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.