Manchester derby shows City and United flaws, Real Madrid and Liverpool lose, more

Another weekend in Europe's top soccer leagues brought plenty for us to talk about. (When doesn't it?) Sunday's Manchester derby promised a lot but delivered little, while Real Madrid lost ground in LaLiga's title race with a stunning home defeat to Valencia -- Los Che's first away win of the 2024-25 season. (Don't stress too much, Madrid fans: Barcelona drew with Real Betis this weekend.) Oh, and Liverpool's slow crawl to the Premier League title continued with a 3-2 loss at Fulham and Paris Saint-Germain confirmed their Ligue 1 crown with victory over Angers.

Elsewhere, we have talking points galore around Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham, Inter Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, Chelsea and more. Here are some musings and reactions to the most memorable moments of the weekend.

Manchester derby shows us where these teams are, and it's not great

It was a stinker of a game for the neutral. Sunday's Manchester derby finished 0-0: United managed a single shot on target, while City cobbled together an xG of just 0.35. There was little urgency (especially from City) and even less intensity.

United's priority seemed to be getting their positioning and movement correct, probably to better metabolize Ruben Amorim's tactical scheme. (As we told you, the rest of the season would be one big exercise in learning.) City seemed to rely on putting their most skillful and creative players out there and waiting for them to do something -- the net result was that Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gündogan and Kevin De Bruyne ended up slowing things to a crawl when in possession. The only dynamism came from Omar Marmoush because Phil Foden, the only other attacking player with legs at this stage of his career, was once again anonymous.

This was pretty evident in a first half that saw City put together just four shots for a combined xG of a paltry 0.14. His first change came at the hour mark, when he mercifully replaced Foden with Jérémy Doku. His other two came 15 minutes from time -- Jack Grealish for Gundogan, Rico Lewis for Nico O'Reilly -- and had zero impact as City didn't have a single shot after they came on. We know Pep Guardiola isn't big on substitutions (he rarely uses his full complement), but this felt odd.

Settling for a point at Old Trafford, where seven of the 16 previous visitors have taken all three, doesn't seem very Pep-like ... or very smart. Newcastle United are two points back, with two games in hand. If they win just one of the two (and they might win both), City are out of the Champions League places.

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Has Pep Guardiola become too predictable?

Steve Nicol reacts to Manchester City's 0-0 draw with Manchester United in the Premier League.

It also felt odd that late in the game, with United in the ascendancy, Savinho and Nico Gonzalez -- who at least would have brought some energy -- remained rooted to the bench. Erling Haaland's injury weighs heavy -- of course it does -- but this is Guardiola we're talking about. The bar is necessarily higher with him, because he has already earned his spot among the greatest ever. You expect him to put together a lineup that works in a game like this. And if it doesn't, you expect him to find the necessary changes in the course of the match if not to win, at least to compete.

As for United, the headline stat is that unless they win all seven of their remaining games -- and they almost certainly won't -- they'll finish with their lowest points total since 1990. But at least there's a Europa League to play for: They travel to Lyon on Thursday for their quarterfinal first leg. And more importantly, at least with Amorim it feels like they're building toward something, however far away -- and, likely with different personnel -- it might be.

Real Madrid pay hefty price for individual errors vs. Valencia

The fact that Valencia hadn't won away all season and in fact had not won at the Bernabeu in 17 years tells you all you need to know. It's not as if Real Madrid necessarily looked past them, focusing instead on the Champions League clash with Arsenal on Tuesday -- rather, it's more a case of everything that could go wrong going wrong in this game.

Vinícius missed an early penalty, Real Madrid carved out a host of chances -- their expected goals was 3.47 -- and Valencia keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili had one of those days that he'll tell his grandchildren about. Their opponents had two shots on target and scored two goals, injuries in both cases exploiting two areas where Real Madrid are weakest: defending on set pieces and defending in transition. (It was made worse by the fact that the winner, in the fifth minute of injury time, arrived just as they were streaming forward to try and score the winner.)

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Hislop: Vinícius Jr. taking penalties over Mbappe makes no sense

Luis García and Shaka Hislop debate why Vinícius Júnior is taking Real Madrid's penalties.

You wouldn't say third-choice keeper, 19-year-old Fran González -- in goal due to the fitness of Thibaut Courtois and Andriy Lunin -- was at fault for either goal, but you wonder whether one of the world's best, like Courtois, might have done better.

Will this have a knock-on effect away to Arsenal? Marginally, perhaps. Had they wrapped this game up early, maybe Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham would have come off to spare them some minutes. Maybe Luka Modric and Vinicius -- both of whom lasted until 13 minutes to the end -- would have too.

But that's Real Madrid's reality right now. It's a long season and they're competing on multiple fronts. It's not a coincidence that of the Champions League quarterfinalists, Arsenal, Inter and Barcelona all dropped points too. What makes things a little worse for Madrid is that relative to the others, this is an injury-hit and not particularly well-constructed squad, with a distinct lack of cover in certain areas. But it's been like that all season long. They're still alive for the Treble. And they're Real Madrid. Few will have much sympathy.

Liverpool defeat shows motivation is a thing, even for the champions-elect

There are only so many times you can go to the well, mentally and physically. Liverpool's last three outings -- Paris Saint-Germain at home in the Champions League, the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle, the Merseyside derby -- were all big games, with plenty of pressure and media attention. Fulham away with a chance to go 14 points clear of Arsenal? Not so much.

It's not an excuse for Liverpool's horrendous first half (slapstick defending and just two shots, one of them Alexis Mac Allister's wondergoal), but rather another sign that this team is physically and psychologically exhausted. From 3-1 down at the break, they summoned Luis Díaz from the bench and their pride internally and created enough chances to potentially avoid defeat and possibly even win at the end. But it's clearly not where they want to be, as Arne Slot himself outlined.

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Do Liverpool need to 'rebuild'?

Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens discuss Liverpool's plans for next season.

In the short term, it doesn't matter. As we've written many times, this league title is a tremendous achievement for the club and the players and, especially, for Slot. The way he has managed -- both tactics and mentality -- ought to be studied. But it's also a sign that work needs to be done over the summer, because this team is tailing off badly. (It's three defeats in their last four, if you're keeping track.)

Don't be surprised if it's a busy summer and this title-winning team gets broken up.

Paris Saint-Germain winning the title isn't remarkable, but how they did it certainly is

Saturday's 1-0 victory over Angers made official what was probably inevitable: PSG winning Ligue 1. When your wage bill is almost as high as the next four highest combined, you have to severely underachieve to not win the league. But that doesn't mean the way this team has been transformed isn't remarkable.

When they won the title two years ago under Christoph Galtier, their front three were Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. All three are gone. So too is playmaker Marco Verratti, defensive specialist Danilo, left back Juan Bernat and, of course, Sergio Ramos at the back. The five holdovers from that starting XI are Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marquinhos, Achraf Hakimi, Vitinha and Fabián Ruiz.

The team got younger, more dynamic and more financially sustainable, as the wage bill was cut in half. But more importantly, the ethos went from individual to collective, from star power to system. That's down to Luis Enrique. Few coaches are as demanding and as laser-focused in forcing their vision of football on a side.

Dogmatic? Sure, and that's not always a good thing and, of course, there have been bumps along the way. But he held up his part of the bargain. He helped the club make a 180 degree turn from a bling-and-marketing vehicle into a real team. That's a credit to him, to his staff and to his players.

Quick hits

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Moreno: Dortmund don't have a chance vs. Barcelona in the UCL

Alejandro Moreno assesses Borussia Dortmund's Champions League hopes after their 4-1 win vs. Freiburg.

10. Nico Kovac prioritizes Champions League, but Borussia Dortmund still on a roll: It feels like a weird thing to say given how much this club has been criticized, but Kovac is getting it right. Saturday's 4-1 away win over Freiburg marks two straight weekends with victories against direct opponents for European spots, after their win over Mainz a week ago. The back three, marshalled by Emre Can, looks about as solid as anything they've put together all year (which admittedly, isn't saying much) and on Saturday he got a boost from the January arrivals, Carney Chukwuemeka and Daniel Svensson. I said when he was appointed that Champions League football should be the goal and for a while, it looked as if there was no chance. But they're five points back with six games to go and, at a minimum, it's still something to aim for.

9. What if Arsenal had played after Liverpool? You can't help but ask yourself that. What if, instead of kicking off the Premier League weekend on a Saturday lunchtime against an opponent with nothing to play for (despite David Moyes arguing that Everton are "not mathematically safe"), they had taken the pitch knowing they could pull within nine points with seven games to go? Might Mikel Arteta have played more starters from the beginning and might that have been enough to beat Everton? We'll never know, and it doesn't really matter. Preserving the likes of Jurriën Timber, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and others with a huge Champions League clash against Real Madrid coming up was more important. As it happened, a side packed with understudies took the lead against a listless Everton in the first half, conceded a dubious penalty when their opponent finally showed up after the break and then missed a couple of late chances. Yeah, it could have gone the other way, but you can tell that the B-team is several notches below the real thing. And even then, they were focused on Madrid.

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Was Mikel Arteta right to rotate?

Gab Marcotti questions if Mikel Arteta missed an opportunity by resting players against Everton.

8. Betis lockdown holds Barcelona to a point, but don't second-guess Hansi Flick: Hindsight is always 20/20. Knowing that Barcelona would have gone a whopping six points clear with a win over Betis, some may argue that Hansi Flick should have started Raphinha (and possibly Fermín López) rather than, presumably, giving them a breather ahead of the midweek Champions League quarterfinal clash with Borussia Dortmund. That's flawed thinking for three reasons. First off, if this is the team he had in mind, there's no reason to deviate: after all, it's not as if it would have been OK for Barca to drop points had Real Madrid won. Second, if anything, Barcelona lost steam in the second half after Raphinha came on. Third, and most important, it's good to remember the other guy is trying to win too and on the day, Barca ran into a standout performance by Betis and Ernesto Pellegrini, who sacrificed his usual open attacking ethos for lockdown mode. They're four points clear with eight games to go and firmly in control. For now, at least.

7. Juventus may be only slightly better with Igor Tudor as manager, but at least they're watchable: I heard a pundit on Italian TV say that under Thiago Motta Juventus were trying to do "a thousand things at once" whereas with Tudor, they stick to one simple thing everyone understands. That about sums them up. There's a back three to protect Michele Di Gregorio. Weston McKennie and Tim Weah offer width. Nico Gonzalez and Kenan Yildiz support the big central striker, Dusan Vlahovic. The ball goes back-to-front quickly. Sometimes it's not about a fancy scheme or philosophy, but a basic scheme executed well. They weren't great against Roma -- though Manuel Locatelli's goal was -- but they weren't disheveled either, they grew in confidence, and they got a very solid away point that keeps them on track for the Champions League. It's exactly what Tudor was brought in to deliver.

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How Leverkusen kept the pressure on Bayern in the Bundesliga title race

Alejandro Moreno reacts to Bayer Leverkusen's late 1-0 win against Heidenheim in the Bundesliga.

6. Emi Buendia unlikely hero for Leverkusen, who have a lot of lessons to learn: If it's true that you learn more from your setbacks than your successes, then Xabi Alonso will have a PhD this season while a year ago -- when he was hailed as the next big thing -- he actually picked up very little. Despite strengthening over the summer, his Bayer Leverkusen side have 14 fewer points than at the same stage last season, were humiliatingly knocked out before the quarterfinal stage in Europe, and were eliminated in the German Cup by third division Arminia Bielefeld. Some cynics might say he should have jumped for the Real Madrid or Liverpool jobs a year ago when he had the chance, but I think that's nonsense: He's a young coach and this turbulent campaign will likely make him better if he learns what went wrong (and, no, it's not just the injury to Florian Wirtz). And truth be told, plenty has gone wrong. The fallout from the DFB Pokal exit was palpable against Heidenheim when they put on a stinker -- just one shot on target and an xG of 0.27 before substitute Buendia's injury strike -- that could have easily seen them two goals down. They're still six points back in the league, but the season is ending with a whimper.

5. Pablo Barrios buzzer-beater keeps hopes alive for Atleti, barely: It's a seven-point gap with eight games to go and, unlike Real Madrid and Barcelona, they don't have European football, so you can't write Atletico Madrid off after the 2-1 win at Sevilla. But obviously, it's a long shot, and not just because of the points, but because Atleti simply aren't playing well. The version of 4-4-2 that served them so well isn't quite as effective when guys are missing (Rodrigo De Paul) or just off form (Antoine Griezmann, Giuliano Simeone) and there's virtually no width. Bright spot? Barrios, who at 21 is still developing and has had ups and downs this season, but appears to have the tools to be a midfield leader here for years to come.

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Nicol: Southampton's squad was never good enough for the Premier League

Steve Nicol reacts to Southampton's Premier League relegation after their 3-1 loss vs. Tottenham.

4. Southampton offer a much-needed pick-me-up for Spurs, but what's next? After four games without a win and some vicious abuse from his own fans following the defeat away to Chelsea on Thursday night, Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou needed some relief. It helps when you get to play Southampton, who are so poor this season their 3-1 defeat meant they set a Premier League mark in futility by getting relegated earlier than any other side in history. It was a perfect opponent heading into a big Europa League quarterfinal against Eintracht Frankfurt, though the paucity of the opposition tells you little about where Spurs actually are. At this stage, their remaining games are just a way of keeping fit and marking time in between Europa League games. And if they go out against Eintracht in 10 days' time, then it will be time to make some tough decisions: about the squad and, yes, about Postecoglou himself.

3. Simone Inzaghi's substitutions backfired, but Inter fans can't have it both ways: Is it frustrating to throw away a 2-0 halftime lead? Yes. Is it infuriating to see some of your best players -- Alessandro Bastoni at halftime, Fede Dimarco at the hour mark, Lautaro Martínez and Hakan Calhanoglu shortly thereafter -- come off the pitch only to see Parma claw it back to 2-2 and come back to nearly winning at the end? You bet. But Inzaghi built Inter's recent success on squad management and rotation. That's not going to go out the window from one game to the next, nor should it. With a massive clash against Bayern Munich coming up in midweek, Inzaghi chose to prioritise that and trust his bench players. On this occasion, it backfired badly -- and to be fair, the less I see of Joaquín Correa, the better -- but it's what got Inter where they are. And there's no guarantee not making the changes would have preserved the lead; though it is a guarantee that the starters would have come out the other end more tired and, possibly, risking injury.

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Did Enzo Maresca get it wrong with rotation vs. Brentford?

Julien Laurens believes Enzo Maresca rotated his team against Brentford looking ahead to the Europa Conference League.

2. Issue with Chelsea is squad construction, not rotation, as Enzo Maresca's calculated risk backfires: On the road, against a midtable opponent (Brentford) with nothing to play for who hadn't won at home in four months, Maresca likely thought that he could get three points without Nico Jackson, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella and Cole Palmer in his starting lineup. Or, as he implied, if they aren't winning, he could bring the cavalry off the bench. He was wrong, and Chelsea were held to a scoreless draw in a game they could well have lost. But that's not about choosing to rotate: It's about the lack of viable alternatives in too many roles. We've said it before, and it still holds true. Christopher Nkunku is not a credible backup for Jackson, there's no off-brand version of Palmer, there's no reserve left back and you're short in midfield. Chelsea may have spent vast amounts to vacuum up talent, but they haven't built a squad and are still overly dependent on the same three or four players. Maresca made the right decision, albeit with the wrong people.

1. More self-inflicted Milan misery in 2-2 draw at Fiorentina: I guess if you're determined to see the glass as half-full, the good news is that Milan went two goals down inside of 10 minutes, forced some superb saves out of David De Gea and still managed to get a point away to a form opponent. If your glass is half-empty -- or if you simply live in the real world -- this was still a car crash of a performance. Milan manager Sérgio Conceição blamed the "unforced errors" and said they were "strange" -- so too was his decision to humiliate Yunus Musah by taking him off after 23 minutes (he was having a nightmare, but still). And yes, it was an open game that Milan could have won, but also one they could easily have lost, witness Dodô's late disallowed goal for a marginal offside. At least João Félix got only 10 minutes, so it's not all bad, I guess...