Barcelona’s new “Arthur-system” passed a difficult test by dominating Internazionale even without Messi, as Barcelona showed both defensive stability and an intelligent attack. Inter shifted from its more conservative first half game plan to a high press in the second half, without being able to make a dent in Barcelona’s defense. FC Barcelona’s manager Ernesto […]
PSG manager Thomas Tuchel takes a fascinating path in his aim to win the club’s first Champions League title. For the third time this season, PSG deliberately gave up possession to test themselves in a defensive setting. Napoli largely dominated the first half as a result and took the lead. The game tilted PSG’s way […]
Manchester City showed great flexibility in their build-up patterns and managed to control this game from the get. Once the first goal was in the net, the game was effectively over, as Shakhtar could not manage to keep City from entering their penalty area. In the second half, it was interesting to see that City […]
Despite all the pre-printed headlines of Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford, Paolo Dybala was the standout performer in this match. Juventus manager Max Allegri put on a clinic in a cruelly comfortable win for Juventus. Their domination of the ball and control of central areas never gave United a moment’s rest, as the movements […]
This was a truly entertaining, international-level game between two clubs who are not from one of Europe’s ‘Big Five’ competitions. Ajax’s young right-back Noussair Mazraoui turned out to be the unlikely hero of the night, with his deflected long shot in the 93rd minute deciding a very tight, hard-fought game in the hosts’ favor. Make […]
For the opening 40 minutes of this match you could have been excused for thinking you were watching Arsène Wenger’s toiling Arsenal side against Claudio Ranieri’s title winning Leicester City team. While Arsenal’s slow, short passing in midfield was achieving little, Leicester’s fast, direct breakaways were creating opportunities for a lively Kelechi Iheanacho. After some […]
This Milan derby was defined by two teams showing up without a clear idea how to create big chances. With the score being 0-0 for a very long time, watching this game felt more like the old Serie A: a defensive stalemate, featuring lots of hard fouls and a heroic striker that decides it in […]
Barcelona won the battle for the top spot in LaLiga in a game where some of the stars had to shine to see off a dangerous Sevilla side. However, an injury picked up by Lionel Messi means bad news for the next few games. It has been an odd start to LaLiga’s season with the […]
After a close, uneventful first half, Villarreal shifted from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2 scheme and dominated an Atlético who still struggled to find good offensive mechanisms. The saves of Jan Oblak were vital to prevent a Villarreal victory. Villarreal came into this match as the biggest expected goal underperformers in LaLiga, with only 6 […]
Erik Lamela’s header late in the first half was all that separated West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur in a closely contested London derby. Tottenham largely dominated the first half before West Ham gained the upper hand and enjoyed more possession in the second half, without causing a lot of actual trouble. Having been the fifth […]