Valladolid 1 Levante 1
Elche 0 Cadiz 0
Valencia 2 Atletico 2
Huesca 1 Sevilla 2
Real 3 Alaves 1
Barca 2 Osasuna 0
Getafe 1 Athletic 1
Celta 1 Granada 1
La Real 2 Villarreal 1
Betis 2 Eibar 0
Season so far — 18/40
Palace 0 Newcastle 0
Brighton 1 Liverpool 3
City 2 Burnley 0
Everton 2 Leeds 2
West Brom 1 Sheffield Utd 1
Southampton 1 United 2
Chelsea 1 Spurs 1
Arsenal 1 Wolves 0
Leicester 1 Fulham 2
West Ham 2 Villa 0
Season so far — 16/40
Rennes 1 Chelsea 1
Krasnodar 1 Sevilla 2
United 2 Basaksehir 0
PSG 2 Leipzig 2
Dynamo Kyiv 1 Barca 0
Juve 3 Ferencvaros 0
Lazio 2 Zenit 1
Dortmund 2 Brugge 0
Gladbach 3 Shakhtar 1
Inter 2 Real 1
Olympiacos 1 City 1
Marseille 1 Porto 0
Liverpool 2 Atalanta 1
Ajax 2 Midtjylland 0
Bayern 2 Salzburg 2
Atletico 2 Lokomotiv 0
Season so far — 28/48
Not a game to stay long in the memory, but nevertheless powerful for Atletico Madrid who beat Barcelona for the first time in the league since Diego Simeone took charge. We’d probably be discussing a stalemate were it not for Ter Stegen’s hare-brained rush out of the box, but the objective truth is once they were behind, Barca looked absolutely clueless when it came to forcing an equalizer. To add salt to the wounds, Pique’s injury looked really bad. On this evidence, only the victors are going to be involved in the title race.
Away from home, a goal down within 5 minutes and we just don’t see City coming back in these situations. Kane and Son deserve a lot of credit for maintaining their brilliant run where they both at least score or assist, but plaudits go to Alderweireld for reminding us of the days when he was clearly the best centre back in the league. A word for Eric Dier as well, who finally looked like a centre-back worthy of a top four side.
A match with excellent technical quality, with just about the right result. I thought the best players for Real were Varane, Kroos and Modric. For Villarreal, I thought the two subs, Estupinian and Chukwueze changed the course of the game dramatically in the last half an hour. The game just flew by and I wished we could have had more at the final whistle.
The merits of the international break have been debated by all and sundry, but at least for the next four months it's all about club football. We get back into the swing of things with a cracking set of fixtures this weekend.
Friday
Monaco vs PSG — Still an important game with the hosts improving and the visitors focused on the continent.
Saturday
Villarreal vs Real — 2nd vs 4th at La Ceramica where Real haven’t won in three seasons.
Spurs vs City — Jose vs Pep, Kane, Son, De Bruyne, Torres and shaky defences.
Atletico vs Barca — A new Atletico? Can’t be a better stage for Joao Felix and co to prove it.
Sunday
Cadiz vs La Real — The surprise leaders face another test at surprise high flyers.
Leeds vs Arsenal — A classic rivalry revisited in the league after quite a while.
Liverpool vs Leicester — 3rd vs 1st, Klopp vs Rodgers, chance for both to make a statement.
Napoli vs Milan — 3rd vs 1st, chance for both teams to lay a marker.
Monday
Wolves vs Southampton — Two smart clubs with upward aspirations and intelligent managers.
Rennes 2 Bordeaux 1
Monaco 2 PSG 2
Brest 2 St Etienne 1
Nantes 1 Metz 1
Reims 3 Nimes 1
Dijon 1 Lens 2
Montpellier 2 Strasbourg 0
Angers 2 Lyon 3
Lille 3 Lorient 0
Season so far — 11/28
Crotone 1 Lazio 2
Spezia 1 Atalanta 2
Juve 3 Cagliari 1
Fiorentina 2 Benevento 0
Sampdoria 1 Bologna 1
Roma 2 Parma 1
Verona 1 Sassuolo 1
Inter 3 Torino 1
Udinese 2 Genoa 0
Napoli 2 Milan 1
Season so far — 14/30
Bayern 3 Werder 1
Arminia 0 Leverkusen 2
Gladbach 2 Augsburg 0
Hoffenheim 2 Stuttgart 1
Schalke 1 Wolfsburg 0
Frankfurt 2 Leipzig 2
Hertha 1 Dortmund 2
Freiburg 2 Mainz 0
Cologne 1 Union 1
Season so far — 13/27
Osasuna 2 Huesca 1
Levante 2 Elche 0
Villarreal 2 Real 2
Sevilla 2 Celta 0
Atletico 2 Barca 1
Eibar 1 Getafe 1
Cadiz 1 La Real 2
Granada 1 Valladolid 1
Alaves 2 Valencia 2
Athletic 1 Betis 2
Season so far — 12/30
Newcastle 1 Chelsea 1
Villa 1 Brighton 1
Spurs 2 City 2
United 2 West Brom 1
Fulham 1 Everton 2
Sheffield Utd 1 West Ham 0
Leeds 2 Arsenal 1
Liverpool 2 Leicester 1
Burnley 1 Palace 1
Wolves 1 Southampton 1
Season so far — 12/30
What a weekend of football we have before the last international break of the year! The big games speak for themselves so let’s get right into it.
Saturday
Everton vs United — Both have questions to answer in this big northwest game featuring lots of great talent.
Mainz vs Schalke — Neither team has won a game yet this season with immense pressure on both.
Barca vs Betis — The Qique Setien derby with goals almost always a feature.
Dortmund vs Bayern — Der Klassiker with both teams separated at the top only by goal difference.
Atletico vs Cadiz — Cadiz are flying high and already have one win in Madrid. Can they get another?
PSG vs Rennes — 1st vs 3rd with both under pressure after European disappointments.
Sunday
Lazio vs Juve — Been a fun fixture for 2 seasons now and both teams getting into a semblance of form.
Getafe vs Villarreal — Rivals for European spots with diametrically opposite styles.
Leicester vs Wolves — Another clash of European hopefuls and a great contrast in styles to boot.
Atalanta vs Inter — Both came into the season with high hopes, but both have questions to answer.
La Real vs Granada — Overachieving teams who are doing well on both fronts.
Nice vs Monaco — Derby de la Cote d'Azur with exciting attacking talent in form.
City vs Liverpool — Pep vs Klopp, still the two best teams in the league and the sheer quality of the players.
Leverkusen vs Gladbach — Competitors for Champions League qualification in brilliant form.
Arsenal vs Villa — A bit of a grudge match with plenty of exciting talent.
Valencia vs Real — Always one of Spain’s biggest games.
Lyon vs St Etienne — France’s biggest derby.
Strasbourg 0 Marseille 1
Bordeaux 2 Montpellier 1
PSG 2 Rennes 1
Brest 1 Lille 2
Lens 1 Reims 1
Lorient 2 Nantes 0
Nimes 1 Angers 1
Metz 2 Dijon 0
Nice 1 Monaco 2
Lyon 3 St Etienne 0
Season so far — 6/18
Werder 1 Cologne 1
Augsburg 1 Hertha 1
Leipzig 3 Freiburg 1
Stuttgart 1 Frankfurt 2
Union 2 Arminia 1
Mainz 1 Schalke 1
Dortmund 2 Bayern 1
Wolfsburg 1 Hoffenheim 2
Leverkusen 2 Gladbach 2
Season so far — 9/18
Sassuolo 2 Udinese 0
Cagliari 2 Sampdoria 0
Benevento 1 Spezia 1
Parma 2 Fiorentina 2
Lazio 1 Juve 2
Genoa 1 Roma 3
Atalanta 1 Inter 2
Torino 3 Crotone 0
Bologna 1 Napoli 2
Milan 2 Verona 1
Season so far — 10/20
Elche 1 Celta 0
Huesca 1 Eibar 1
Barca 2 Betis 2
Sevilla 2 Osasuna 1
Atletico 2 Cadiz 0
Getafe 2 Villarreal 0
La Real 2 Granada 1
Levante 2 Alaves 0
Valladolid 1 Athletic 1
Valencia 2 Real 2
Season so far — 8/20
Brighton 2 Burnley 1
Southampton 1 Newcastle 0
Everton 1 United 1
Palace 1 Leeds 2
Chelsea 1 Sheffield Utd 1
West Ham 2 Fulham 2
West Brom 1 Spurs 2
Leicester 1 Wolves 1
City 1 Liverpool 1
Arsenal 2 Villa 0
Season so far — 9/20
In a season of heavy rotation it is a bit perplexing that Jurgen Klopp has decided to start Curtis Jones for a second successive game. The youngster will have his chances this season, but his role within Liverpool’s system seems undefined at this moment of time. Whether he will be able to express himself against Atalanta’s fluid ball movers remains to be seen. La Dea themselves have cleared a lot of injury doubts in time for the Reds’ visit and their intent is signalled by both Zapata and Muriel starting. Could be a long night for young Rhys Williams.
Lucas Vazquez is passed fit for Real Madrid after all. It’s astonishing that a club of Real’s stature were sweating on the fitness of an auxiliary right-back. His battle on the flank with the double-act of Young and Perisic is likely to be crucial, if not decisive. The scoring burden for Inter lies on an off-form Lautauro. Interesting little tussles all over the pitch and of course, in the dugout.
Shakhtar 1 Gladbach 2
Lokomotiv 1 Atletico 3
Salzburg 1 Bayern 2
Real 1 Inter 1
City 2 Olympiacos 0
Porto 1 Marseille 0
Midtjylland 1 Ajax 1
Atalanta 2 Liverpool 2
Basaksehir 1 United 3
Zenit 1 Lazio 1
Brugge 1 Dortmund 1
Barca 3 Dynamo Kyiv 0
Ferencvaros 1 Juventus 2
Leipzig 1 PSG 1
Sevilla 2 Krasnodar 0
Chelsea 2 Rennes 0
Season so far — 19/32
Time flies and another weekend of riveting football across Europe’s top five leagues is upon us. Here are the games I will be keeping an eye on.
Saturday
Athletic vs Sevilla — San Memes is always difficult for top teams and both sides need a win to climb up the table.
Liverpool vs West Ham — The Reds are going to play a 4th choice centre back and the Hammers can never be discounted in such games.
Gladbach vs Leipzig — Champions League hangover for both teams, but it’s still Rose vs Nagelsmann featuring plenty of good players.
Sunday
United vs Arsenal — Traditional rivalry with the right mix of attacking flair and defensive incompetence.
Napoli vs Sassuolo — 2nd vs 3rd with 30 goals scored between the two in 10 games.
Roma vs Fiorentina — Grudge match with both teams capable of scoring plenty.
Sampdoria vs Genoa — Derby della Lanterna with the hosts buzzing in surprisingly good form.
Valencia vs Getafe — La Liga’s grudge match extraordinaire since 2019.
Lille vs Lyon — Free-scoring teams featuring the two best sides after PSG.
Monday
Leeds vs Leicester — Bielsa vs Rodgers with both teams capable of playing sublime football.
Rennes 2 Brest 0
Nantes 0 PSG 3
St Etienne 1 Montpellier 0
Reims 1 Strasbourg 1
Angers 2 Nice 1
Nimes 1 Metz 2
Dijon 1 Lorient 0
Monaco 1 Bordeaux 1
Lille 2 Lyon 2
Schalke 2 Stuttgart 1
Augsburg 1 Mainz 2
Frankfurt 2 Werder 0
Arminia 1 Dortmund 2
Cologne 0 Bayern 3
Gladbach 1 Leipzig 1
Freiburg 1 Leverkusen 2
Hertha 2 Wolfsburg 1
Hoffenheim 2 Union 0
Crotone 1 Atalanta 3
Inter 3 Parma 0
Bologna 1 Cagliari 1
Udinese 1 Milan 2
Spezia 1 Juve 3
Torino 2 Lazio 1
Napoli 3 Sassuolo 2
Roma 1 Fiorentina 1
Sampdoria 2 Genoa 0
Verona 1 Benevento 2