Starting XI: Anfield sings, Camp Nou pings, Chicharito signs

Starting XI brings you 11 things – from Barcelona to Liverpool and beyond – that you should know about in the world of soccer.

We finally had our first full-slate of worldwide soccer in 2020 this weekend. With the last few leagues that had been on winter break returning, there were storylines from the still-bonkers Bundesliga to a new boss in Barcelona.  Let’s get into it.

The world of soccer is vast. Starting XI brings you 11 things – from this past weekend and the upcoming week, from analysis to the esoteric – that you should know about in the world of soccer.

1. Anfield finally sang it

For months and months there was one song that Liverpool fans wouldn’t sing. As the New York Times’ Rory Smith noted on Boxing Day, they refused to utter the words “We’re going to win the league,” even as the team on the field made it look clearer and clearer.

On Sunday, after Mo Salah’s sensational late insurance goal sealed a 2-0 win over nominal rivals Manchester United, the song finally rang out from the Kop.

https://twitter.com/The_Pesky_Red/status/1218963536484995072?s=20
https://twitter.com/Nick___Collins/status/1218997428344500225?s=20

Sunday’s win gave the Reds an 18-point lead atop the Premier League with a game in hand. Even for fans that haven’t won the top flight in 30 years and feel burned by recent close calls and slips, that is apparently close enough to certain that they could start singing.

After Sunday’s win, FiveThirtyEight put Liverpool’s chances at greater than 99 percent. That’s about as done deal as a statistical model gets.

So what’s left to play for in the Premier League? At this point the only intrigue left is whether Liverpool can produce an unbeaten season, whether they can break Man City’s points record, and what the final margin will be. We all know it, and at least now Liverpool fans aren’t feigning otherwise.

2. A new-look Barcelona comes up with the same old solution

It seems strange to say that the most anticipated match in La Liga was leaders Barcelona getting a visit from 10th place Granada. But the intrigue wasn’t so much in whether Granada could give give Barcelona a scare at Camp Nou, but what Barcelona would look like.

It was the first match for the Blaugrana under new, idealistic manager Quique Setien.

Setien’s Barcelona certainly delivered on their intention to dominate the ball. Barcelona made 1,005 passes (to Granada’s 205) at a 91.6 percent clip. Their 82.6 percent of the possession was historically comparable to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona teams.

In both of his seasons at Real Betis, Setien’s team was third in passing in La Liga, only behind Barcelona and Real Madrid. This is his M.O.

But for the first 45 minutes, the only thing that was actually better was the style. Barcelona had failed to score at home against an overmatched side. I guess you could call it an improvement over the last time the Blaugrana faced Granada, when they trailed 1-0 at the break and lost 2-0 to the recently-promoted side back in the first half of the season.

The salvation came from a familiar source: Lionel Messi. The man who has been saving Barcelona for more than just this season delivered the goal. What the Camp Nou faithful will have been most happy to see was Riqui Puig involved in the buildup to the goal. A highly-regarded La Masia product, Puig got his first minutes of the season as a substitute under Setien and managed to make the kind of impression that will keep him around the 18.

So the Setien Era begins with a win – and something close to the style they were hoping for – but we’ll get a better sense of how it can hold up on Saturday when they travel to take on Valencia at Mestalla.

3. Erling Haaland. That’s it, that’s the tweet.

The kid is good. He might be a goal-scoring Terminator. The 19-year-old striker marked his Borussia Dortmund debut with a substitute hat-trick in a come-from-behind win.

Dortmund still have issues at the back, but we’ll ignore that for now and just leave this here:

4. Gio Reyna. America’s new Dortmund wunderkind.

Of even more interest to U.S. fans in the Dortmund match was the debut of young American Giovanni Reyna.

https://twitter.com/FanSidedSoccer/status/1218565203052433408?s=20

The 17-year-old American is the son of former U.S. men’s national team player Claudio Reyna.

His debut made him the youngest American to play in the Bundesliga, edging out Christian Pulisic, who Reyna has obviously drawn comparisons to for the path he is on. Reyna is full of promise and gives American fans another reason to jump back all aboard the Dortmund hype train.

https://twitter.com/BlackYellow/status/1218581797338058753?s=20

5. The Little Pea has landed

MLS finally landed Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez. And of course it was the LA Galaxy that did it. Mexico’s all-time top goalscorer should be a smash hit despite floating around a bit the last couple seasons. Read more on the move here:

6. MLS – Malort League Soccer

In other MLS signing news, Chicago Fire FC announced the signing of striker Robert Beric over the weekend and did it with him taking a shot of Chicago’s favorite famously bitter (that’s being generous) liquor, Malort. Our Chicago-based staff endorses this message. Make more players drink regional spirits when they join teams.

https://twitter.com/ChicagoFire/status/1218594702850740226?s=20

7. Americans Abroad

In addition to Reyna’s debut, it was a good week all around for USMNT players abroad, highlighted by Tyler Adams putting in a strong shift for Leipzig, Timmy Chandler and Lynden Gooch scoring big goals and 18-year-old Indiana Vassilev making his Premier League debut at Aston Villa. Vassilev, born in Georgia, became the second-youngest American to play in the Premier League.

https://twitter.com/PLinUSA/status/1218585814910660608?s=20

8. Immobile: Unstoppable

Europe’s top scorer isn’t Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo or Robert Lewandowski. It’s Lazio’s Ciro Immobile and he padded his lead with a hat-trick this weekend.

Immobile now has a three-goal lead over Germany’s top scorers Lewandowski and Timo Werner for Europe’s golden boot. He also has Lazio in third place in Serie A, still hanging around in the title race. So why doesn’t he get the worldwide acclaim of those other scorers?

9. Nantes honor Sala

A year on from Emiliano Sala’s tragic disappearance and death, FC Nantes are remembering the Argentine striker with a special Albiceleste kit. The blue-and-white top is reminiscent of the Argentina national team’s famous stripe and all proceeds are going back to Sala’s former clubs in his home country.

https://twitter.com/FCNantes/status/1219555891017502720

10. Coming attractions…

Modern football waits for no one. There are midweek matches already underway in the Premier League, Copa del Rey and beyond on Tuesday. Barcelona go away to Ibiza on Wednesday (insert joke here) while Real Madrid will be playing on field that looked like this on Tuesday morning:

The early stages of Copa Libertadores are underway on Tuesday night. South America’s champions league is quite possibly the most entertaining competition in the world. While the minnows entering the fray at this stage likely won’t topple giants like defending champions Flamengo, the early rounds are always great for interesting atmospheres and a few golazos.

Also happening this week: MLS clubs are opening camp with CONCACAF Champions League around the corner and there are cup fixtures around the world heaped onto the usual slate.

11. PSG women score 11

The inaugural 11 spot goes to PSG for dropping an 11 spot on Marseille this weekend.

https://twitter.com/PSG_Feminines/status/1218807303731728385

PSG Feminines are currently second in the league table, three points behind league-leaders and world-beaters Lyon. The Parisians’ only loss of the season was a 1-0 defeat to Lyon and they meet again on March 14. Mark your calendars.