The Euro Preview: Barca in trouble, chaos reigns in Germany
Barcelona stumble midweek, everybody lost in the Bundesliga and Angel Di Maria goes off.
La Liga
It’s “as you were” at the top of the La Liga table this week: the top four all won last weekend. Leaders Real Madrid, who still have two games in hand, kept their one point lead intact by beating Osasuna 3-1 on the road. Barcelona, also away, laid waste to Alaves to the tune of 6-0. Luis Suarez contributed a brace.
But despite their decent league form, not all is well at Camp Nou. Barca were thoroughly dominated in the first leg of their round of 16 Champions League tie by PSG, losing 4-0. Understandably, this is unacceptable in the eyes of Barcelona supporters. Manager Luis Enrique’s seat is now scorching hot, and it seems unlikely he will re-sign with the club after his contract runs out at the end of the current season.
Real Madrid host ninth-place Espanyol on Saturday while 17th-place Leganes travel to Barcelona on Sunday. If Barca fail to collect all three points in what should be a gimme, they may be in the market for a new head coach even sooner. Sevilla — currently two points behind Barcelona — host seventh-place Eibar on Sunday. Fourth-place Atletico Madrid, winners of two straight league games, and unbeaten in their last six, will visit 18th-place Sporting Gijon on Saturday.
Bundesliga
What in seven hells was going on in the Bundesliga last weekend? Frankfurt will count themselves as lucky that they had the weekend off — every other team in the top seven, besides leaders Bayern Munich, lost.
Two matches registered above the rest on the ridiculous meter. RB Leipzig had been Bayern’s most annoying nuisance in their quest for another Bundesliga title. But then Leipzig lost their second consecutive league match on Saturday, getting housed 3-0 by 15th-place Hamburg at home(!). Maybe even worse, Borussia Dortmund lost away to bottom dwellers Darmstadt, 2-1. It was Darmstadt’s third league win of the season.
To round out the nonsense, Hoffenheim lost away to 14th-place Wolfsburg while Hertha Berlin suffered a 2-0 defeat during their visit to 11th-place Schalke. In short, Bayern Munich, unless all of their players get injured at the same time and are out for the rest of the season, pretty much have the championship locked up.
The leaders travel to Hertha Berlin on Saturday. RB Leipzig will visit 10th-place Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday. Third-place Frankfurt are back in action against 17th-place Inglostadt while Borussia Dortmund will try to hold onto fourth place at home against Wolfsburg on Saturday.
Serie A
Leaders Juventus made it five Serie A wins in a row Sunday, beating Cagliari 2-0 on the road thanks to a Gonzalo Higuain brace. Their lead atop the table held at seven points as second-place Roma picked up a 2-0 win at Crotone. Edin Dzeko scored again and is tied with Higuain in league goals scored with 18.
Third-place Napoli made it two wins on the bounce, and briefly took over second place, beating visiting Genoa 2-0 on Friday. They travel to 11th-place Chievo on Sunday. Juve play in the only Friday Serie A match against 18th-place Palermo. The leaders shouldn’t encounter much trouble in extending their league winning streak at home. Roma host ninth-place Torino on Sunday.
Bonus Goal(s)
So these goals didn’t happen during league play, but Angle Di Maria, on his birthday, scored two stunners during PSG’s shellacking of Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday. He opened the scoring in 18th minute with this sweetly struck free kick:
https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/831597176929148928
His second came 10 minutes after the restart. After keeping possession outside the top of the box, Di Maria hit a sublime curler into the top left corner. Unstoppable.
https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/831612772576219136
Next: A scientific ranking of the Champions League round of 16 ties
It was a huge win for PSG, but they have some work to do domestically as they trail red-hot leaders Monaco by three points in the Ligue 1 table.