Just as fate would have it, this weekend’s European football calendar threw together three of its most historic derbies — El Clasico, Le Classique and the Derby d’Italia.
There was also the not-so-small matter of Arsenal vs Liverpool, a meeting of two of the Premier League’s three leading title contenders.
As The Athletic noted in last week’s piece teeing up the weekend, each game featured one newly-appointed coach who was arguably facing the greatest test of their short managerial reigns until now.
And all four games pitted closely-matched sides together, with not one of them more than a handful of league places away from their opponents at this relatively early stage of the season.
But just because there was no easy way to split these match-ups before kick-off does not mean the same was true at full-time. Two ended in draws, the other two in decisive victories, but each turned one way or the other on a handful of key moments.
Here, The Athletic looks at where each game was decided after a European weekend which did not disappoint…
Sometimes, the most eagerly anticipated of games play out exactly the way everyone eagerly anticipates.
It was not the most original of questions to pose pre-match but it was the one that was likely to decide this Clasico: how would the hyper-aggressive out of possession approach that Barcelona have adopted under Hansi Flick — particularly their dangerously high defensive lines — contend with the speed of a Kylian Mbappe desperate to impress, or a Vinicius Jr potentially on the verge of the Ballon d’Or?
Flick spent the early part of the week being probed on the same issue, prior to Tuesday’s demolition of Bayern Munich in the Champions League. But he didn’t compromise against his former club and Barca ran out 4-1 winners. Why would he do so only a few days later?
Especially when it works this well. Barca have caught their opponents offside seven times per game this season — an all-time La Liga high — foiling Madrid’s attacks a dozen times in all.
Mbappe was responsible for eight of those, the first in only the second minute. It would be wrong to say that set the tone — he and Vinicius needed to get lucky once, after all, and almost did.
But when Mbappe thought he had scored the opening goal on the half-hour mark, only for the semi-automated VAR to confirm he had strayed slightly past Inigo Martinez, you sensed that he might not have timed a run correctly had he played all night.
Mbappe did get his bearings, on the odd rare occasions, but still struggled to get the better of Barca’s defence. And by that stage, Robert Lewandowski had already taken the game away from Madrid and Flick’s high-wire act had struck the perfect balance.
Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool
You knew the narrative coming into this one. Liverpool’s visit to the Emirates was billed as the first real test of Arne Slot’s tenure. You know, a bit like last week’s meeting with Chelsea at Anfield. Or the trip to Old Trafford in his third game in charge.
In fairness, this was Slot’s first test against widely-recognised title challengers. And up until the early part of the second half, it was one Liverpool were struggling to pass.
Arsenal’s first-half performance was one of — if not, their most — impressive of the season to date, demonstrating that they can dominate even opponents of a similar calibre, provided they keep their full complement of players on the pitch.
Yet which players are on the pitch matters almost as much as how many, and that dominance noticeably waned after the break, particularly once two of their starting back four were forced off.
Gabriel’s substitution left Mikel Arteta without each of his first-choice centre-backs, with William Saliba also unavailable through suspension, and a side that has generally trended as one of the best defensive units in European football over the last 18 months appeared increasingly vulnerable.
But the dam did not burst until the loss of Jurrien Timber, who had impressively shut down Mohamed Salah for the most part. Without Timber around, Salah was free to drift inside a makeshift backline and put away a composed square pass from Darwin Nunez.
(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Despite Arsenal already building a team full of centre-backs, it turns out you can never have too many. Arteta’s side ended with the same number of shots and less possession than opponents they initially had dominated, and it was hard not to see Gabriel and Timber’s enforced exits as pivotal.
The story of Thiago Motta’s start to life at Juventus has been one of safe possession, defensive solidity and — in all honesty — not a lot of excitement. Thankfully, the Derby d’Italia could hardly have diverged any further from the script.
Juventus’ defence was previously the best in Europe’s major five leagues. They conceded four. Their attack had previously scored fewer goals than Wolves, Las Palmas and Heidenheim. They scored four. And of those eight goals in all, five came after just 35 minutes.
The problem for Motta was that, at that stage, it was 3-2 to Inter Milan. But if his early days with the Old Lady have been marked by a rather rigid, dogmatic approach, then there were signs that the former Bologna head coach is capable of fixing things on the fly.
After the hour-mark, with Juventus now two down, Motta replaced first-half goalscorer Tim Weah with winger Kenan Yildiz. He also swapped Nicolo Fagioli, a midfielder, for a right-back Nicolo Savona, allowing Andrea Cambiaso to move into midfield alongside Manuel Locatelli.
Yildiz repaid Motta’s faith quickly, using his direct ball-carrying skills to lead a counter-attack, dumbfound Inter’s Denzel Dumfries and fire low across Yann Sommer.
Then, despite desperately seeking an equaliser, Motta brought on Samuel Mbangula, a winger, for Dusan Vlahovic. Yildiz moved centrally, becoming Juventus’ closest thing to a striker, but effectively in a strikerless system that left Inter without much of a reference point to defend against.
(Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images)
Eleven minutes after his first, who was unmarked as one Juventus attack threatened to peter out at the far post? Yildiz, again.
It was a game and a performance so far removed from Motta’s principles, you can hardly say that things went to plan, but a Juventus side that has sometimes looked short of ideas in the opening months of this season got creative to rescue a point.
Marseille 0-3 Paris Saint-Germain
With only one Le Classique win to their name in the last 13 years, Marseille’s support inside the Stade Velodrome perhaps knew, deep down, which way this one was likely to go.
Can Amine Harit’s sending off after 20 minutes really be described as much of a turning point when weighed against that history? Especially as, by that point, Marseille were already a goal down following Joao Neves’ seventh-minute breakthrough.
Harit’s dismissal ensured Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance, though, and although it is debatable whether it was deserving of a straight red card, it was also avoidable.
As in true Roberto De Zerbi style, after their patient build-up baited PSG’s press, Marseille played a long ball up into midfield to exploit the gaps left by their visitors.
Harit jumped into a 50-50 challenge with Marquinhos and came out the better of the two, reaching the ball with his outstretched left boot, but also slammed that same left boot into the PSG captain’s torso on the rebound.
(CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP via Getty Images)
It was not intentional but it was arguably reckless. Or at least, reckless in the opinion of referee Francois Letexier. Marseille’s attack was not the most physically imposing, though, and so the wisdom of relying on them to win long, direct balls forward could also be questioned.
Luis Enrique’s more balanced attack were three up at half-time through a Leonardo Balerdi own goal and Bradley Barcola, and comfortable enough that they could afford to spurn several good second-half chances.
Once down a man, Marseille were not coming back.
(Photos: Getty Images)
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