

Villa vs Palace — Home

Everton vs Brentford — Draw

Newcastle vs Arsenal — Draw

Southampton vs Liverpool — Away

Last round — 4/6

Season — 182/358

Ligue 1 Picks Matchday 37

St Etienne vs Reims — Home

Montpellier vs PSG — Home

Metz vs Angers — Home

Rennes vs Marseille — Away

Strasbourg vs Clermont — Home

Lyon vs Nantes — Home

Bordeaux vs Lorient — Home

Monaco vs Brest — Home

Nice vs Lille — Home

Troyes vs Lens — Home

Last round — 0/2

Season — 155/360

La Liga Picks Matchday 37

Espanyol vs Valencia — Home

Villarreal vs La Real — Home

Celta vs Elche — Home

Cadiz vs Real — Draw

Athletic vs Osasuna — Home

Levante vs Alaves — Home

Atletico vs Sevilla — Home

Mallorca vs Rayo — Home

Getafe vs Barca — Draw

Betis vs Granada — Home

Last round — 4/10

Season — 172/360

Bundesliga Picks Matchday 34

Augsburg vs Furth — Home

Dortmund vs Hertha — Home

Union vs Bochum — Home

Arminia vs Leipzig — Away

Wolfsburg vs Bayern — Draw

Mainz vs Frankfurt — Home

Stuttgart vs Koln — Home

Leverkusen vs Freiburg — Draw

Gladbach vs Hoffenheim — Home

Last round — 2/9

Season — 131/297

Serie A Picks Matchday 37

Empoli vs Salernitana — Draw

Udinese vs Spezia — Home

Verona vs Torino — Home

Roma vs Venezia — Home

Bologna vs Sassuolo — Away

Napoli vs Genoa — Away

Milan vs Atalanta — Home

Cagliari vs Inter — Draw

Sampdoria vs Fiorentina — Home

Juve vs Lazio — Draw

Last round — 7/10

Season — 164/360

Ligue 1 Picks Matchday 36B

Nice vs St Etienne — Draw

Nantes vs Rennes — Away

Last round — 3/8

Season — 155/358

Premier League Rescheduled Picks

Villa vs Liverpool — Away

Leicester vs Norwich — Home

Watford vs Everton — Home

Leeds vs Chelsea — Home

Wolves vs City — Away

Spurs vs Arsenal — Home

Last round — 5/10

Season — 178/352