European soccer weekend review: Spurs’ Postecoglou under fire, Madrid clear in LaLiga

Another topsy-turvy weekend of European football is in the books, and there are talking points galore across the big leagues.

In the Premier League, Tottenham’s latest defeat piles more pressure on manager Ange Postecoglou, while Manchester City shrugged off an early deficit to Chelsea — and shaky debut for Abdukodir Khusanov — to pick up a 3-1 win and get back into the top four.

In LaLiga, Real Madrid took control of the title race as Kylian Mbappé scored an impressive hat trick to beat Real Valladolid, though Barcelona thrashed Valencia to remain in contention. Elsewhere, there were talking points for Borussia Dortmund and their caretaker manager, AS Monaco, AC Milan and Juventus.

Luis Miguel Echegaray, Sam Marsden and Constantin Eckner take a look at what you might have missed this weekend.

Top takeaway: Postecoglou’s future in doubt as Tottenham endure worst-ever Premier League run

On Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur lost 2-1 to Leicester City, a result that moved the Foxes out of the relegation zone. For Spurs and Ange Postecoglou, however, the numbers are not good. Spurs have now recorded their 13th loss of the season — as many as Ipswich Town — which also marked their fourth straight in the league. They haven’t earned a league victory since Dec. 15 and are 15th in the table, only eight points from the relegation zone.

A counterargument could highlight the fact that key injuries are impacting their ability to execute their style of play. Another angle could be the available players and how they should shoulder the responsibility. But these are one-dimensional excuses because this is a situation where, sadly, the main focal point is the manager’s stubborn approach and how it’s costing the team’s physical and mental stamina. For a while now, Spurs have looked very tired and when you have a diminished squad, it is the role of the manager to be more pragmatic and alter the style of play. That’s not happening under their Greek-Australian manager.

I still think he’s a good coach with good ideas and the Carabao Cup run could be their only saving grace, but if this rut continues, the club’s executive chairman and decision-maker, Daniel Levy, will have a lot to think about.

Best match: Manchester City 3, Chelsea 1

Part of the reason this game earned my vote was its erratic nature as well as the introduction of two league newcomers.

Pep Guardiola opted to start two of his three new signings — defender Abdukodir Khusanov and forward Omar Marmoush — and both delivered headlines for varying reasons. The 20-year-old Khusanov, who doesn’t speak English and had only two training sessions leading up the game, made a huge mistake that resulted in Chelsea’s opener. Then he received an early yellow card after a foul on Cole Palmer. Only Jonathan Woodgate’s debut with Real Madrid (an own goal and a red card) was looking worse for a centre-back, but as the game developed, the Uzbekistan defender grew into it.

Marmoush, however, was a beautiful revelation for the Premier League. His pace, aggression and ability to make dangerous runs will add another dimension to a City side that’s returning to form. To add more erratic themes, Chelsea’s goalkeeper Robert Sánchez wins the lot after his terrible decision to come off his line, allowing Erling Haaland to score and make it 2-1 before Phil Foden netted the third in the 87th minute.

Best goal: Alexander Isak, Newcastle United vs. Southampton

Newcastle United returned to winning ways on Saturday thanks to a 3-1 win over Southampton with Isak scoring a brace in the space of four minutes. It was another trademark weekend by the Swedish international, who at this point is possibly winning the argument for currently the best striker in Europe. The first was a penalty, but the second? A wonderful ball from Jacob Murphy, which split the defensive line and found Isak, who beautifully controlled the ball before putting it past Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy. The movement, the placement — all of it was world class.

Our colleague and former Man City defender Nedum Onuoha mentioned this weekend on BBC Sport that Isak brings reminiscences of Thierry Henry, and I have to tell you, I don’t disagree.

MVP of the weekend: Riccardo Calafiori, Arsenal

There’s an argument for Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattara following his second-half hat-trick in Bournemouth’s 5-0 rout of Nottingham Forest, but my vote goes to the Italian defender who entered the game in the second half to help the Gunners earn three very valuable points.

Calafiori’s winner against Wolves served as inspiration in a game that saw Arsenal had to fight hard with 10 men after Myles Lewis-Skelly’s red card due to “serious foul play,” but it also delivered the most important takeaway: Calafiori’s goal keeps Arsenal’s title hopes alive. — Echegaray

Top takeaway: Real Madrid have daylight at the top of LaLiga

There has been heat on Real Madrid this season — at times fairly, as they have failed to deliver in big games — yet this weekend saw them open up a four-point lead at the top of LaLiga. Carlo Ancelotti’s side took full advantage of second-placed Atlético Madrid being held to a 1-1 draw by Villarreal as they dispatched Real Valladolid with little fuss, Kylian Mbappé netting three in a routine 3-0 win.

Ancelotti points out there is still a long way to go (17 games, to be exact) but it’s going to be tough for the chasing pack to catch Madrid given this is supposedly them out of form. Their latest win came without Vinícius Júnior, too, who was suspended, but with Mbappé in increasingly devastating form. At the moment, despite injuries in defence and doubts about a Toni Kroos-less midfielder, that is enough.

Atlético, though, will be kicking themselves. After winning eight games in a row to climb to the top of the table, they are now without a win in two. The pending Madrid derby on Feb. 8 at the Bernabéu is not quite make-or-break, but it looks like a game Diego Simeone’s side can afford to lose in the scheme of the title race.

Best match: Barcelona thrash Valencia

Barça showed they cannot be written out of the race yet, however, with a sensational first-half display against Valencia on Sunday. They scored five goals in the opening 45 minutes on their way to a 7-1 win that keeps them within seven points of Madrid.

Raphinha and Lamine Yamal were once again good, but coach Hansi Flick will have been happy with the performances from Fermín López and Frenkie de Jong, two players who have struggled for minutes this season. Fermín, in particular, was impressive, scoring twice and creating two more goals.

Best goal: Loïc Badé, Sevilla vs. Espanyol

Badé was the goodie this weekend as he rescued a point for Sevilla against Espanyol with a brilliant curling effort from 25 yards. What made the defender’s goal even more memorable was that it came after he’d just had a goal cruelly ruled out and had been battling back days of transfer links to Aston Villa. He celebrated by sliding into the corner and kissing the Sevilla badge.

MVP of the weekend: Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid

The Frenchman says he has finally adapted to his new surroundings following his summer move from Paris Saint-Germain and the evidence backs him up. He netted a hat trick in the win over Valladolid, his first for Madrid, and he has now scored eight times in his past five appearances in all competitions.

His first two finishes were typical Mbappé, shaping in from the left and finishing with the inside of his right foot. His third came late on from the penalty spot, and was his 15th in LaLiga this season. He is now just two behind the league’s top scorer, Robert Lewandowski. — Marsden

Top takeaway: No win for Dortmund under caretaker manager Tullberg

Dortmund assigned Mike Tullberg, usually the Under-19s head coach, to manage the team against Werder Bremen following Nuri Şahin’s dismissal last Wednesday. The 39-year-old Dane demanded the same kind of grit and hardnosed mentality he himself showed as a player. “I always slogged away ad nauseam, was never the best on the ball. It was all willpower in my case,” Tullberg said before the game.

While we have witnessed the caretaker manager bump time and time again, with teams generally looking reenergized after a change in the dugout, it did not work out quite like that for Dortmund. In front of a passionate and nervous crowd inside Signal Iduna Park, the similarities to previous outings were striking, with Dortmund having loads of ball possession while looking vulnerable against counterattacks. One fast-paced attack by Bremen caused Nico Schlotterbeck to attempt an unwise last-man tackle, the veteran defender getting a red card barely 20 minutes in.

Fascinatingly, Dortmund did not change their strategy much despite being one man down, scoring twice before making familiar errors that ultimately cost them two points. Bremen staged a comeback thanks to Leonardo Bittencourt and Dortmund native Marvin Ducksch, as both teams played to a draw.

Surely, Dortmund’s courageous display following Schlotterbeck’s dismissal can create hope that there is life in this team. But mentality and willpower are not enough if the Schwarzgelben commit a number of mistakes in almost every game. Whoever is hired as Şahin’s successor will have their hands full.

Best match: RB Leipzig 2, Bayer Leverkusen 2

The most high-profile game of the matchday was the clash between fifth-placed RB Leipzig and second-placed Bayer Leverkusen. Even though Leipzig were coming off their first win in the UEFA Champions League this season and should have felt confident, they were barely able to contain Leverkusen’s transcendent playmaker Florian Wirtz during the first half. The Leverkusen playmaker scored the first goal after a beautiful dribble and he set up Aleix García to score the 2-0, which marked García’s maiden goal for Leverkusen. However, Leipzig fought their way back into the game and were able to snatch points away from Leverkusen.

Interestingly, the match had almost the identical dynamic as their encounter on matchday two, when Leipzig beat Leverkusen 3-2 to end the unbeaten streak for Xabi Alonso & Co. in exciting fashion.

Best goal: Leonardo Bittencourt, Werder Bremen vs. Dortmund

As mentioned above, Bremen managed to get back into the game at Signal Iduna Park despite being down 2-0 at the hour mark. In the lead-up to Bremen’s first goal, Julian Ryerson headed the ball in front of Miloš Veljković from a high cross, with Veljković immediately passing it on to Bittencourt, whose shot from 23 yards out hit the top left corner of the goal. The Bundesliga measured the speed of Bittencourt’s strike at 62 mph.

MVP of the weekend: Florian Wirtz

While Wirtz was unable to secure the win for Leverkusen at Leipzig, he once again stole the show. He could be awarded the MVP laurels this weekend for the way he fooled both Willi Orbán and Arthur Vermeeren before scoring the go-ahead goal alone. — Eckner

What else you missed this weekend

AC Milan, Pulisic, Musah deliver in fantastic comeback win

On Sunday, new arrival Kyle Walker watched in the stands as AC Milan and American duo Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah produced a wonderful comeback to beat Parma 3-2 at the San Siro. Parma led twice thanks to Matteo Cancellieri and Enrico Del Prato’s goals, which were sandwiched between Pulisic’s penalty. The visitors seemed as if they were about to do the league double over Milan, but in stoppage time, magic happened.

Tijjani Reijnders received Musah’s ball to make it 2-2, with Samuel Chukwueze earning the winner in the fifth minute of added time. There was a long check for offside but once the goal was confirmed, the stadium erupted. It was a big win for Milan and Sérgio Conceição, as they try to keep up in the battle for European places. — Echegaray

Juve’s invincible dream over

Sticking in Italy, Napoli ended Juventus’ unbeaten start to the Serie A season, sparing us what might well have been Europe’s worst invincible campaign. Frank Anguissa and Romelu Lukaku’s second-half goals helped Antonio Conte’s side come from behind to reaffirm their place at the top of the table, after Randal Kolo Muani had given Juve the lead on his debut. Incredibly, considering they are a staggering 16 points off the pace, it was the Old Lady’s first league defeat of the campaign, but they’ve won just eight of their 22 Serie A games, drawing 13, and slumped to fifth following this weekend’s loss. — Marsden

Panic stations at Benfica?

It has not been a great month for Benfica, who suffered their third defeat in four league games with a surprise 3-1 defeat to Casa Pia this weekend. They are now seven points behind leaders Sporting CP. Throw in the midweek 5-4 loss to Barcelona — a game they led 3-1 and 4-2 — in the Champions League and the pressure is on when they travel to Juventus on Wednesday, attempting to book their place in the knockout round of the competition. — Marsden

AS Monaco end weeks of misery

The winter months have not been nice to Monaco. Following their win over Toulouse in early December, Monaco stumbled from one disappointing result to the next … until this week. First, Adi Hütter’s side beat Aston Villa in the UEFA Champions League thanks to a Wilfried Singo header, improving its chances of qualifying for the first knockout round. Then, it beat Rennes 3-2 in a real shootout on Saturday.

Hütter, who recently extended his contract until 2027 despite the recent slump, must feel some relief. With 30 points after 16 matchdays, Monaco had an identical record as last season. But it seemed as if Hütter’s team could not maintain its level of performance this time around. Perhaps the two recent wins mark a turnaround.

Paris Saint-Germain might already be too far ahead in the Ligue 1 standings, but finishing second once again would still count as a success for the Austrian manager. — Eckner