Gabriele MarcottiDec 1, 2025, 08:28 AM ETCloseGabriele Marcotti is a senior soccer writer for ESPN.com. Read his archive here and follow him on Twitter: @Marcotti.Follow on X
play1:11Should Arsenal have created more against 10-man Chelsea?Janusz Michalik and Sam Tighe reflect on Arsenal’s ‘disappointing’ 1-1 draw away to Chelsea at Stamford bridge.
play1:43Garcia: Real Madrid wasted the first halfLuis Garcia reacts to Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw away to Girona as they fail to go top of LaLiga.
play0:55Kilnsmann: Leverkusen will be upset with themselves for Dortmund defeatJürgen Kilnsmann reacts to Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.
play1:17Luis Garcia left wanting more from Barcelona after win over AlavesLuis Garcia says he expected a stronger response from Barcelona after their 3-0 loss to Chelsea than they showed in the win vs. Alaves.
play1:52Why Slot was right to bench Salah in Liverpool’s win vs. West HamJanusz Michalik praises Arne Slot’s team selection as Mo Salah drops to the bench for victory vs. West Ham
play1:46Can Phil Foden reach Kevin De Bruyne’s level at Manchester City?Janusz Michallik discusses Phil Foden’s performance and place in the Manchester City team after scoring twice in their win over Leeds.
play2:21Could Manchester United finish in the top four?Janusz Michallik assesses Manchester United’s hopes for European football after their 2-1 win against Crystal Palace.
Can Chelsea challenge Arsenal for the title? (1:09)Steve Nicol praises Chelsea’s performance vs. Arsenal despite going down to 10 men. (1:09)
Should Arsenal have created more against 10-man Chelsea?Janusz Michalik and Sam Tighe reflect on Arsenal’s ‘disappointing’ 1-1 draw away to Chelsea at Stamford bridge.
Janusz Michalik and Sam Tighe reflect on Arsenal’s ‘disappointing’ 1-1 draw away to Chelsea at Stamford bridge.
Garcia: Real Madrid wasted the first halfLuis Garcia reacts to Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw away to Girona as they fail to go top of LaLiga.
Kilnsmann: Leverkusen will be upset with themselves for Dortmund defeatJürgen Kilnsmann reacts to Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.
Luis Garcia left wanting more from Barcelona after win over AlavesLuis Garcia says he expected a stronger response from Barcelona after their 3-0 loss to Chelsea than they showed in the win vs. Alaves.
Luis Garcia says he expected a stronger response from Barcelona after their 3-0 loss to Chelsea than they showed in the win vs. Alaves.
Why Slot was right to bench Salah in Liverpool’s win vs. West HamJanusz Michalik praises Arne Slot’s team selection as Mo Salah drops to the bench for victory vs. West Ham
Janusz Michalik praises Arne Slot’s team selection as Mo Salah drops to the bench for victory vs. West Ham
Can Phil Foden reach Kevin De Bruyne’s level at Manchester City?Janusz Michallik discusses Phil Foden’s performance and place in the Manchester City team after scoring twice in their win over Leeds.
Janusz Michallik discusses Phil Foden’s performance and place in the Manchester City team after scoring twice in their win over Leeds.
Could Manchester United finish in the top four?Janusz Michallik assesses Manchester United’s hopes for European football after their 2-1 win against Crystal Palace.
Janusz Michallik assesses Manchester United’s hopes for European football after their 2-1 win against Crystal Palace.
Another head-scratching performance from Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid as they slip to second in LaLiga
Thomas Frank has bigger fish to try at Tottenham than what constitutes a ‘true fan’
Like lovers taking a break and then getting back together, stronger than ever
What a weekend of soccer fun across Europe’s top five leagues! The Premier League’s big game involved two title-chasing London sides and it played out to a fiery, tempestuous 1-1 draw that should leave Chelsea and Arsenal fans happy … even though it won’t. In Spain, Xabi Alonso continues to make heavy work of evolving Real Madrid into his style, as they dropped yet more points in a draw with Girona that slides them out of first place.
We got a classic glass half-full or glass half-empty moment after the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. But unless you’re some kind of Grinch obsessed with only finding negatives — or one of those perpetually unhappy, hyper-competitive types who always wants more — in the cold light of day this was a point gained, not two lost for both Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca.
Sure, Arteta can rue the fact that his team played around an hour with an extra man (following Moisés Caicedo’s first-half red card) and failed to win. But that’s more than balanced out by the fact that he started the game without his first (and second) choice center forward, without his best passing midfielder and without his starting center backs (Gabriel, William Saliba).
The latter especially shouldn’t go unnoticed. Defensive chemistry matters particularly against a movement-heavy transition side like Chelsea, and Piero Hincapié and Christian Mosquera had hardly played together before Sunday.
– Reaction: Chelsea, Arsenal title chase makes for thrilling game – VAR Review: Breaking down Caicedo’s red card
Nor can Arteta be accused of not going for it. Replacing Martín Zubimendi (and not Eberechi Eze) with Martin Odegaard before the hour mark was a sign of intent, a willingness to change the shape to maximise the increased possession Arsenal were enjoying. And, in fact, late in the game, his team nearly nicked it.
Across the way, Maresca can take heart from how his young side performed in a derby that turned physical and old-school straight away. Three yellow cards in the first 13 minutes tell their own story. You don’t get much football in a street fight, and that’s what this felt like.
The Chelsea reaction after the Caicedo red card — not a malicious tackle, but when you mis-time things like that, you will get sent off — is also hugely heartening.
Should Arsenal have created more against 10-man Chelsea?
At 11 vs. 11, we would probably have seen Cole Palmer at some juncture, but turning to the more industrious (some might say industrial) Liam Delap down a man made more sense. So too did replacing Estêvão on a day when — one run aside — things weren’t quite working for him. Chelsea may have gained just a point in the table, but the self-belief and toughness they showed are far more valuable for a young side that is still growing.
I’m talking performance more than result here. Girona aren’t good — they’ve won two of 14 Liga games, they’re in the relegation zone and they have conceded the most goals in the league — and Real Madrid had enough chances to win this outright, settling ultimately for a 1-1 draw. What’s more confounding here were some of the decisions.
Luis Garcia reacts to Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw away to Girona as they fail to go top of LaLiga.
It feels as if Xabi Alonso is still in full-on experimental mode, which isn’t great when you consider that he took over this team in June and had the whole Club World Cup to figure things out. It’s now one win in five in all competitions — and that was away to Olympiacos, when they conceded three times and could easily have dropped points — and now that first place has slipped away in LaLiga, the screws are turning. That’s the joy of coaching Real Madrid.
Booing Guglielmo Vicario for not just hoofing the ball out of play and, in the process, conceding a goal in a defeat at Fulham doesn’t mean you’re not a “true” fan. It just means you don’t have a clear understanding of football and what he was trying to do … which was not give up a set-piece when your defence is unsettled, having just conceded, and perhaps even cueing up a counterattack.
Hislop slams Spurs’ ‘bang average’ players after defeat to Fulham
More of a concern to Frank than whether fans boo Vicario ought to be what he’s doing with the players at his disposal. It feels like the whole season has been on long exercise in trial-and-error: Back threes, back fours. Randal Kolo Muani in, Randal Kolo Muani out. Sometimes we see wingers, sometimes we don’t. Xavi Simons was supposed to be the creative answer, and yet he’s benched for three straight games. Mohamed Kudus looks like a guy who plays by himself.
Injuries matter; of course they do. Ousmane Dembélé (five) and Désiré Doué (seven) have started just twelve games between them. Right now, both fullbacks (Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi) are sidelined. But other clubs have players out too, and you can’t help but wonder if, maybe, some folks are taking Le Championnat for granted to the point that even a wounded side like Monaco — coming off three straight league defeats — can upend them with a bit of good fortune.
Not so fast. Still without Kevin De Bruyne, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Romelu Lukaku, they roared back with three convincing performances (and three wins), none more so perhaps than the 1-0 victory away to Roma Sunday night.
Conte’s 3-4-2-1 formation, with the previously unloved David Neres and Noa Lang behind Rasmus Hojlund, took the game to Roma and kept them on their back foot in the first half. After the break, they managed the game on the counterattack (hey, it’s still Conte) and defended well enough to give up just one shot on target.
As for Roma, they miss their chance to pull away at the top of the table. Manager Gian Piero Gasperini (who wasn’t pitch side because, again, he was suspended) will necessarily be disappointed too, but lest we forget: they are well ahead of the curve (and just a point off the top). Even with their Europa League obligations, even without help from the January market, they remain in the thick of Serie A’s title race.
Credit this one to Luis Diaz, suspended against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek. With Serge Gnabry and Michael Olise on the bench (and Jamal Musiala still out), he conjured up the improbable assist for the equalizer and popped up to make it 2-1. While Bayern did hit the woodwork twice, St Pauli’s formula of defend-and-counter — the visitors had a measly 20% possession after the break — shows it can work, to some degree. Against that, you need your individuals star to shine.