play2:15Is Liverpool’s win vs. Inter a statement towards Mo Salah?Craig Burley discusses the impact of Liverpool’s 1-0 win vs. Inter in relation to Mohamed Salah’s situation at the club.
play0:59Fjortoft questions Chelsea’s mentality after fourth winless gameJan Aage Fjortoft says Chelsea are not capable of competing in the Champions League unless they are performing at their best.
play1:31Leboeuf and Burley disagree on Arsenal’s formFrank Leboeuf and Craig Burley debate how well Arsenal are playing after they continued their perfect record in this season’s Champions League.
play0:42Courtois backs Xabi Alonso: ‘We’re with him’Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois defended his coach Xabi Alonso after their loss to Manchester City.
play0:51Klinsmann calls Bayern goalscorer Karl a ‘super special talent’Jurgen Klinsmann shares how impressed he’s been with young Bayern star Lennart Karl, after the 17-year-old scored in their win over Sporting.
Q3. Arsenal are the only perfect team in this competition, but is that down to them being in the best of Europe or a weaker draw of games than most?
Is Liverpool’s win vs. Inter a statement towards Mo Salah?Craig Burley discusses the impact of Liverpool’s 1-0 win vs. Inter in relation to Mohamed Salah’s situation at the club.
Craig Burley discusses the impact of Liverpool’s 1-0 win vs. Inter in relation to Mohamed Salah’s situation at the club.
Fjortoft questions Chelsea’s mentality after fourth winless gameJan Aage Fjortoft says Chelsea are not capable of competing in the Champions League unless they are performing at their best.
Jan Aage Fjortoft says Chelsea are not capable of competing in the Champions League unless they are performing at their best.
Leboeuf and Burley disagree on Arsenal’s formFrank Leboeuf and Craig Burley debate how well Arsenal are playing after they continued their perfect record in this season’s Champions League.
Frank Leboeuf and Craig Burley debate how well Arsenal are playing after they continued their perfect record in this season’s Champions League.
Courtois backs Xabi Alonso: ‘We’re with him’Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois defended his coach Xabi Alonso after their loss to Manchester City.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois defended his coach Xabi Alonso after their loss to Manchester City.
Klinsmann calls Bayern goalscorer Karl a ‘super special talent’Jurgen Klinsmann shares how impressed he’s been with young Bayern star Lennart Karl, after the 17-year-old scored in their win over Sporting.
Jurgen Klinsmann shares how impressed he’s been with young Bayern star Lennart Karl, after the 17-year-old scored in their win over Sporting.
With just two matchdays left to go in the league phase, the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League campaign is certainly ramping up!
Arsenal remains perfect, but there are cracks starting to form elsewhere. Real Madrid stumbled to another loss, this time to Manchester City at the Bernabéu, while Liverpool offered a look at what life might be like without Mohamed Salah.
Read on as ESPN experts Mark Ogden, Sam Tighe, Julien Laurens and Gab Marcotti offer their thoughts on Matchday 6.
– Man City’s win casts more doubt on Xabi Alonso’s future at Real Madrid – Lindop: Liverpool earns Slot much-needed win amid Salah saga – VAR Review: Why was Ibrahima Konaté’s Liverpool goal ruled out?
Marcotti: Maybe I’m just a fanboy, but I think there’s a way back for Salah and I think he will come back … at some point. He’s on big money, he has just over 18 months left on his contract, the sort of clubs that can afford him probably don’t need him, and I don’t think he wants to end his Liverpool career like this.
So, I’m looking at Tuesday’s formation with the midfield diamond, and asking whether it fits Liverpool’s squad. And the reality, I think, is that it does — with some caveats. Hugo Ekitike, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak can all play in a front two, with some tweaks. So can Salah, who did it early in his career (and, arguably, was doing it in Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino years). Federico Chiesa too, while we’re at it. And obviously Florian Wirtz can slot in at No. 10.
Laurens: I liked what I saw on Tuesday night and I thought Liverpool were more balanced, better structured and coherent against Inter. That’s a positive and it shows that the 4-4-2 diamond can work — that’s fine. But why is everyone saying that this should be the system going forward?
More than staying focus on the 4-4-2 diamond, I would rather see more tactical flexibility from Slot.
Tighe: Slot finally rolled out the 4-4-2 diamond formation he’s reportedly been itching to play for a while. What stopped him before? Possibly the fact it’s an inherently narrow system which could struggle to find room for very good wingers.
But sans Salah for the night, it was the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl. The XI combined Isak and Ekitiké up front and boasted a busy midfield which, for once, didn’t lack for numbers. The team only got stronger as Slot made substitutions; Wirtz stepped into the No. 10 role and added an extra level of creativity, while Conor Bradley came on at right back and enjoyed the space the narrow shape afforded him.
Defensively, it flattened out into a fairly standard 4-4-2 shape, with the strikers moving wide to track the opposing wide players’ runs. That looked a bit awkward at points, as did the sheer amount of covering the Reds’ players had to do in the channels outside of the center backs, but presumably some of this will be ironed out if Slot persists with the shape.
What might also need to be ironed out is if Salah can fit into this, should he patch things up with the club. The way Isak played that right-sided striker role — running the channels, playing direct and drifting wide — suggests it could work in practice, even if it looks a bit of an odd fit on paper.
Ogden: The Inter game was a window into Liverpool’s next 4-6 weeks and maybe even beyond, not only because they had to find a way to play without Salah, but also Gakpo — who is often over-looked and under-appreciated — due to an injury that is likely to keep him sidelined until January.
But Wirtz looked good against Inter when he came on late in the game, so maybe he is finding his feet. Ultimately, though, no matter how much they improve up front, Liverpool’s defensive issues are still there and remain a major concern.
Laurens: For me, we have six of the eight teams already, either due to how many points they currently have or who their remaining fixtures are against: Arsenal, Bayern, PSG, Man City for where they stand right now and Atalanta and Barcelona for who they face next will finish in the top eight.
Tighe: It’s very possible that if you don’t have 12 points as of right now, your top eight chances have already turned to dust. Incredibly, that puts Barcelona squarely in the crosshairs. They’re on 10 points, and to illustrate how unimpressive that is, there was a point in time on Wednesday when Qarabag were level with them as they were leading against Ajax Amsterdam.
Those losses to PSG and Chelsea were understandable, but the 3-3 draw against Club Brugge might be the moment Barça’s campaign began hurtling towards the playoffs — and with it, extreme jeopardy.
Their remaining two fixtures are Slavia Prague and F.C. København. They should win both easily, but that won’t be enough on its own. The Blaugrana need several teams above them to drop points over the final two matchdays.
Fjortoft questions Chelsea’s mentality after fourth winless game
Newcastle United are also looking shaky for the top eight. Even if they PSV Eindhoven at St James’ Park next time out, they may need to get a result away to PSG on matchday 8 to avoid being dropped into the playoff round.
Marcotti: No, they’re the best team in Europe right now. Whether that will still be the case in the spring I have no idea, but for now they’ve looked really good. I don’t really get this “weak draw” argument either. They haven’t even played Kairat Almaty yet. They haven’t always played great, sure, and sometimes they’ve faced teams in crisis (like Brugge) but they also had a bunch of regulars out. And they beat Bayern. So please, leave this weak draw nonsense out.
Laurens: They are the best team in Europe, and they have been impressive so far with their perfect record of six wins in six and +16 goal difference. They dominated Bayern Munich and dismantled Atlético Madrid. Inter Milan away at San Siro in January in Matchday 7 will be a test but, right now, no one can argue over how good they have been.
So Arsenal have had it easier, but they have been impressive nonetheless and displayed a ruthlessness that others have not. But the big question is whether they can win when it really matters; this season in the Premier League their one weakness has been failing to beat their big rivals.
Other than Vinícius Júnior, possibly, the players seem to be on Alonso’s side and I’m not sure Madrid president Florentino Pérez has the appetite for a change to appease the players.
If you’re asking whether he can get this team to click and gel and do something important, that’s another matter. It’s just not well put together, they’re a set of individuals and they’re playing like it. And that’s not what a system coach like Alonso gets paid to do.
Laurens: Real Madrid have won two of their last eight games in all competitions. Two! That is not acceptable. Yes, Alonso has a lot of injuries. Yes, he has only been in job since June. Yes, he is a club legend with the credit that comes with it. Yes, he wants to change how the team plays and its mindset. All of this is good.
But yes, he is struggling to implement his ideas. Yes, half of his dressing room is unhappy with his methods. Yes, the pressure is massive on him. And the biggest yes of all, his demanding and rigorous style doesn’t suit this squad and is not welcomed by the main players. The only way he can sort this mess is if changes his philosophy and alters his tactical rigidity and demands. If you know Alonso, you know he won’t do that. He won’t change his principles.