End of a busy weekend on European football pitches. In addition to the dream posters Barcelona-Real Madrid and Manchester United-Liverpool, the show was also present in Munich, London and Verona. Here is what to remember from the different championships of the Old Continent.
Coman regains a foothold, Bayern keeps the lead
Bayern led Saturday’s game with a head and shouldersontre Hoffenheim. Serge Gnabry (16th) and Robert Lewandowski (31st) scored in the first period followed by Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting (82nd). Kingsley Coman, back from injury, has meanwhile finished the job (87th). On a long opening from Dayot Upamecano, the Habs struck with his right foot under the crossbar, scoring his first goal of the season in the Bundesliga.
The Bavarians, current leaders of the championship, have three wins and thirteen goals in their last three meetings. Enough to erase the memory of Frankfurt, their only defeat of the season suffered at home in early October (1-2).
90 th | END OF THE MATCH
Bayern Munich 4 – 0 TSG Hoffenheim
Very nice victory for Bayern Munich. Kingsley Coman’s first goal in the Bundesliga and a great comeback from Corentin Tolisso. [ / @FCBayern]#FCBTSG #Bundesliga #FCBayern #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/aDaMVaK91U
– Bayern Munich France – RORO89 (@ Roro89F) October 23, 2021
Bayern retain the lead in the standings, one point ahead of Dortmund who also won on Saturday at Arminia Bielefeld (1-3) on goals from Emre Can (31st), Mats Hummels (45th) and Jude Bellingham (72nd).
Chelsea curry comb Norwich
The Blues offered a real offensive festival on Saturday at Stamford Bridge. No less than seven goals came to shake the nets of Norwich at the end of a collective recital which left quite helpless the red lantern (7-0). In the absence of Romelo Lukaku, injured in an ankle, Chelsea did not seem taken aback, framing 13 shots from 23 attempts. From half-time, three goals were already displayed on the giant screen. Mason Mount opened the scoring, followed by Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James (42nd), all three trained at Chelsea.
Even the penalty, obtained on a hand from Mathias Normann, did not deny the success of Chelsea. TOFirst stopped by Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul, the shot on goal was replayed as the Dutchman did not have both feet on the line. This time, Mount found the net (85th) and offered himself a hat-trick in the wake (90th + 1). Intractable.
TT’s one happy man!
– Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 23, 2021
Salah, Manchester United’s nightmare
The next day, Old Trafford turned into a theater of nightmares. Manchester United took to the water on Sunday against great rival Liverpool, losing 0-5 at home. The Mancuniens conceded four goals in one half, Paul Pogba was sent off after a tackle too hard on Naby Keita, the Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah illuminated the meeting by scoring a hat-trick in twelve minutes. It is the biggest win in Liverpool history at Old Trafford.
Mohamed Salah is at the top of the Premier League scorers chart with ten goals in nine games. Liverpool are second in the championship one point behind Chelsea, Manchester United sinks to seventh place. Red Devils coach Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer is more than ever in the hot seat.
La Liga counts its goals
We had to wait for the tenth day and the match Elche-Espanyol Barcelona (2-2) for the 200th goal to be celebrated in the Spanish league. Unheard of since the 1991-1992 season.
A sluggish start that echoes the departures of offensive players to greener fields, Messi and his 30 goals for the 2020-2021 season leading the way. With 2.22 goals on average per game, La Liga looks grim and the “golazo!” thunderous Hispanic speakers are becoming rare. By comparison, the Bundesliga scores 3.07 goals per game (figures as of 23 October).
In this line, the day was relatively flat in Spain. Valencia snatched a draw against Mallorca (2-2) and remains on a series of five games without success, while Alavés pushed Cadiz to the bottom of the table (0-2).
The lesson of Giovanni Simeone
Rain of goals on the other hand among our transalpine neighbors, with 36 achievements in Serie A. One man alone is at the origin of four of them: Giovanni Simeone, the Hellas Verona striker. The son of Diego Simeone, the coach of Atlético de Madrid, on loan from Cagliari this season, scored the first quadruple of his career, during the 9th day of the championship against Lazio (4-1).
Quadruplo Cholito
Tre punti Verona #DaiVerona #VeronaLazio #SeriesATIM #difendiamolA pic.twitter.com/tEaKTRRnd8– Hellas Verona FC (@HellasVeronaFC) October 24, 2021
After making the break (30th and 36th), the Argentinian once again put his team to safety on the hour mark (62nd) before definitively crucifying the Romans in stoppage time (90th + 2). With this quadruple, Simeone is now in second place among the top scorers (six goals), behind Ciro Immobile (eight). After this victory, Verona goes back to 11th place while Lazio is eighth.