Starting XI: Valencia batter Barca, USWNT begin road to Toyko and more

Starting XI brings you 11 things – from racism in Spain to shirtless commentators in Argentina and much more – that you should know about in the world of soccer.

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. Valencia take advantage of the Quique Setien Experience

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. Barcelona dominated possession, passed and passed and couldn’t come up with anything to show for it. It was part of the problem under Ernesto Valverde and it was a worryingly worse sign in Quique Setien’s first match.

This time though, there was no Lionel Messi magic to deliver salvation and a much better team on the other side of the pitch.

Valencia’s first goal came from a deflection, but the rest of the result was anything but luck. Valencia had a penalty saved and still won 2-0 over the Blaugrana.

Barcelona had 74 percent of the possession, completed 3.5 times the number of passes, but only produced the same quality of chances based on expected goals.

Whatever honeymoon period Setien had is now over.

2. Salute to Celades

A moment of appreciation for what Valencia manager Albert Celades has done in a tough situation.

His predecessor Marcelino was sacked after clashing with club ownership, despite beating Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final last season and qualifying for the Champions League. A slow start to the season gave ownership a pretense to fire Marcelino. Celades took over with limited managerial experience and players openly complaining about the way his predecessor had been let go.

Valencia had four points from three matches when Celades took charge. His first match in charge was a trip to the Camp Nou in which Valencia gave up five goals and lost. They only took two more points from their next two La Liga matches. They were in 13th at that point and were back down to 13th after matchday 12. Since then, Valencia have finished atop their Champions League group and surged up the domestic table. After Saturday’s win Los Che are in seventh place, just two points out of fourth.

Celades deserves praise for his ability to stabilize things at Mestalla.

3. Inaki Williams racially abused at Espanyol

In a much less inspiring story out of Spain, Athletic club’s Inaki Williams was subjected to monkey chants as he left the field against Espanyol.

The match was not stopped, as the referee reportedly didn’t hear the chants and Williams or Athletic didn’t relay it to him. La Liga has said they will seek a partial stadium closure as part of punishment.

Serie A and the Premier League have both had recent high-profile incidents of racism and this weekend’s scene in Barcelona is another sad reminder of how widespread the problem is across the game.

4. Shirtless in South America

And now for a completely absurd palate cleanser from Argentina.

https://twitter.com/FotMob/status/1221737048345849856?s=20

5. Bayern bash Schalke

Robert Lewandowski is not going to let Ciro Immobile walk away with Europe’s Golden Boot. Lewandowski led second-place Bayern Munich to a 5-0 demolition of sixth-place Schalke, scoring once and assisting on another. Lewandowski has 21 goals on the season, putting him atop the Bundesliga scoring charts and pulling him within two of Immobile for the lead across all of Europe.

5.  Top-Five league title race power rankings

1. Bundesliga – Still bonkers, four points separate the top four.
2. La Liga – Real Madrid pull in front of Barcelona for first time since Matchday 8.
3. Serie A – Juve drop points, but Inter can’t fully capitalize and it’s a three-point gap.
4. Ligue 1 – Marseille drop points and PSG’s lead is now 10 points.
5. Premier League – Yawn.

6. No title trot in Turkey

One other title race to keep an eye on is in the Turkish Super Lig, where current league-leaders Sivasspor are mounting Europe’s most surprising run.

The club from Sivas in central Turkey finished 12th last year, has never won the league and are one of the least pedigreed clubs making a title run anywhere this year.

After salvaging a 1-1 draw in the 90th minute on Monday, Sivasspor are four points clear of 19-time champions Fenerbahce atop the table.

Only five clubs have won the Turkish top flight since the Super Lig was formed in 1959, but Sivasspor look to challenge the big clubs’ stranglehold on the title.

7. Atalanta score a touchdown

The seven spot this week goes to Atalanta for scoring seven at Torino. The true highlight though was Josip Ilicic, who scored a hat-trick, catching the Torino goalkeeper out with a quick free kick from the halfway line.

All around not the best weekend for goalkeepers in Italy.

https://twitter.com/FanSidedSoccer/status/1221490496880676865?s=20

8. FA Cup magically marches on

The pass of the weekend came in Leicester City’s FA Cup win over Brentford.

https://twitter.com/LCFC/status/1221056366451838978?s=20

Elsewhere in the Cup, Shrewsbury Town forced a young Liverpool side into a replay, as did Southampton with a late equalizer against Tottenham. Manchester United finally found an opponent they could dominate – third division Tranmere Roveres – and now could face club legend Wayne Rooney in the next round.

https://twitter.com/EmiratesFACup/status/1221878005439574016/photo/1

9. Neymar pays tribute to Kobe

Paris Saint-Germain were playing on Sunday when news of Kobe Bryant’s death broke. When Neymar scored his second goal of the match, he celebrated by looking into the camera and holding up Bryant’s No. 24 with his fingers, then praying and pointing to the sky.

Afterward, Neymar said he had learned the news at halftime.

“This is a time of immense sadness for the world of sport,” Neymar said. “Not just basketball fans. I knew him. This celebration was for him. I hope he rests in peace.”

Bryant was a huge fan of the game and was mourned all around the world of soccer.

10. USWNT Back

The U.S. women’s national team opens up qualifying for the 2020 Olympics on Tuesday. The defending World Cup champions are expected to breeze through group play in CONCACAF qualifying, which has eight teams competing for two spots in Tokyo, but then a do-or-die semifinal awaits. We’ve got a full primer here:

11. Coming attractions

In addition to the USWNT kicking off CONCACAF Olympic qualifying, the U.S. men’s national team face Costa Rica in a friendly on Saturday. Olympic qualifying for the USMNT is still more than a month away, but qualification has been a much more difficult task for the U.S. men, so finding form in these friendlies will be important.

Liverpool face West Ham in the only midweek Premier League match, making up a rescheduled fixture from Liverpool’s Club World Cup trip. Finally, we can stop saying, “Liverpool are XX points ahead with a game in hand,” when discussing the Reds’ historic Premier League campaign.

Next weekend also brings Spurs vs. Man City, aka Mourinho vs. Guardiola in England, a Madrid derby in Spain, and first-place Leipzig vs. third-place Gladbach in Germany.