Bayern Munich’s unbeaten record in this season’s Bundesliga is gone! The Bavarians were upset at the Allianz Arena by Augsburg, although the German champions are still eight points clear of Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table, meaning it’s unlikely to adversely affect their chances of retaining their title. However, things are getting very interesting in England, where we thought Arsenal were almost home and hosed only to suffer a wobble that has made things very interesting, given Manchester City and Aston Villa are both closing in on the Gunners.<\/p>\n
Over in Italy, Inter are threatening to pull clear of the chasing pack, while Paris Saint-Germain have usurped Lens at the summit of the standings in Ligue 1 after the surprise challengers’ loss at Marseille, making another French championship feel inevitable for the capital club.<\/p>\n
However, there’s still only a point between Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain, and the latter appear to have been revitalised by Alvaro Arbeloa, who replaced Xabi Alonso as head coach after Los Blancos’ Super Cup loss to their Catalan rivals earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Below, GOAL<\/strong> runs through the big winners and losers of another action-packed weekend of action across Europe’s top leagues…<\/p>\n Lamine Yamal is still only 18 years of age and yet we’re already running out of superlatives for the winger. He just does the most extraordinary things on a weekly basis for Barcelona.<\/p>\n For example, in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Real Oviedo at Camp Nou, Yamal scored a sensational scissors-kick that even had the opposition coach singing his praises.<\/p>\n “We’re talking about a player from another galaxy,” Guillermo Almada said. “He’s not like the rest. Even with his young age, he’s able to change a match on his own and he punished us tonight.”<\/p>\n Barca boss Hansi Flick was also quick to acknowledge Yamal’s spectacular strike but the pressing-obsessed German was even more impressed by the youngster’s application.<\/p>\n “For me, much more important was what Lamine did for the first goal,” Flick said, referring to the role Yamal played in Dani Olmo breaking the deadlock shortly after half-time. “The way he pressed and how he recovered the ball leading to that goal is what we want. This was the key to opening this game and the three points.”<\/p>\n Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri made no secret of his opposition to the seemingly imminent sale of key defender Alessio Romagnoli, who bid farewell to the fans after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Lecce.<\/p>\n “If he goes, then we’ll have to get used to conceding a few more goals,” the chain-smoking Tuscan told reporters. “The club asked me what I thought of this idea, I said it was unfeasible, but then they are in charge of the transfer market.”<\/p>\n Intriguingly, Lazio issued a statement the very next day insisting that not only was Romagnoli staying at the club, he had never been “placed on the transfer market”.<\/p>\n However, while Sarri will be relieved that he can continue to count on his veteran centre-back amid reports, it’s clear that the manager’s relationship with Lazio president Claudio Lotito is at breaking point after the damaging mid-season exits of Matteo Guendouzi and Taty Castellanos.<\/p>\n When asked about Lotito’s claim that players wanted to leave the club because of Sarri, the former Chelsea boss told DAZN Italia, “I don’t even need to comment on that.” Sarri, then, proceeded to comment on that very issue. “Just 10 days ago a player came into my office crying before he left, so there is no problem of rapport between me and the squad,” he said. “Clearly, when there are 25 and only 15 get to play, someone is always going to be a little unhappy, but that’s not the overall feeling.<\/p>\n “It seems unpleasant if they say that a player was sold because he didn’t get along with me, especially as the players who have left told me a very different version of events.”<\/p>\n Indeed, Sarri went so far as to claim that some players “wanted to leave because they don’t see any ambition in this club”.<\/p>\n So, while Romagnoli now appears to be staying at the Stadio Olimpico, the outspoken Sarri could be gone before the close of the winter window.<\/p>\n Xabi Alonso felt Real Madrid could do with Endrick this season – and maybe he was right. It’s not as if the recently-sacked Spaniard was short on attacking options at the Bernabeu. But the Brazilian is already showing at Lyon just what he can do when given some meaningful game time.<\/p>\n With his historic hat-trick in Sunday’s 5-2 thrashing of Metz, Endrick took his tally to four goals in three games since leaving los Blancos for les Gones as soon as the January transfer window opened.<\/p>\n “He’s a different kind of player, he makes a difference,” Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca said of his side’s stellar loan signing. “But he’s a player who needs to play. We can’t forget that he hasn’t played for almost a year.<\/p>\n “So, he needs to improve physically but I expect him to progress and continue being decisive, like today.”<\/p>\n There’s every chance, then, that this will turn out to be one of those rare deals that works out wonderfully well for everyone involved. Endrick could well help Lyon qualify for the Champions League, get back into the Brazil squad in time for the 2026 World Cup and return to Real this summer a more mature and effective forward.<\/p>\n Just over a week ago, Arsenal went to the City Ground knowing that a win over struggling Nottingham Forest would send them nine points clear at the top of the Premier League. Now, Aston Villa and Manchester City are just four behind.<\/p>\n It’s still a healthy lead, of course, and manager Mikel Arteta pointed out that it’s impossible to win every game in such a competitive competition. However, there are once again question marks over Arsenal’s mentality after Sunday’s shock 3-2 loss at home to Manchester United.<\/p>\n Too many of their supposed world-class players often go missing in big games, with club legend Patrick Vieira pointing out that Bukayo Saka was particularly quiet at the Emirates, while captain Martin Odegaard just never seems to step up when his team really needs him.<\/p>\n Vieira also alluded to the fact that Arsenal don’t appear to be playing with any great “freedom”, which means that either nerves are getting the better of them as they pursue the club’s first title since 2004 – or Arteta still has the handbrake on.<\/p>\n Odegaard talked afterwards about bouncing back as quickly as possible and the north Londoners should certainly return to winning ways when they host Kairat in the Champions League on Wednesday night. However, it’s in the Premier League that they really need to prove themselves after finishing as runners-up in each of the past three seasons.<\/p>\n As Arteta himself admitted on Match of the Day, “Now we will see what we’re made of.”<\/p>\n When Bayern Munich kicked off the second half of their Bundesliga campaign last Saturday week by hammering RB Leipzig away from home, it was becoming increasingly difficult to see anyone stopping Vincent Kompany’s side from emulating Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen by going through an entire season undefeated.<\/p>\n However, the Bavarians’ unbeaten record went on Saturday and in very surprising circumstances – at home to relegation-threatened Augsburg. Even more remarkably, Bayern were a goal up with just 15 minutes remaining, and absolutely dominating possession.<\/p>\n However, they weren’t playing particularly well – unlike Augsburg, who were a constant threat despite seeing so little of the ball, and actually had more shots in the game than their hosts. Arthur Chaves and Han-Noah Massengo scored with two of them, allowing Manuel Baum’s men to snap the club’s six-game losing streak to Bayern.<\/p>\n “The first thing we discussed in the dressing room was that we shouldn’t let ourselves be influenced by the hype that will inevitably surround a game like this,” the Augsburg coach said. “I believe you should always try to stay level-headed. But it’s also okay to celebrate once in a while, especially because you get to do it only rarely in life.”<\/p>\n It was a sentiment shared by the club’s social media admin, who cheekily mocked Harry Kante for not showing up on the day!<\/p>\n Liverpool and their fans pride themselves on sticking together. You’ll Never Walk Alone and all that. However, even the most patient of supporters are running out of reasons to stand by Arne Slot – particularly as Kop icon Xabi Alonso is available to replace him.<\/p>\n The Dutchman is certainly not solely responsible for the fact that Liverpool have fallen out of the Champions League places in the Premier League. Richard Hughes and the rest of the recruitment team have let him down very badly indeed by failing to provide him with adequate depth in the centre of defence, or a proper replacement for Luis Diaz. Slot was, thus, perfectly entitled to point to a lack of options for his first-team regulars running out of energy in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth, two days after turning in one of their most impressive performances of the entire season in routing Marseille 3-0 in their own backyard.<\/p>\n However, Liverpool’s struggles at the Vitality Stadium were not in the least bit surprising. The Reds have looked mentally and physically fragile all season long. It’s usually just Dominik Szoboszlai and 10 other guys. And that’s on the coach.<\/p>\n Slot keeps talking about Liverpool’s problems but he’s not actually solving any of them – and that’s why he’s now in very big trouble, with the Reds having slipped to sixth in the Premier League.<\/p>\n The credit he had in the bank for winning the title at the first time of asking is now gone, meaning a good run in this season’s Champions League isn’t going to save Slot from the sack if he fails to qualify for next season’s competition – and that’s unquestionably a very real possibility right now, meaning Alonso might receive a call from his former club any day now.<\/p>\n With Juventus hosting Napoli, and Roma welcoming AC Milan to the Stadio Olimpico, there was always a chance that this would be a big weekend in the Serie A title race – and so it proved.<\/p>\n Indeed, matchday 22 couldn’t have really gone much better for league leaders Inter, who recovered from the shock of conceding twice inside the opening quarter of their clash with Pisa on Friday night to send a message to their Scudetto rivals by winning 6-2 at San Siro.<\/p>\n The Nerazzurri then watched Juventus rout reigning champions Napoli in Turin before Roma held second-placed AC Milan to a 1-1 draw. As a result, Inter are now five points clear of their city rivals at the top of the table, with both Roma and Napoli four further back. Despite looking like potential champions in dismantling Napoli, Luciano Spalletti’s Juve are still 10 points off the summit.<\/p>\n Consequently, Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri might not actually be engaging in mind games when he says that Inter will run away with the league, leaving the other four supposed title challengers scrapping for Serie A’s three remaining Champions League places.<\/p>\n We’re at that stage of the season where serious injuries hit particularly hard, as they can rule a player out of the remainder of a campaign – or worse still, a major international tournament.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, that’s the sad scenario Juan Foyth now finds himself in, with the Villarreal defender having ruptured his Achilles in Saturday’s 2-0 loss at home to Real Madrid.<\/p>\n The 28-year-old is not expected to play again this season, which is a hammer blow for the Yellow Submarine, who are fourth in La Liga but now seriously short on centre-backs as they look to qualify for next season’s Champions League.<\/p>\n However, it’s absolutely devastating for the injury-plagued Foyth, given he’d just got back into the Argentina squad in November and was optimistic about his chances of making Lionel Scaloni’s squad for this summer’s World Cup.<\/p>\n We can only hope that the 28-year-old, who saw just four minutes of game time during his country’s triumph in Qatar in 2022, makes a quicker than expected recovery from his latest setback.<\/p>\n Michael Carrick has made the best possible start to his spell as Manchester United’s interim manager by making light of what looked like the worst possible Premier League fixtures. After outwitting Pep Guardiola in 2-0 win over second-placed Manchester City at Old Trafford last week, Carrick masterminded a thrilling 3-2 win over Mikel Arteta’s table-topping Arsenal on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n “It’s been great for Michael, two wins from two,” former United forward Wayne Rooney told Match of the Day. “I don’t think he would have dreamt of that start when he took over last week. I think you’ve seen a complete change in everything really since he’s been in.”<\/p>\n Indeed, even ex-United captain Roy Keane was impressed with Carrick’s instantaneous impact on a group of players that underperformed horribly under previous boss Ruben Amorim. “It does look like a team transformed,” the Irishman said on Sky Sports.<\/p>\n The question now, of course, is whether Carrick could end up being given the job on a permanent basis, given he’s already propelled United up to fourth in the table by beating the top two teams in the league.<\/p>\n “I’m enjoying it,” the former midfield ace told Sky. “It’s a fantastic position to be in. What happens next, I’m not going to be answering it every week. But I’m enjoying it and I’ll continue to do what I can.”<\/p>\n Given what we know about United, Champions League qualification would certainly go a long way towards ensuring that Carrick remains at the wheel beyond the end of the season…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Bayern Munich’s unbeaten record in this season’s Bundesliga is gone! The Bavarians were upset at the Allianz Arena by Augsburg, although the German champions are still eight points clear of Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table, meaning it’s unlikely to adversely affect their chances of retaining their title. 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