The Weekly Take, Issue 390: Two Words: "Epic Fail"

One of the highlights of the fifth matchday of this season's league phase of the Champions League was the match between Chelsea and Barcelona. Whichever team would emerge victorious would claim a major advantage in the race for a top-eight finish and thus direct qualification for the round of 16.

Although this match was expected to have been a closely-fought clash, it ended up being anything but. Chelsea had absolutely no difficulty in beating Barça 3-0 and not only that; the margin of victory didn't even reflect how dominant Chelsea truly were.

Within the first 21 minutes of the match, Chelsea had two goals disallowed; both would have been scored by Enzo Fernández. The first of these was denied by referee Slavko Vinčić following a handball by Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana in the build-up while the second had Trevor Chalobah in an offside position. Nevertheless, by this point it seemed inevitable that the London club would soon score the opening goal - and this happened just six minutes after the second disallowed goal; it was actually an own goal scored by Barça full-back Jules Koundé. Right before half-time, Barça were reduced to 10 men after Ronald Araújo's second yellow card.

Shortly after the interval, Chelsea had a goal chalked off for the third time after an offside in the build-up to what would've been a goal scored by Andrey Santos. Four minutes later, though, Chelsea did indeed score their second after Reece James set up Estêvão who forced his way through the Blaugrana defense into the penalty area before firing into the roof of the net.

Liam Delap scored Chelsea's third in the 79th minute, ensuring that the Blues would have the inside track for a spot in the top eight with just three league phase matchdays yet to be played. Although no one is really considering Chelsea as one of the favorites to win the Champions League, a performance like this proves that when everything is clicking, they can give anyone a tough time.

Barça, on the other hand, had absolutely no answer whatsoever for Chelsea. Tactically speaking, Barça manager Hansi Flick was completely outmaneuvered by his Chelsea counterpart Enzo Maresca. Barça's high line was easily kept in check by Chelsea's constant pressing which led to many opportunities for important passes to be played behind that high line; this was the direct cause of Chelsea's second and third goals.

While it may be a cliché to say that a certain team "just wanted it more", it's definitely reasonable to say this about Chelsea. Throughout the match, most of Barça's players weren't bringing the intensity and effort that Chelsea's were. It's no surprise that Chelsea players won most of their one-on-one duels and recovered far more loose balls; additionally, Barça's midfield trio struggled to keep up with their opposite numbers' tempo, causing many of their runs to be prematurely cut off and thus preventing the creation of goalscoring chances.

This was by far Barça's worst performance of the season to date with the Catalan club committing error upon error. The Blaugrana played several tiers below their usual level - like a team that clearly didn't seem to belong in the Champions League. In particular, Fermín López, Alejandro Balder, and Araújo deserve the most criticism for Barça's crushing defeat.

This result doesn't just put Barça in a much more difficult spot with regard to round of 16 qualification; it also gives a glimmer of hope to other teams which will notice that when they're not firing on all cylinders, Barça's low points are much lower than many, if not all, of the other teams seen as leading Champions League title contenders. Part of what it takes to be a bona fide title contender is having the ability and grit to gut out results even when things aren't really clicking. A capitulation like what Barça had against Chelsea is the exact opposite of that.

Of course, a team of Barcelona's level are unlikely to have many more, if any at all, performances over the rest of this season that are quite this bad. However, a loss like that reveals a level of vulnerability that calls into question whether they really do have what it takes to bring the Champions League trophy back to Catalonia for the first time since the 2014-15 season.

The Weekly Take, Issue 389: An Opportunity Claimed - But Also One Lost

The biggest story regarding VfB Stuttgart this past off-season wasn't a player acquisition, but a player departure. Following the departure of Alexander Isak from Newcastle United to Liverpool, Newcastle proceeded to replace the Swedish striker by signing Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart. The exact transfer fee wasn't disclosed; that said, it was estimated to clock in at around €75 million.

Woltemade's departure, however, doesn't seem to have impacted Stuttgart all that heavily. Approximately a third of the way into the Bundesliga season, Stuttgart are firmly in contention for a top-four spot and a place in next season's Champions League. Despite not managing to leave their away match against Borussia Dortmund with a win, their 3-3 draw nevertheless made a dent in their opponent's own push for a Champions League spot.

At half-time, though, it seemed unlikely that Stuttgart would avoid defeat given that Dortmund brought a 2-0 lead into the break. Emre Can converted a penalty before Maximilian Beier added Dortmund's second just seven minutes later to put the Schwarzgelbe in a commanding position going into the interval. The scoreline was generally reflective of Dortmund's level of control over the match throughout the first half.

None of this would last as the second half would turn out to be completely different. Denis Undav, who surrendered the penalty which led to Dortmund's opening goal, would go on to atone for it and then some. To start things off, less than two minutes after the break, Undav scored with a spectacular finish with the back of his foot and facing away from goal. Undav would then score his and his team's second in the 71st minute after Maximilian Mittelstädt's header landed in just the right spot for Undav to volley it in.

On multiple occasions this season, Dortmund have surrendered cheap points from an advantageous position. It seemed as though this would once again be the case - at least until substitute Karim Adeyemi put Dortmund 3-2 up in the 89th minute. Once again, though, this didn't last as Undav had the final say with a stoppage-time equalizer after having been assisted by Chris Führich.

Having lost to RB Leipzig three weeks ago, it was important for Stuttgart to once again avoid defeat against another direct rival for Champions League qualification - especially as this match comes in a particularly brutal portion of their schedule. In an ongoing eight-match span, Stuttgart had or have fixtures against Leipzig, Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, and Eintracht Frankfurt.

All three of Stuttgart's goals to some extent involved a build-up coming from out wide. This has been one of their main strengths throughout this season, and they once again leveraged it to claw their way back from two goals behind. It's something which Stuttgart are likely to have to depend upon often if they are to make a serious push for a return to the Champions League after finishing ninth in the league last season and missing out on this season's edition.

Also, with this result, Dortmund have now been unable to beat Stuttgart even once in their last six matches in all competitions. This is also a major point in Stuttgart's favour; the fact that they've clearly gotten into one of their direct rival's heads is a major deal. For that reason, they can feasibly be expected to finish the return fixture in April with all three points in hand - especially crucial given how late in the season it would be.

That being said, it must also be noted that Stuttgart's draw against Dortmund could easily have been a win. Both of the two first-half goals which Stuttgart conceded were avoidable. Undav's foul on Nico Schlotterbeck in the penalty area was an obvious unforced error while Beier's goal wouldn't have been made possible without some very questionable defense on Stuttgart's part. As much as Stuttgart can say that they earned a point against Dortmund, they equally lost two due to errors like those - and such errors, if committed too frequently, would ruin any chance they have of making it to next season's Champions League.

It's still far too early to say if VfB Stuttgart will finish the season in the top four, but based on what was shown in this most recent match as well as throughout the season, they'll almost certainly at least be in contention down the final stretch.

The Weekly Take, Issue 388: Three in a Row?

Ever since winning the World Cup for the fourth time in 2006, Italy's tournament record has been utterly disastrous. In the four tournaments since then, the Azzurri were knocked out in the group stage in 2010 and 2014 before failing to qualify for the tournament in 2018 and 2022 - missing back-to-back tournaments for the first time ever.

With the 2026 World Cup approaching and the group stage of the European World Cup qualifiers drawing to a close, there's a very real chance that Italy might fail to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup after missing out on first place in Group I and thus direct qualification for next year's showpiece in North America after a one-sided 4-1 loss against Norway.

Italy actually opened the scoring in the 11th minute after an error from Norwegian full-back Julian Ryerson put Federico Dimarco in position to set up his Inter Milan teammate Francesco Pio Esposito. Esposito duly finished off the chance to put Italy a goal ahead; however, that would be as far as the home side would get.

In the second half, Norway put the match to rest with an avalanche of goals. It started with winger Antonio Nusa's equalizer in the 63rd minute before - just as everyone expected - Erling Haaland took over. The Manchester City superstar proceeded to leave absolutely no doubt about the result with two goals in a one-minute span to clinch Norway's World Cup qualification. A stoppage-time goal scored by substitute Jørgen Strand Larsen added the exclamation point to the victory.

For Norway, the victory meant that they would advance to the World Cup for the first time since 1998 and only the fourth time in the country's history. As for Italy, they will now have to wait to find out who their opponents will be in the upcoming playoff rounds which will decide the last teams to secure World Cup qualification - and the way things are going, it wouldn't even be surprising to see them once again miss out.

As of right now, most of the teams who would find themselves in the playoffs would fancy their chances against an Italy team who made heavy weather of what should've been a relatively easy set of opponents in the group stage. It also needs to be kept in mind that Italy are likely to have something of a mental block by this point as it was in the playoffs where Italy were eliminated in both of the last two World Cup qualification campaigns - by Sweden for the 2018 World Cup and by North Macedonia for 2022.

The mid-campaign decision to fire previous head coach Luciano Spalletti and replace him with Gennaro Gattuso has now gone exactly how the naysayers expected it to. Despite winning all his prior matches at the helm, Gattuso had barely faced any true competition as all of those were against vastly inferior sides. Against Norway, however, Gattuso's Italy team were completely outclassed in every way. As he has been multiple times over the course of his coaching career, Gattuso looked completely out of his depth. It's certainly possible that if he isn't replaced before the playoffs in March, Italy won't make it to the World Cup once again.

The entire team looked disjointed and out of sync. Many of Norway's main goalscoring opportunities, including one of their goals, came as the result of a misplay on the part of the Italian defense. Up front, Italy had multiple significant chances to extend the lead in the first half following Esposito's opening goal with wingers Dimarco and Matteo Politano being the main culprits.

With the exception of Euro 2012 and 2020, Italy have seen almost no success since winning the World Cup almost two decades ago. Even if they somehow make it through the upcoming playoff round, it's a near-certainty that they will be knocked out of the World Cup in the opening round - an outcome which would extend their streak of failing to advance from the opening round to at least 24 years. That's a figure which would've seemed unthinkable when Fabio Cannavaro hoisted the trophy at the Olympiastadion back in 2006.

The Italian national team today is a mere shadow of their glory days - and this latest result further drives this point across. The road ahead doesn't look the least bit promising.

The Weekly Take, Issue 387: The Slump Ends Here

Much has been made about Liverpool's recent slump, especially in light of the fact that the Merseyside club spent an enormous amount of money on multiple splashy new signings in the off-season transfer window - so much so that some even began hailing the Reds' off-season as "the greatest transfer window of all time". However, the exact opposite has proven to be the case so far with high-profile acquisitions such as Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak performing nowhere near the level at which they were expected to.

Given their recent lack of form, most people were expecting Liverpool to be soundly beaten in their Champions League match against Real Madrid. However, to the surprise of almost everyone, Liverpool emerged with the win to keep them firmly in contention to finish in the top eight of the league phase and thus earn direct qualification to the last 16.

Although the match finished 1-0 via a goal scored by Alexis Mac Allister, the match itself was more one-sided than the scoreline might indicate. For the first time in quite a while, Liverpool looked like the team which dominated last season's Premier League and clinched the domestic title by 10 points. Such was the multitude of viable goalscoring chances that Liverpool created that Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was selected as man of the match for keeping the final margin of victory to one goal.

From a tactical perspective, Liverpool manager Arne Slot absolutely nailed it. His strategy of prioritizing the denial of Real's players the opportunity to take advantage of open space in the final third. In particular, the Liverpool de fense's focus on Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé did much to neutralize the threat that both players posed via their impressive speed.

In addition, Liverpool's 4-3-3 formation in which Wirtz started on the left wing but frequently rotated towards the centre, allowing Liverpool to have more options down the left. This also enabled Liverpool to stretch Real's defense across the field, allowing for more goalscoring chances to be set up. If not for Courtois' excellence between the goalposts, this match wouldn't even have been remotely close. Liverpool might very well be back.

It might also be worth asking at this point: are Liverpool actually better without Alexander Isak than with him? Liverpool's signing of the Swedish centre-forward was without any question the highlight of the off-season transfer window; it was a story that dominated the headlines for months before right at the end of the window, Liverpool finally landed Isak from Newcastle United for £125 million, making Isak the most expensive signing in Premier League history.

However, since then Isak has gone on to do basically nothing as a Liverpool player. He has been absolutely nowhere near the player who dominated the Premier League over the last two seasons and has often been a liability to Liverpool. Isak's struggles have extended to the international scene as well; his dismal level of play is one of the chief reasons why Sweden have stunningly failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. In fact, it might not even be a coincidence that Liverpool's recent uptick in form has come while Isak has been sidelined with a groin injury. It's much too early to come to a snap judgment, but there's a possibility that Isak could end up being an expensive mistake on Liverpool's part.

Despite their recent losing streak, Liverpool are still firmly in title contention both domestically and in the Champions League. There's still more than enough time for Liverpool to overhaul their seven-point deficit by which they trail league leaders Arsenal - and considering Arsenal's recent history of consistently failing to deliver down the stretch, Liverpool certainly can't be counted out yet. Similarly, in the Champions League they're still in the top eight and are thus likely to be paired against a comparatively easier opponent in the round of 16.

While it isn't quite yet safe to say that Liverpool have fixed all or even most of the issues leading to their recent slump, the fact that they just scored a major win against a leading Champions League contender says a lot. If Liverpool do go on to win at least one title this season, this match could very well be looked back on as the turning point of their 2025-26 campaign.

The Weekly Take, Issue 386: 15 in a Row With No End in Sight

Even after just nine of the Bundesliga season's 34 matchdays, it's all but certain that Bayern Munich will - as they almost always do - win the league by a huge margin; their only true competition will come in the Champions League. The Bavarian club's superiority over all other teams in Germany was made obvious once again during the most recent Bundesliga matchday which saw Bayern claim their 15th straight win across all competitions by beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0.

Although Bayern were facing off against a team which in theory would have been one of their closest competitors for the league title, the word "closest" is relative in this case because, as many might have expected, Leverkusen weren't even close. Bayern dominated this match right from the jump with all three goals coming in the first half; the first two were scored by Serge Gnabry and Nicolas Jackson respectively. Just to rub it in even more for Leverkusen, Bayern's third goal was an own goal by way of French centre-back Loïc Badé.

Although Leverkusen entered this match in the midst of a relative hot streak, this match served as evidence of the chasm between Bayern and the rest of the league. As mentioned earlier, this was Bayern's 15th win in a row; they haven't even drawn, let alone lost, even one match so far this season.

One aspect of Bayern's victory over Leverkusen which undoubtedly raised much attention was the fact that they did it without many of their most important players. Not selected as part of the starting 11 at the Allianz Arena were players such as Dayot Upamecano, Luis Díaz, Michael Olise, and most notably of all: Harry Kane - the Bundesliga's leading goalscorer and arguably the best player in the world right now. Vincent Kompany went with a slightly understrength line-up to face a team which will be in contention for Champions League qualification - and that team absolutely took Leverkusen to the woodshed.

Of course, Bayern's next match will be a significantly more difficult one - they'll be on the road at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. While it's certainly possible that Bayern's win streak ends at the hands of the Champions League's reigning champions, even that isn't all that likely given the molten-hot form that Bayern are in. There's no question that Bayern are the best team in the world at the moment.

The club record for consecutive wins is 23; this was achieved back in the 2019-20 season. Remarkably, it isn't even out of the question that this current Bayern squad could match or even surpass that number. If Bayern pick up wins in their next two Champions League matches against PSG and Arsenal, there's every chance that they could get to 24 as no other team up until that point seems to pose a serious threat to the streak except maybe VfB Stuttgart in the league - and even that's highly questionable due to not only Bayern's superiority over the rest of the Bundesliga, but also the fact that Bayern have such a psychological hold over those teams that even at their absolute best, the teams closest to Bayern often don't actually believe that they can beat Bayern.

Apart from Díaz, Bayern didn't really make any major acquisitions in the off-season - but as it's turned out, they didn't need to. Many of the players from the 2024-25 squad have improved significantly - and this from a team that won the league by 13 points. The tactical tweaks which Kompany has implemented, most notably a shift to a pseudo 3-2-5 or 2-2-6 formation when attacking, have further elevated the level of this Bayern team.

While it's of course possible that at some point down the line the wheels might start to come off, that doesn't look like it'll happen any time soon given the way Bayern are playing. There's every chance that Bayern will finish the season with a Treble and thus their seventh Champions League title in club history which would tie them with AC Milan for second all-time.

Stopping Bayern Munich will be a tall order indeed - they are absolutely locked in right now to the point that their current win streak feels more like a waypoint than it does to being anywhere near what it'll end up as.

The Weekly Take, Issue 385: A Critic-Silencing Triumph

Although Arsenal have surged to an early lead in the Premier League, the consensus is that it won't last and the Gunners will fade away down the final stretch of the season - just as they have seemed to do in almost every year of the Mikel Arteta era. This sentiment hasn't been helped by the inconsistent form of off-season signing Viktor Gyökeres.

Having been signed from Sporting Lisbon for just under €66 million, the Swede had been unimpressive all season long ever since arriving at the Emirates Stadium; however, this changed with Arsenal's Champions League match against Atlético Madrid.

In a result that might just have put the European football scene on notice, Arsenal destroyed their Spanish opponents in a dominant 4-0 victory. Interestingly enough, the match actually was still scoreless heading into half-time; that said, Arsenal were the more likely to score throughout the opening 45 minutes. Then, in one incredible 13-minute spurt in the second half, everything happened.

In the 57th minute, Gabriel Magalhães opened the scoring for Arsenal with - as many would have guessed - a header off a corner kick. Set-piece goals have been Arsenal's go-to for most of this season, and this opening goal showed exactly why. Seven minutes later, Arsenal extended their lead via Gabriel Martinelli whose shot made its way into the bottom corner.

Not long after that, Gyökeres took over, scoring two goals in the subsequent six-minute span. Once again, Arsenal added to their tally with a set-piece goal; it was the second goal of Gyökeres' brace. Arsenal's victory ensured that they would be one of the three teams to finish Matchday 3 of the Champions League's league phase having won all three of their matches thus far, alongside Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan.

Although their one-sided victory over Atlético is unlikely to convince many that Arsenal are genuine contenders to win the Champions League for the first time in the club's history, it nonetheless served as vindication after much of the criticism they'd suffered thus far this season. For example, it had often been said of Arsenal that they were over-reliant on set pieces as a source of goals and that their recent success with set pieces would prove to be unsustainable. This was clearly proven wrong against Atlético with two of Arsenal's four goals coming by way of a corner kick.

Some of the greatest football teams of all time were capable of wielding the set piece as a true weapon. Ultimately, set-piece goals count for the same as do those from open play; as such, with set pieces being one of Arsenal's particular strengths, it would evidently be a mistake for them not to leverage set pieces. If there were to be any team out there right now which could ride set pieces to perhaps a domestic league title, it would have to be Arsenal.

This might also have been the match that unlocked "the real Gyökeres". Despite the fact that not even a quarter of the season has yet been played, many had rushed to lambast the centre-forward as an expensive flop after having scored just three goals in nine matches. Some were also citing Gyökeres' slow start as "proof" that he couldn't hack it in a league far stronger than the Primeira Liga where he'd spent the last two seasons. Could this match, perhaps, have been the turning point of his season?

Finally, we come to Arteta. On many occasions since accepting his first-ever head coaching position at Arsenal in 2019, he has received much criticism for his relative lack of tactical skill. However, this time around nailed it on the strategic front and even more impressively, left Atlético's Diego Simeone - one of the all-time great tactical minds - bereft of solutions. It was something that Arsenal fans haven't gotten to see all that often during Arteta's years at the helm - but more of this and Arsenal might genuinely push for a first league title in 22 years.

Of course, no club has developed a greater reputation for fumbling titles than Arsenal have and it almost seems as if just saying "this is the year that they finally put it all together" might jinx them on the spot. That said, based on what we just saw, the signs are looking better than they have in quite some time.

The Weekly Take, Issue 384: The League Title Is Already Gone

The latest Bundesliga matchday was highlighted by the latest iteration of Der Klassiker - and unsurprisingly, Bayern's 2-1 victory marked their 10th in the last 14 league encounters between the two Bundesliga powerhouses.

Bayern had the bulk of the early chances in the opening stages of the match; as such, it came as no surprise at all when about halfway through the first half, Harry Kane scored with a header after having been set up by Joshua Kimmich. Bayern continued to apply the pressure following the goal; however, despite their domination of the first 45 minutes, they weren't able to add to their tally following Kane's goal. Michael Olise came closest with a shot that came back off the post.

The second half proved to be largely no different to the first; Bayern once again dominated proceedings though their opponents did put up a little more resistance after the break. It was primarily thanks to an excellent performance from Dortmund's Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel that Dortmund remained just one goal behind for most of the second half. This, however, would only be the case until the 78th minute. Jobe Bellingham, who just a few minutes earlier had replaced Marcel Sabitzer, botched his goalline clearance; it ended up coming off Olise who slid it in for Bayern's second goal.

Just a few minutes later, Die Schwarzgelbe did pull one back against the run of play after substitute Julian Brandt volleyed in Julian Ryerson's cross. However, that would be as far as Dortmund would end up getting. The result meant that Dortmund slipped seven points behind their opponents who remain top of the league after having won their first seven matches. Bayern have already opened up a five-point lead over second-placed RB Leipzig at this early stage of the season; it already seems as though the league title has been wrapped up. In fact, the Bavarian club have won all 10 matches they've played thus far this season.

As for Dortmund, this match - as has so often been the case with Der Klassiker in recent seasons - handed them a severe reality check. The final scoreline by no means reflected how the match actually played out; it grossly undersold how dominant Bayern really were. The gap between Bayern and Dortmund has clearly grown once again to a point at which one wonders if Bayern will be well-positioned to build up yet another lengthy Der Klassiker winning streak.

What makes Dortmund's latest loss to their arch-rivals even more galling is the fact that this time around, Bayern didn't even play particularly well. Dortmund lost this match more than Bayern won it. It wasn't just the fact that the decisive second goal came by way of a Dortmund player's error; throughout the match Dortmund were sloppy and careless in possession, often surrendering the ball at inopportune times and making crucial errors which prevented a goalscoring chance from being formed.

This is the main reason why Brandt's goal was Dortmund's only shot on target and without any question, it's something Dortmund have to work on if they are to make the top four and qualify for the Champions League for an 11th consecutive season.

Dortmund spent heavily in the off-season transfer window; their most expensive signing was Bellingham, the younger brother of Real Madrid superstar Jude who was once a Dortmund standout himself, from Sunderland for €33 million. However, the general consensus among the fanbase has been that 1) he's not ready for the team as he is now and should probably have been loaned out this season and 2) that hefty transfer fee could have been put to better use. This performance only reinforced such sentiments.

However, if there was one bright spot to be found, it was to come via Niko Kovač's half-time adjustments which directly led to Dortmund's second-half improvements. After taking over from the wholly incompetent Nuri Şahin in the dugout midway through last season and salvaging what would've been a disastrous campaign, the Croatian will likely have to once again be at that level to keep Dortmund a top-four club.

Even at this early stage of the season, it's already safe to say that Borussia Dortmund can forget about a first Bundesliga title in 14 years and will have to focus on securing Champions League qualification. However, performances like theirs against Bayern Munich certainly won't help their case.

The Weekly Take, Issue 383: The Key Word: "Unconvincing"

Belgium moved a step closer towards qualifying for the 2026 World Cup after beating Wales 4-2 in their recent Group J qualifier. Though on the surface the scoreline indicated a relatively easy victory, this wasn't actually the case.

Wales opened the scoring in the eighth minute by way of Leeds United centre-back Joe Rodon, who finished off a cross delivered by Sorba Thomas with a header. This lead didn't last long as just 10 minutes later, Ethan Ampadu's handball in the penalty area gave Belgium the chance to equalize from the spot. Belgium's legendary midfielder Kevin De Bruyne stepped forward and buried the spot-kick to put his side back on level terms.

Belgium would enter the half-time break a goal ahead after Thomas Meunier drilled a first-time shot coming off Jérémy Doku's pass into the roof of the net. Despite trailing, however, Wales had the bulk of the possession - but couldn't convert that ball dominance into goalscoring opportunities. This was once again the case throughout much of the second half; Wales were once again made to pay for failing to capitalize on this advantage. Once again, Wales conceded a penalty by way of a handball - this time from Leicester City midfielder Jordan James. For the second time, De Bruyne disposed of the penalty, all but clinching the win for Belgium.

With just one minute left in regulation time, Wales gave themselves a glimmer of hope after substitute Nathan Broadhead put the ball in the net to reduce Belgium's lead to 3-2; however, any chance of a comeback was snuffed out almost immediately when Arsenal winger Leandro Trossard scored the final goal of the match and restored Belgium's two-goal lead, atoning for his turnover that led to Broadhead's goal by doing so.

Despite Belgium now being all but guaranteed a spot in the global showpiece tournament in North America next year following this victory, this was by no means a result which will inspire much confidence about their chances of making a deep run in the tournament. On paper, one would have assumed that Belgium would've made short work of Wales - but in practice this wasn't so.

It's notable that Belgium allowed Wales to have entirely too much possession. Belgium were able to get away with it this time because Wales aren't even close to being one of the elite international football teams. However, what would happen if Belgium were to surrender 62% of the possession to their opponent in the round of 16 at the next World Cup? More than likely, they would find themselves on the flight back to Brussels in short order.

In addition, it really doesn't help Belgium's case that the second goal they conceded was an easily avoidable one that only came about via an error. Throughout this qualifying campaign, Belgium have been making way too many such errors; once again, it's only due to the relatively lower quality of their opposition that they haven't suffered all that much for them. Once again, if this issue isn't fixed by the time the World Cup comes around, Belgium might be in for a back-to-back early exit following their group-stage elimination in Qatar in 2022.

Belgium have been a team in transition for several years now following the aging and retirement of the majority of the team branded the "Golden Generation" - a title that they in no way deserved as they only made it past the quarterfinals of a major tournament once; this was an abject failure given the stratospheric ceiling that the team appeared to have had. Over the last few years, however, no sign of an upswing has been in sight - and although they may have beaten Wales this time, it was an unconvincing victory that'll certainly leave the critics with far more questions than answers.

There's still almost a year to go until the World Cup begins; however, nothing about this current Belgium team indicates that they have what it takes to turn it around and make a deep run. Their decline from a point at which they were arguably the favorites to win it all shows no signs of stopping. It might not even be all that much of a surprise if they were to once again get knocked out of the tournament in the group stage.

The Weekly Take, Issue 382: Strength in Numbers

Coming off the first-ever Champions League title in the club's history, Paris Saint-Germain entered the 2025-26 edition of the tournament as the favourites to go all the way and become the first French club to ever win back-to-back Champions League titles. The second matchday of the league phase, however, presented the Parisian club with probably their toughest match of this stage of the tournament: an away match against Barcelona.

Barça were first to score; they took an early lead via a Ferran Torres goal. After PSG midfielder Vitinha turned the ball over, Barça put together a move that culminated in Marcus Rashford sending a ball across the penalty area to Torres who had no trouble putting the ball into the bottom corner. PSG would score the equalizer seven minutes before half-time after Nuno Mendes beat three defenders before setting up Senny Mayulu who went on to find the back of the net.

Although PSG had the majority of the possession and goalscoring chances for most of the second half, neither side was able to make a breakthrough until the very last minute of regulation time. PSG's Gonçalo Ramos, who had been substituted into the match just 18 minutes prior, took advantage of the suboptimal placement of Barça's high line to make it two wins out of two matches for PSG. This victory also meant that PSG have now won three consecutive away Champions League matches at Barça with a combined scoreline of 10-3.

One of the main storylines heading into this match was the fact that it would arguably lay down an early marker with regard to the question of who the team to beat in this season's Champions League was. This sentiment was further strengthened by several underlying narratives. First and foremost, this was billed as a match between the two players who recently finished first and second in the Ballon d'Or voting for the 2024-25 season: award winner Ousmane Dembélé of PSG and runner-up Lamine Yamal of Barça. In addition, prior to the match, Barça midfielder Pedri claimed that his Blaugrana team was the world's best.

Adding another layer to the match was the fact that PSG would be without all of their usual starting front three due to injuries: Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Désiré Doué. Notably, the latter two even had realistic chances to have won the Ballon d'Or instead of Démbélé. As such, this was a major opportunity for the Catalan club to make a clear statement that they were indeed the biggest threat to win it all.

Instead, the exact opposite sequence of events took place. If anything, the only thing that Pedri managed to do was to "poke the bear"; it was evident that PSG were even more fired up by the Canarian's remarks and were intent on proving him wrong. Ramos confirmed that such was the case after the match, making remarks that were clearly intended as a clapback towards Pedri's.

On top of that, what should come as even more of a concern to every team with hopes of toppling the reigning European champions is the fact that an under-strength PSG just beat what's likely one of the top five teams in the world right now. PSG won last season's Champions League not on the back of the pure star power which they'd depended on in past years only to come up short every single time, but by way of "strength in numbers" - an idea which Luis Enrique has clearly made the foundation of this team. It was anything but the "let the superstars cook" approach that they'd tried before, and it seems to once again be highly effective.

It's of course way too early to say that PSG will win the Champions League again. However, all of the other main contenders with the exception of Bayern Munich have shown evidence of vulnerabilities at some point this season. In fact, there's a case to be made that PSG are even better this season than last - a remarkable turnaround for a club which was once a mere punchline in continental play for their repeated failures when the pressure was at its highest.

There's no question that any club intent on denying Paris Saint-Germain consecutive Champions League titles will have quite the task. It has to be reiterated: PSG just beat Barcelona without any of their starting front three.

The Weekly Take, Issue 381: It's Not Real's City Anymore

It's exceptionally rare that a team is able to get the psychological edge over Real Madrid - a team which has on countless occasions delivered the goods under the highest stakes. However, this is exactly what has turned out to be the case over the past several years with none other than their cross-town rivals Atlético Madrid who, in the latest Madrid derby, once again highlighted the fact that Atlético have now unquestionably gotten into Los Merengues' heads.

Atlético shook off their slow start to the current La Liga season with a 5-2 thrashing of Real on the back of a dominant second half. Atlético opened the scoring in the 14th minute by way of a Robin Le Normand header that finished off a cross sent in by Giovanni Simeone. Later in the first half, Real would fire back with two goals within an 11-minute span - the first from Kylian Mbappé, the second from Arda Güler who had earlier set up Mbappé's goal.

Shortly before the half-time interval, Atlético centre-back Clement Lenglet had a goal waved off by VAR after a check revealed that the Frenchman had handled the ball on its way into the net. Nevertheless, Atlético entered the break on level terms after Alexander Sørloth scored his side's second headed goal of the match in first-half stoppage time.

It was one-way traffic after the break as Atlético completely took over. Following an Atlético corner kick early in the second half, Güler fouled Nicolás González in the penalty area; the ensuing penalty was duly converted by Julián Alvarez. The Argentinian striker scored his second and Atlético's fourth in the 63rd minute with a spectacular free kick. Fittingly, rounding off the victory was a stoppage-time goal scored by none other than the greatest player to ever put on an Atlético jersey: Antoine Griezmann.

At this point, it's remarkable to think that from 1999 to 2013, Atlético did not beat Real even once. Yet at this point, if there's any team that seems to have the blueprint to stopping the 15-time European champions, it would have to be Atlético. Not even Real's greatest rivals Barcelona have had Real's number like this as Real have beaten Barça in five of the last 11 editions of El Clásico.

Despite conceding two goals, Atlético kept Real's attack stymied throughout the match; the two goals which Real scored were their only two shots on target. Real were simply unable to cope with the level of intensity that Atlético brought. Atlético were not only able to have their way with Real's attack for the vast majority of the match; they turned this defensive edge into goalscoring chances of their own on offense.

Real couldn't find any way to counter Atlético's pressing and rotations and on multiple occasions ended up overcommitting because of this. As soon as Sørloth scored the equalizing goal, it almost seemed inevitable that Atlético would run away with the match in the second half. It never really felt as though Real played like they themselves genuinely believed they could beat Atlético - a stunning contrast when compared to what Madrid derbies before 2010 were usually like.

Although Atlético remain six points behind Real who remain in first place in the league despite the loss, a result like this clearly highlights that they can't be counted out in their pursuit of a first league title in five years. There's still more than enough time to make up the ground they've lost in the early going - and if recent history is anything to go by, Atlético will likely take three more points off Real in the upcoming reverse fixture in March as well.

While it may be true that on the surface this was "just one early-season match", the trend has nonetheless been incredibly obvious to anyone paying attention. This wasn't even necessarily entirely an instance of Atlético outstrategizing Real; this most recent victory was all the evidence that anyone could've needed as proof that Diego Simeone's team has entirely reversed the Madrid clubs' respective statuses as far as their history in derby matches is concerned.

The Madrid derby has never held the prestige of its counterparts in London, Milan, or Manchester, among others, largely due to Atlético Madrid's ineptitude for long stretches of time. However, we have clearly entered a new era - one in which Atlético are not only competitive, but the outright favourites to win derby matches.

The Weekly Take, Issue 380: Back on Track at Last?

Last season was by far Manchester City's worst of the Pep Guardiola era. Not only did City not even come close to retaining their Premier League title, they were even knocked out of the UEFA Champions League in the round of 24 - though in their defense, the Citizens had been drawn against Real Madrid for a spot in the last 16. City's elimination at that stage was their earliest since being knocked out of the tournament in the group stage in the 2012-13 season.

As such, City entered the new Champions League season intent on showcasing how they'd bounced back from last season's failure; their opening match would be at home against Napoli. Notably, this match would also mark the return of Kevin De Bruyne - the greatest player in the Manchester club's history - to the Etihad Stadium but this time in the opposing jersey.

De Bruyne's return to the Etihad didn't last long, though - this was because in the 21st minute, Napoli full-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo received a red card after a last-man foul on Erling Haaland just outside the penalty area. This prompted Napoli manager Antonio Conte to make his first substitution of the match; he chose to swap out De Bruyne for Mathías Olivera soon after Di Lorenzo was ejected.

Even having a player fewer, Napoli were able to prevent the Citizens from getting onto the scoresheet before the break. However, the match only remained scoreless a short time into the second half as in the 56th minute, Erling Haaland found the net with a header after having been set up by Phil Foden. It was the 50th Champions League goal of the Norwegian's career; having scored that number of goals in just 49 matches, Haaland thus broke the record for the fewest matches required for a player to score his first 50 Champions League goals.

Not long after, City made the victory safe after Jérémy Doku carved up the Napoli defense before slotting the ball into the bottom corner of the net. Napoli never really stood a chance as soon as Di Lorenzo received his marching orders - they were thoroughly dominated in every facet of play.

Having lost two of their first four Premier League matches this season, City are off to a slow start domestically. As such, this victory over the reigning Serie A champions could have been crucial in order to prevent City's early season from spiralling out of hand.

As they have so often done, City spent heavily during the off-season - however, unlike many of the past few seasons, they only really managed to land one truly big name: goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma who was signed from Paris Saint-Germain for €30 million to replace club legend Ederson. This doesn't quite stack up well against the transfer windows that some other clubs had - most notably Premier League title rivals Liverpool who put together a transfer window for the ages, bringing to Anfield two bona fide superstars in Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak while also adding multiple important supporting pieces.

That said, City's victory over Napoli was an obvious display of the level they can be at when everything is clicking. The current squad makes use of a tactical setup which has somewhat deviated from Guardiola's early days in the blue half of Manchester; although they still place much emphasis on possession, City are now more likely to create chances via medium-length to long through-balls. While neither of City's two goals was scored in this way, the threat of one coming in that way kept the Napoli defense on their toes throughout the match, adding another dimension to City's attack.

Prior to last season, City had won six of the previous seven league titles including one as part of a Treble in the 2022-23 season, so they are to be written off at one's peril. Despite not landing the level of big-name players which they have in the past, City nonetheless have a squad capable of going all the way and winning the Champions League for the second time in four seasons. The issue, however, is the possibility of inconsistency once again rearing its head and derailing City - and if last season is anything to go by, that possibility can't be dismissed.

The Weekly Take, Issue 379: A New Era in Full Swing

Close to the end of the 2024-25 season, Juventus fired then-head coach Thiago Motta in a final push for the last Champions League qualification spot. He was replaced by Igor Tudor, the Croatian who had spent just over seven seasons as a Juve player. At the time, Juve had just lost back-to-back Serie A matches by a combined 7-0 scoreline and had slipped out of the top four.

Tudor was able to turn things around; with him in the Juventus Stadium dugout, the Bianconeri lost just one of their final nine league matches and clinched a spot in this season's Champions League. Subsequently, Tudor signed a contract extension which would keep him in the position until the end of the 2027-28 season.

Though it's still very early in the 2025-26 season, the signs are clear that Tudor has had an obviously positive impact on this team as evidenced by Juve's hot start to the new season - including their recent victory over Inter Milan in a pulsating Derby d'Italia. Lloyd Kelly scored his first goal as a Juventus player after having been set up by fellow centre-back Gleison Bremer. This early lead would, however, only last until the 30th minute when Hakan Çalhanoğlu equalized for the Nerazzurri. Juve would nonetheless enter the half-time interval a goal ahead as not too long after, Kenan Yıldız drilled a shot from well outside the box into the bottom corner of the net.

Çalhanoğlu scored his and Inter's second goal about halfway through the second half - a spectacular volley from just outside the penalty area. Marcus Thuram then netted his third league goal of the season to put Inter 3-2 ahead in the 76th minute only for, of all people, his own brother Khéphren to level the match six minutes later. Finally, in the first minute of stoppage time, substitute Vasilije Adžić scored Juve's winning goal; the Montenegrin midfielder emulated Kelly in scoring his first goal for the club following Jonathan David's assist - and it could hardly have come in more climactic circumstances.

Since taking over at Juve, Tudor has taken Juve to eight wins in 12 league matches and with three in a row to start the new season, they seem to be well-positioned for a real run at a first Scudetto since the 2019-20 season. The club's five full seasons since then have been marked by inconsistency, instability, and even off-field scandals - but the signs that Tudor might be the guy who turns it around are starting to become more evident.

The phrase "club DNA" is something of a cliché by now - but even so, it's perhaps the biggest factor as to why Tudor is succeeding where Motta didn't. As mentioned, Tudor spent a big chunk of his playing career at Juve. Motta, on the other hand, never did and even played for Juve's direct rivals Inter. As such, Tudor has been able to connect with his players in a way that Motta never could - and having earned the trust of the locker room as soon as he has, the team is now in a far more conducive position to push for the league title.

From a tactical standpoint, Tudor has switched Juve's main formation to three at the back, utilizing either a 3-4-2-1 or 3-5-1-1 setup. This has in turn enhanced Juve's ability to create chances and cover space. He's also transitioned Juve away from a possession-heavy, low-tempo playstyle in favour of a more direct approach which emphasizes playing through the centre of the field. This has enabled Juve to force opponent's errors and create additional openings - and these tactical shifts were major reasons why Juve took the W against Inter.

It might actually have helped Tudor that up to now he'd never had any major achievements in any of his prior roles, thus reducing the pressure on him. However, as his and his team's stock continues to rise, that's likely to change. That will likely be the biggest test as to whether he is, in fact, the real deal - can he put it all together for an entire league campaign and not only win it all, but also perhaps even make a deep Champions League run? It's difficult to say, but their chances look better than they have in quite some time.

The Weekly Take, Issue 378: 2026 World Title - Now Loading?

Due to the asymmetrical nature of each group in Europe's World Cup qualifying stage, not all 12 groups commenced play at the same time. Some of them started way back in March while others, including Group D, just began their path towards next year's global showpiece tournament in North America. One of those groups was Group D - a group highlighted by France, in pursuit of a second world title in three World Cups.

As might have been expected, France kicked off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Ukraine in a match that wasn't as close as the scoreline might imply. Bayern Munich striker Michael Olise opened the scoring in the 10th minute after having been set up by Bradley Barcola. Somewhat surprisingly, despite being in total control of proceedings, Les Bleus weren't able to extend their lead before the half-time break.

Midway through the second half, Ukraine had two major chances in quick succession and almost made France pay for their inability to score any further goals. Both were headers; the first was from Artem Dovbyk whose header was cleared off the line by Ibrahima Konaté. Shortly after, Illia Zabarnyi's header came back off the post.

The score remained at 1-0 until the 82nd minute. Midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni sent a long ball forwards in the direction of Real Madrid teammate Kylian Mbappé who beat Zabarnyi in a one-on-one scenario before finding the bottom corner of the net - his 51st for France, tying him for second all-time with legendary striker Thierry Henry. However, it wasn't all good news for France as prior to that goal, both Désiré Doué and his replacement Ousmane Dembélé left the match injured.

For almost a decade now, France have been the most consistent threat to win major international football tournaments; this match revealed nothing new in that regard. France didn't even need to come close to their peak level in order to easily dispatch Ukraine. Everything about this performance indicates that they will once again be among the favorites, if not the outright favorite, to win the 2026 World Cup.

To say that this team is outrageously stacked would somehow be an understatement. Against Ukraine, players like Dembélé and Hugo Ekitike (the latter of whom was actually playing his first-ever match for his national team) came off the bench while even Marcus Thuram and Theo Hernández, among others, stayed on the bench for the entire match. It's this remarkable depth which has been the backbone of their consistent tournament success dating back to Euro 2016 when they reached the final.

In addition, the fact that France almost always go deep at major tournaments has a "rich get richer" effect on their squad in terms of big-match experience. Many of France's best players aged 25 or younger have a great deal more experience under the highest pressure on the biggest stages than do their peers from different countries. It's entirely possible that this will end up making a major impact at next year's World Cup.

There's also the manner of how France lost in the final of the 2022 World Cup. Having come so agonizingly close to becoming the first team to win back-to-back World Cups in 60 years, France will be especially fired up to win it all in 2026. The memory of their loss in the final in Qatar might just have been the additional fuel they needed to end up being the final team left standing at the end of next year's tournament.

Topping things off, it's often the case that teams which either win or go deep at the World Cup have a core primarily comprised of players from the same club. This is understandable as such cores would have the advantage of pre-existing chemistry. In France's case, they're fortunate enough to have two such cores: one from Real Madrid, another from Paris Saint-Germain. This additional team chemistry was on full display in France's second goal against Ukraine with Real duo Tchouaméni and Mbappé looking as though they had never left the Santiago Bernabéu for the international break at all.

While of course, it's true that it's way too early to make a sweeping statement that France will win the World Cup, there's no question that they're in a really strong position right now. Their decade of dominance is all set to enter a second one with no signs of a end anywhere in sight.

The Weekly Take, Issue 377: Already Behind in the Chase for the Top Four

Following a strong finish to the 2024-25 La Liga season which saw them climb from outside the top 10 into sixth place and thus obtain qualification for this season's Europa League, Real Betis were undoubtedly regarded as a club headed in the right direction at the beginning of this season. Adding to the raised expectations at Estadio de La Cartuja was the fact that Betis brought in several notable signings over the off-season - including, more than likely, turning loan signing Antony into a full-time player after the Brazilian winger had emerged as arguably the club's best player over the second half of last season.

However, so far things haven't gone the way Betis would've hoped for as after losing 2-1 to Athletic Bilbao, the Andalusian club are now eighth in the league with just five points to their name. Following a goalless first half, Betis centre-back Marc Bartra's own goal in the 60th minute put Bilbao a goal ahead. With just over five minutes left in regulation time, Aitor Paredes' header all but sealed Bilbao's victory.

Deep into stoppage time, Betis substitute Cédric Bakambu gave Betis at least a slight chance of avoiding defeat after heading in Junior Firpo's cross. To make things even more interesting, shortly after that Bilbao's substitute goalkeeper Álex Padilla controversially received a red card despite not even entering play after Isidro Díaz de Mera Escuderos took exception to the Mexican's act of tossing the ball back onto the field in a supposedly unsportsmanlike manner. However, no further goals would be scored as the final whistle was blown soon after that.

Of course, it has to be mentioned that two of Betis' best players have been absent from the squad up until now. Midfielder Isco suffered a fibula fracture in a pre-season match against Málaga and is expected to be out of action until November. As for Antony, Betis are reportedly working on his official signing from Manchester United - the club from which he spent an extremely successful half-season on loan as he served as Betis' primary driving force behind their climb up the league table.

That being said, the question has to be asked: is this team one which will genuinely be able to challenge for a top-four spot and thus Champions League qualification? The two clubs that finished ahead of Betis last season were Bilbao and Villarreal. It's possible that Bilbao's victory over Betis could end up being an outlier; this is because the club barely made any moves at all during the transfer window. The Basque club spent just €12.3 million on a total of three players; not only that, €12 million of that was on just one signing: Osasuna defender Jesús Areso.

More than likely, it's Villarreal that Betis will have to be more concerned about. Having sold several players for significant transfer fees, the club have been putting this transfer revenue to work, landing several notable signings including Santiago Mouriño, Renato Veiga, and Tajon Buchanan. Of course, once Isco returns and Antony officially returns to the club, things should start to turn for the better - but even then, Betis will probably need a strong mid-season transfer window to seriously push for a top-four spot.

Betis have been recently linked with players such as Dani Ceballos, Guido Rodríguez, and Facundo Bernal. Unfortunately, none of those players would really do all that much to move the needle. It's more than likely that if Betis are to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 21 years, they'll need to make at least one major signing once January comes around.

Considering the fact that right now, Betis most struggle with one-on-one defending as well as keeping possession for extended periods, it would likely be advisable for them to invest in a defensive or a central midfielder in the coming transfer window. In addition, Isco will be coming off a fairly severe injury and at his age, there's no certainty that he'll be back the same as he was before. For that reason, Betis should probably bring in an attacking midfielder as well.

There's still a realistic path to Champions League qualification for Real Betis after having been in contention but never actually getting there for several years now. However, unless things change in mid-season, the chances of this aren't all too likely.

The Weekly Take, Issue 376: The Implosion Hits a New Depth

Last season, RB Leipzig finished seventh in the Bundesliga. It was Die Bullen's worst-ever league finish ever since earning promotion to Germany's top flight in 2017. This also meant that the 2025-26 season would be the first time since their Bundesliga debut season in 2017-18 that Leipzig would not be featuring in any continental-level tournament. On top of that, Leipzig finished a lowly 32nd of the 36 teams in last season's Champions League and lost all but one of their league phase matches.

Any thoughts that the Saxony-based club might turn things around this season were rapidly put on hold as the curtain-raiser of this Bundesliga season between Bayern Munich and Leipzig played out. To say that Bayern took Leipzig to the woodshed would be a severe understatement. This wasn't even remotely close as Bayern destroyed Leipzig 6-0 at the Allianz Arena - a result that not only sent out a clear statement to the rest of the Bundesliga that it would be a near-impossible task to unseat the reigning league champions, but also that Leipzig continue to be in freefall and have just hit a new low point.

Bayern had the match in the bag before the half-time break. Michael Olise's two first-half goals were split by another from new signing Luis Díaz who signed for Bayern from Liverpool in the off-season for €70 million. Díaz was set up by Serge Gnabry who also assisted Olise's second goal.

Early in the second half, Leipzig winger Antonio Nusa who had entered the match as a replacement for Yan Diomande during the interval took advantage of an error by Bayern centre-back Dayot Upamecano; however, Nusa's ensuing shot attempt went just wide. Later on, Nusa would have a goal waved off via VAR; these instances would be as close as Leipzig would get.

Then, about midway through the second half, reigning Bundesliga Player of the Season Harry Kane backed up that title with a hat-trick in a frenetic 14-minute span. Leipzig had absolutely no answer whatsoever for the Englishman who could very well be on his way to submitting another season worthy of a Ballon d'Or candidate - especially if England make a deep run at the upcoming 2026 World Cup.

As for Leipzig, it's difficult to say anything other than this result is likely a sign of things to come. During this past off-season, Leipzig spent €92 million on new signings; however, none of them are likely to make any significant impact. Additionally, Leipzig lost striker Benjamin Šeško to Manchester United.

This past off-season should've been one during which Leipzig overhauled their squad. Much of their decline last season was the result of the inadequate replacement of key players' departures as well as several current players now being past their prime. As a result, this current squad is now likely to finish nowhere near the Champions League qualification spots unless a stunning turnaround takes place.

On the surface, it does appear that Leipzig have taken note of the fact that players such as Péter Gulácsi, Willi Orbán, and Kevin Kampl, among others, are now clearly past their prime; all six players signed by Leipzig are aged 23 or younger. While this seems to be a step in the right direction, the reality is that it was "quantity over quality". Not one of the youngsters who just joined Leipzig are elite prospects expected to become a genuinely top-tier player.

Not long ago, Leipzig were viewed by many as the club with the best chance, remote as it may have been, of toppling Bayern. However, when the headliner of a so-called top club's arrivals is Rômulo from Göztepe - a mid-table Turkish Süper Lig club - it's obvious that the club has fallen a long way from where it was.

Leipzig hired Ole Werner as the club's new head coach during the off-season - their sixth in just five years. This instability in the dugout is certainly not helping the situation. Ever since the departure of Julian Nagelsmann in 2021 and the death of former owner Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022, Leipzig have been increasingly directionless - and now it all seems to be coming to a head.

RB Leipzig are now a shell of the team they were even just two years ago, let alone five. Unless something seriously changes soon, their chances of even finishing in the top 10 of the Bundesliga are highly unlikely.

The Weekly Take, Issue 375: A Debut That Didn't Fulfill the Hype

The obvious standout of the opening matchday of the 2025-26 Premier League season saw Manchester United host Arsenal. The match was billed as a clash between both clubs’ respective centre-forwards who had just been signed for major money. United signed Slovenian Benjamin Šeško from RB Leipzig for €76.5 million while Arsenal brought Swede Viktor Gyökeres to the Emirates Stadium from Sporting Lisbon for a fee of €65.8 million.

This highly-anticipated showdown got off to an anticlimactic start after it was revealed that unlike Gyökeres who was in the Gunners’ starting line-up, Šeško started the match on the bench. However, it was actually Arsenal’s Italian full-back Riccardo Calafiori who scored the opening goal of the match following - in what has become a common occurrence for Manchester United - an error by United goalkeeper Altay Bayındır who mishandled Declan Rice’s corner kick, allowing Calafiori to put it in from close range.

Despite having the bulk of the goalscoring chances and possession, United were never able to make full use of these advantages and remained a goal behind heading into halftime. After the break, Šeško replaced Mason Mount and thus made his Premier League debut shortly after Gyökeres was substituted; Gyökeres was replaced by Kai Havertz.

However, Šeško’s first Premier League match certainly didn’t go according to plan. Apart from attempting a header which ended up not even being close to the target, Šeško barely did anything of note in his half-hour or so of play as United, despite largely being in control of the match, couldn’t find a way to the back of the net and finally succumbed to a 1-0 loss.

On an individual level, however, Šeško’s opposite number fared even worse. Between the two of them, Gyökeres was by far the more hyped despite having been signed for the lower transfer fee of the two. Adding to the narrative of this match was the fact that at one point of the transfer window, the man from Stockholm arguably seemed to be more likely to sign for United. As such, this match could easily have been an opportunity for Gyökeres to send a clear statement to United: “this is what you’ve missed out on”.

However, Gyökeres barely contributed anything at all - he didn’t even attempt a single shot - before being substituted. United’s Dutch centre-back Matthijs de Ligt got the better of Gyökeres again and again. Gyökeres looked absolutely nothing like the centre-forward who utterly shredded defenses across Portugal for the past two years.

There’s no question that there’s a significant skill gap between the Portuguese and English top-flight leagues. Many players over the years who have dominated a weaker league have found themselves struggling after making a move to a club in one of Europe’s major football leagues. While one would assume that Gyökeres is too good a player for that to happen to him and of course, it’s only been one match, we’ve seen players come into one of the top leagues from a weaker one with plenty of hype before - only to never live up to said hype.

It should go without saying that if Arsenal are to make a serious push for a first Premier League title since 2004, the North Londoners will need Gyökeres to rediscover his peak form and sustain it. Last season, Arsenal scored 22 fewer league goals than they had the season before - and this relative lack of goalscoring output caused Arsenal to finish the 2024-25 Premier League with 74 points as opposed to 89 in 2023-24. A tally of 89 points would, in fact, have won them the league last season.

On the surface, Gyökeres appears to check every box as far as what Arsenal need in a centre-forward. In addition to goalscoring, Gyökeres has a blend of technical skill and athleticism that not many strikers can boast of; he’s even above average compared to other centre-forwards at creating goalscoring chances. However, the gap between the Premier League and the Primeira Liga coupled with the fact that there’s more pressure on him than there has been on any Arsenal signing in a long time might just cause him to be unable to fulfill the hype.

All of that being said, most would say that Viktor Gyökeres does have what it takes to become Arsenal’s next great striker. However, if he’s to do so, performances like the one he just had against Manchester United won’t cut it at all.

The Weekly Take, Issue 374: One Decent Signing - But That's It

Basically nobody genuinely believes that any club other than Bayern Munich has any chance whatsoever of winning the Bundesliga title in the 2025-26 season - and understandably so. The Bavarian club won the league title by a whopping 13 points over Bayer Leverkusen last season and not only that - during this current off-season, Leverkusen have been picked apart to such an extent that just two years after their astonishing league title victory in which they finished the 2023-24 season unbeaten in the league, Leverkusen are unlikely to finish second in the league again.

This therefore means that while the prospects of any club besides Bayern winning the league are essentially zero, the race for second place in the league is well and truly on with clubs such as Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and Mainz all having genuine chances of finishing the 2025-26 Bundesliga season as runners-up behind Bayern.

Earlier this week, Frankfurt made a signing which may have gone under the radar for many but might have just given themselves a leg up over their rivals - especially since the player who just signed for Die Adler came from a club which finished relatively close to them in the league last season. For a transfer fee of €21 million, Frankfurt have just signed Japanese winger Ritsu Dōan from SC Freiburg.

In this transfer window, by far the biggest story surrounding Frankfurt was the departure of French striker Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool for the eye-popping fee of €95 million. As a result, Frankfurt have plenty of money to work with - especially after combining this with what they received for the mid-season sale of Omar Marmoush to Manchester City.

The arrival of Dōan at Deutsche Bank Park will certainly go some way towards mitigating the effects of Marmoush's and Ekitike's departures. The winger from Hyogo has clearly emerged as Freiburg's best player; bringing him in for just €21 million was a huge win on Frankfurt's part. More than likely, the fact that Frankfurt were able to add Dōan to their roster for a surprisingly low transfer fee had to do with the fact that they will be in the Champions League this season while Freiburg will not.

This does, however, beg the question: what's next for Frankfurt? They're sitting on a huge amount of money generated via two massive player sales but have barely gotten through any of it - even after the signing of Dōan. Especially considering Leverkusen's likely decline, the fact that Frankfurt haven't gone on to capitalize on this and make a few more notable signings says alot. Although Frankfurt are a Champions League club and now one able to make big transfer bids on one or two more players, it has never been more obvious that Frankfurt have never been and likely will never be a "destination" club.

Earlier in this off-season, Frankfurt missed out on Danish midfielder Victor Froholdt after Porto beat them to his signing. The Primeira Liga club beat Frankfurt to Froholdt after they signed him for €20 million, and it should go without saying that this is a really bad look as far as Frankfurt are concerned. A club which should be in contention for second place in the Bundesliga have been beaten to the signing of a 19-year-old Danish midfielder who's not even regarded as an elite young prospect.

If Frankfurt somehow fail to finish the upcoming Bundesliga season in the top four and thus miss out on a Champions League spot, there's no question at all that they will look back on this transfer window and rue the fact that they didn't do more with the newfound wealth at their disposal. Even if Frankfurt couldn't land a bona fide star, they should have brought in at least two or three more starter-level players besides Dōan with the money from the Marmoush and Ekitike sales.

It must, of course, be kept in mind that even after losing Marmoush to City last season, Eintracht Frankfurt were nonetheless able to finish third in the league, and there's a case to be made that Dōan is a better player than Ekitike is. However, one can't help but have the feeling that in this transfer window, Frankfurt have passed up multiple opportunities to strengthen their squad.

The Weekly Take, Issue 373: The Continent's GOAT Wraps Up an Epic Decade

With 454 matches, 173 goals, the 2020 Puskás Award, the 2022 Premier League Golden Boot, and most importantly of all, the 2025 Europa League title under his belt, Tottenham Hotspur legend Son Heung-min wrapped up an incredible decade at the North London club in an off-season friendly which finished in a 1-1 draw.

The match itself, however, was barely even relevant - it was merely the backdrop of the main story: Son’s final match as a Tottenham player. The deafening applause that the South Korean winger received when was substituted in the 65th minute as he stepped off the turf in a Tottenham jersey for the very last time said it all. While it hasn’t yet been outright confirmed, it’s all but certain that Son will end up signing for MLS club Los Angeles FC.

There are so many angles from which we could look back at Son’s career - but the most important has to be the fact that by a large margin, Son is the greatest player to ever come out of Asia. This was a title which prior to Son’s emergence had multiple viable candidates: Shunsuke Nakamura, Park Ji-sung, and Yūto Nagatomo are some of the legends whose names might have once been brought up.

However, there’s no question that at this point, Son has left them all in the dust. It’s not even close anymore. None of the others had ever been arguably the best player of a team contending for a Champions League spot. None of them had even been considered as perhaps one of the 10 best players in the world even at their absolute apex. And most importantly, none of them have even been close to being able to elevate the profile of Asian football in general to the extent that Son has.

It’s very possible - in fact, probable even - that Son chose this off-season to leave Tottenham because he did something that legendary names like Gareth Bale, Luka Modrić, and Harry Kane never could; that, of course, would be being the best player on a title-winning Tottenham team. True, it was “only” the Europa League - not one of the three major titles - and it was over a Manchester United side which were coming to the end of an abject season - but one has to keep in mind that Tottenham’s trophy drought stretched all the way back to 2008.

In addition, Tottenham themselves had endured a dismal Premier League campaign which saw them finish 17th, just one spot ahead of the relegation zone. Despite firing Ange Postecoglou after his eventful two-year stint coaching Tottenham, there’s no guarantee that things will change for the better at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the coming season. With their best player now gone as well, relegation is absolutely on the table. It could be many, many years before Tottenham again add to their trophy cabinet - and that, combined with the end of the “lads, it’s Tottenham” jokes - made the Europa League victory especially sweet. That one Europa League title was not only the most fitting of swansongs - it will also forever serve as the symbol of Son’s legacy at the club.

On that note, this brings up the question: where does Son Heung-min rank among all of Tottenham’s all-time greats? Well, given everything he did in his 10 years at the club, it’s safe to say that Son is easily the fourth head on Tottenham’s Mount Rushmore alongside those of Kane, Jimmy Greaves, and Glenn Hoddle.

He’s in the club’s top 10 in appearances and goals, was thrice selected as the club’s Player of the Season, and ever since Kane’s departure for Bayern Munich in the 2023 off-season has been just about the only thing that Tottenham have had going for them. For all but his first year at Tottenham, he was no worse than the third-best player on the team.

With Son Heung-min’s departure for California, Tottenham Hotspur will enter the 2025-26 season not only as fringe relegation candidates, but also without even one truly elite player on their roster for the first time in many years. It’s safe to say that whatever happens to Tottenham going forward, the man from Chuncheon in the #7 jersey will be all but impossible to replace.