Gabriele MarcottiOct 27, 2025, 08:14 AM ETCloseGabriele Marcotti is a senior soccer writer for ESPN.com. Read his archive here and follow him on Twitter: @Marcotti.Follow on X
play1:35Moreno: Real Madrid played their best 45 minutes under AlonsoAle Moreno discusses Real Madrid’s performance against Barcelona that give Xabi Alonso his first El Clasico win in LaLiga.
play1:37Moreno: Yamal ran his mouth before El Clásico and didn’t performESPN’s Alejandro Moreno believes Lamine Yamal’s El Clásico performance didn’t match his pre-match words.
play2:19How can Arne Slot fix Liverpool’s Premier League form?Gabriele Marcotti and Stewart Robson discuss how Arne Slot can turn around Liverpool’s bad form after another defeat in the Premier League.
play0:46Is 17-year-old Lennart Karl Bayern Munich’s next superstar?Shaka Hislop reacts to Lennart Karl’s goal in Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga.
play0:59Nicol: Arsenal have the consistency to win the Premier LeagueSteve Nicol analyses whether Arsenal are the favourites to win the Premier League after their victory over Palace to be top the table.
play1:37Michallik: Chelsea were chaotic in loss vs. SunderlandJanusz Michallik reacts to Chelsea’s 2-1 loss to Sunderland in the Premier League.
play1:38Has Ruben Amorim proved the doubters wrong?Gabriele Marcotti and Stewart Robson react to Manchester United’s 4-2 victory over Brighton and debate if Ruben Amorim has proved the doubters wrong.
play1:12Is Pep’s playing ‘philosophy’ the problem at Man City?Steve Nicol discusses why Pep Guardiola’s playing tactics might be the problem at Manchester City after loosing to Aston Villa.
Do Barcelona need to do more to protect Lamine Yamal? (2:14)Gabriele Marcotti and Stewart Robson debate if Lamine Yamal lacks protection from his Barcelona teammates after a dramatic El Clásico defeat to Real Madrid. (2:14)
Moreno: Real Madrid played their best 45 minutes under AlonsoAle Moreno discusses Real Madrid’s performance against Barcelona that give Xabi Alonso his first El Clasico win in LaLiga.
Ale Moreno discusses Real Madrid’s performance against Barcelona that give Xabi Alonso his first El Clasico win in LaLiga.
Moreno: Yamal ran his mouth before El Clásico and didn’t performESPN’s Alejandro Moreno believes Lamine Yamal’s El Clásico performance didn’t match his pre-match words.
ESPN’s Alejandro Moreno believes Lamine Yamal’s El Clásico performance didn’t match his pre-match words.
How can Arne Slot fix Liverpool’s Premier League form?Gabriele Marcotti and Stewart Robson discuss how Arne Slot can turn around Liverpool’s bad form after another defeat in the Premier League.
Gabriele Marcotti and Stewart Robson discuss how Arne Slot can turn around Liverpool’s bad form after another defeat in the Premier League.
Is 17-year-old Lennart Karl Bayern Munich’s next superstar?Shaka Hislop reacts to Lennart Karl’s goal in Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga.
Shaka Hislop reacts to Lennart Karl’s goal in Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga.
Nicol: Arsenal have the consistency to win the Premier LeagueSteve Nicol analyses whether Arsenal are the favourites to win the Premier League after their victory over Palace to be top the table.
Steve Nicol analyses whether Arsenal are the favourites to win the Premier League after their victory over Palace to be top the table.
Michallik: Chelsea were chaotic in loss vs. SunderlandJanusz Michallik reacts to Chelsea’s 2-1 loss to Sunderland in the Premier League.
Has Ruben Amorim proved the doubters wrong?Gabriele Marcotti and Stewart Robson react to Manchester United’s 4-2 victory over Brighton and debate if Ruben Amorim has proved the doubters wrong.
Gabriele Marcotti and Stewart Robson react to Manchester United’s 4-2 victory over Brighton and debate if Ruben Amorim has proved the doubters wrong.
Is Pep’s playing ‘philosophy’ the problem at Man City?Steve Nicol discusses why Pep Guardiola’s playing tactics might be the problem at Manchester City after loosing to Aston Villa.
Steve Nicol discusses why Pep Guardiola’s playing tactics might be the problem at Manchester City after loosing to Aston Villa.
A statement Clasico win for Real Madrid as Lamine Yamal vs. Vinícius offers spicy sub-text
Arne Slot is brutally honest as Liverpool lose four league games on the bounce
Inter can blame themselves, rather than the penalty call, for 3-1 defeat at Napoli
Sunday’s Clasico ended with police pitch-side averting a potential tag team blockbuster: Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Jr. on one side, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha on the other. It had shades of the Jose Mourinho vs. Pep Guardiola Clasico clashes — though let’s face it, those were far nastier — even though Real manager Xabi Alonso (who was a loyal Mourinho foot-soldier back in those days) was quick to minimize matters at the end, calling it a “healthy rivalry.”
Moreno: Real Madrid played their best 45 minutes under Alonso
As for the discipline part, there’s only so much Flick can say since he himself was watching from up in the stands, having lost his composure and getting sent off in their last outing. But really it starts from the top. Sending an 18-year-old Yamal out on the eve of a Clasico to tell Ibai Llanos that Real Madrid “steal and then complain” is just irresponsible. That’s simply a lack of leadership form the higher echelons of the club, even if they believe it’s true.
I’m not saying you can’t ever say things like that, whether to gain a psychological edge or unsettle the opposition or simply air legitimate grievances. But there’s a way to do it, there’s a time to do it and there’s the right messenger to deliver it. It’s not a message a teenager should be delivering on the eve of the biggest game of the season — let alone one who isn’t fully fit and who is carrying far more weight on his shoulders than he should be.
Moreno: Yamal ran his mouth before El Clásico and didn’t perform
For Flick, on the other hand, it’s going to raise the question of whether Yamal needs to be dialed back. And the problem with doing that is that right now he needs him, even when he’s only half-fit.
You can work on defensive solidity and here, it’s pretty binary. There are no viable centerbacks other than Konate and Van Dijk: they’re part of the problem, they need to flick a switch and become part of the solution. Van Dijk himself said they “need to look in the mirror,” and he’s right.
But if all Slot can really do is wait for his guys to sort themselves out in central defence, elsewhere there is plenty of scope for him to fix things. The middle of the park is unrecognisable, and Ryan Gravenberch’s absence doesn’t help. Newcomers Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz haven’t yet lived up to the billing (or the fees), and while Mohamed Salah scored a peach of a goal in garbage time, this season he’s only shown glimpses while last year he was carrying the side offensively.
How can Arne Slot fix Liverpool’s Premier League form?
Against Eintracht, Wirtz was on the right side off the ball, offering cover to the fullback and with enough autonomy to shade inside and create when in possession. The midfield duo offered cover to the back four and with two guys up front, you can still press, though obviously the triggers and patterns are going to be different.
You can choose your front two from Salah (given the amount of defending he does wide, you may as well relieve him of those duties), Isak and Hugo Ekitike. Both have experience in a front two: Isak with Sweden, Ekitike with Eintracht last season. Changing things up at this stage of the season isn’t ideal because you don’t have the training time, but because of how the window went — and the injuries they’ve suffered — they haven’t had much time training the 4-2-3-1 either.
Coaches are always balancing short-term and long-term gains. You can keep building for the 4-2-3-1 you like and hope the chemistry will develop. But do it for too long, and you’ll be so far behind you risk fighting for a Europa Conference League spot.
Let’s be clear. The penalty Kevin De Bruyne converted (and that saw him pull a hamstring in the process) after half an hour was absurd. Reportedly, the Italian referees association agrees, which is why referee Maurizio Mariani is likely to be suspended.
The logical thing for the referee to do here given the situation was to ask for an on-field review — something he’s entitled to ask for, but that very rarely happens because it amounts to admitting you’re not sure. And refs don’t like to that.
A bad call, however, doesn’t explain what happened to Inter, who started brightly and should have taken the lead via Lautaro Martínez, only to wilt after the penalty. Scott McTominay’s long-range strike early in the second half only made things worse and despite Hakan Calhanoglou pulling a goal back from the spot, they never got into the game and André-Frank Zambo-Anguissa’s strike fixed the final score at 3-1.
That’s what Inter lacked, along with decent defending from Francesco Acerbi and Manuel Akanji — the sort of determination to get punched in the face and fight back. You know, the kind of drive Napoli — who got spanked 6-2 by PSV in midweek — showed. Sure it’s easier to sit, defend and be solid after someone gifts you a penalty. But lest we forget, Napoli had David Neres up front as a makeshift forward, no Stanislav Lobotka in midfield and, after half an hour, no De Bruyne either.
Inter are, by some distance, the best team in Serie A, but it’s Napoli who go top, alongside Roma. If Chivu’s crew are going to win it, they need to kick it up several notches.
Is 17-year-old Lennart Karl Bayern Munich’s next superstar?
That makes it 13 wins in all competitions for Bayern to start a season, matching the record for a Big Five club set by Milan back in 1992-93 and, as I wrote last week, it’s remarkable when you consider what the mood was like at the close of the transfer window.
What’s the upshot? Their top-notch defending keeps them in games and the set-pieces allow them to score goals others might not. That translates into points even when they’re not playing particularly well, as was the case against Palace. Can they kick it up a notch? Probably, when Bukayo Saka gets back to his 2024-25 levels and when Martin Odegaard (and Kai Havertz) return to fitness. Until then, they will ride the back four and dead balls as far as they will take them.