Gabriele MarcottiMar 9, 2026, 09:07 AM ETCloseGabriele Marcotti is a senior soccer writer for ESPN.com. Read his archive here and follow him on Twitter: @Marcotti.Follow on XMultiple Authors
play2:25Beckford: Eze’s influence on the team is similar to Ronaldinho’sJermaine Beckford discusses Eberechi Eze and Arsenal’s performance in their 2-1 FA Cup win over Mansfield Town.
play1:31Hislop: Dowman plays like he is on a school playgroundShaka Hislop discusses Max Dowman’s performance in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Mansfield Town in the FA Cup.
play1:56Leboeuf compares Lamine Yamal to Pele & Lionel MessiFrank Leboeuf praises Lamine Yamal’s achievements at 18-years-old and compares the Barcelona “megastar” to Pele and Lionel Messi.
play0:46How Port Vale caused FA Cup upset over SunderlandTake a look at the numbers behind League One side Port Vale’s 1-0 win over Sunderland in the FA Cup.
play2:25Why Guardiola won’t miss the Carabao Cup final despite touchline banJulien Laurens reacts to Pep Guardiola’s two-game touchline ban following Man City’s FA Cup win over Newcastle.
Did AC Milan keep the Serie A title race alive with win vs. Inter? (2:22)Gab & Juls discuss the Serie A title race after AC Milan’s 1-0 win over Inter Milan. (2:22)
Beckford: Eze’s influence on the team is similar to Ronaldinho’sJermaine Beckford discusses Eberechi Eze and Arsenal’s performance in their 2-1 FA Cup win over Mansfield Town.
Jermaine Beckford discusses Eberechi Eze and Arsenal’s performance in their 2-1 FA Cup win over Mansfield Town.
Hislop: Dowman plays like he is on a school playgroundShaka Hislop discusses Max Dowman’s performance in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Mansfield Town in the FA Cup.
Shaka Hislop discusses Max Dowman’s performance in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Mansfield Town in the FA Cup.
Leboeuf compares Lamine Yamal to Pele & Lionel MessiFrank Leboeuf praises Lamine Yamal’s achievements at 18-years-old and compares the Barcelona “megastar” to Pele and Lionel Messi.
Frank Leboeuf praises Lamine Yamal’s achievements at 18-years-old and compares the Barcelona “megastar” to Pele and Lionel Messi.
How Port Vale caused FA Cup upset over SunderlandTake a look at the numbers behind League One side Port Vale’s 1-0 win over Sunderland in the FA Cup.
Take a look at the numbers behind League One side Port Vale’s 1-0 win over Sunderland in the FA Cup.
Why Guardiola won’t miss the Carabao Cup final despite touchline banJulien Laurens reacts to Pep Guardiola’s two-game touchline ban following Man City’s FA Cup win over Newcastle.
Julien Laurens reacts to Pep Guardiola’s two-game touchline ban following Man City’s FA Cup win over Newcastle.
Milan win the derby, Serie A’s title race is not over …
Arsenal risk blowing their shot at the quadruple: Was it really necessary?
Lamine Yamal to the rescue, and the comparisons are getting harder to stop
In England’s FA Cup, Arsenal heavily rotated their side ahead of the midweek UEFA Champions League round of 16, and they nearly paid the price in needing to score late and bring on some stars vs. Mansfield Town. In LaLiga, Lamine Yamal again showed why he’s the most likely young star to dominate the game for a generation, leading Barcelona to victory over Athletic Club and extending their lead at the top to four points over rivals Real Madrid.
We also got talking points galore around Juventus (do they really need to offer their manager a contract extension?), Real Madrid (who keep winning unconvincingly), the FA Cup (hail lowly Port Vale!), Chelsea (who spoiled Wrexham’s FA Cup story), and much, much more.
Heading into the game, the numbers were fairly straightforward. An Inter win would have put them 13 points clear with 10 games to go. At that stage, the highly unscientific (but often correct) rule of thumb would apply: When the lead is greater than the number of remaining games and there are no head-to-heads left, the title has pretty much been won, barring divine intervention. With seven points however, nobody should be putting the champagne on ice.
The underlying reality of Milan doesn’t really change. Rafael Leão has had four different coaches with different styles in three years and still hasn’t turned the corner. Luka Modric is 40 years old. Damage limitation seems to be the strategy most games. Other than results — which are critical, of course, but need to be seen in context — it’s hard to tell how they’ve grown and, more importantly, how they will continue to grow going forward.
As for Inter, the absences of Marcus Thuram, Lautaro Martínez and Hakan Calhanoglu weighed heavily. Just 12 months ago, it would have been unthinkable that the club could compete in the derby without that trio, but here we are. That’s a credit to manager Cristian Chivu in his first full season in charge of any club.
Furthermore, Inter’s resilience both in the autumn (bouncing back from the blown treble) and more recently (after the Bodo/Giimt humiliation in the Champions League) shouldn’t be overlooked. Nobody is saying Chivu is the next Pep Guardiola, but it’s fair to say that he surpassed a lot of people’s expectations this season, including my own.
Beckford: Eze’s influence on the team is similar to Ronaldinho’s
That message, whether intentional or not, is: “Hey guys, enjoy running around out there and being put into positions you’ll never actually play in the first team because we’re not actually taking this seriously.” I suspect Arteta himself realized this in the 38th minute, when he sent on defender Piero Hincapié and switched to a back four. (You know, the formation they actually use in practice.)
Hislop: Dowman plays like he is on a school playground
With Barcelona clearly fatigued after their unsuccessful Copa del Rey comeback attempt against Atletico Madrid in midweek and a big Champions League trip to Newcastle coming up, Hansi Flick opted to mix things up, resting Pedri, Fermín López and Raphinha. Guess who didn’t rest? Yamal, the guy who has, in fact, started 14 of Barca’s last 15 games in all competitions.
It was a good thing, too: Away at Bilbao, against an opponent that was also fatigued (they too played in the Copa del Rey, a day later than Barca) in a game that was scrappy, it was none other than Yamal who popped up with a gorgeous goal-of-the-season contender to take the three points. (Give some credit here to halftime sub Pedri, who delivered a delicious assist.) Three big points, as they keep the lead over Real Madrid at four with 11 games to play.
The game had offered relatively little in the way of chances — other than a spectacular attempted backheel from Ferran Torres and some Joan García saves because, you know, high line and all that — but when you have two guys like Pedri and Yamal, sometimes that’s all you need.
Leboeuf compares Lamine Yamal to Pele & Lionel Messi
7. The good news for Paris Saint-Germain is that they won’t be playing Monaco again until next season: PSG played them four times this season and the upshot is one win, one draw and two defeats, including Friday night’s 3-1 loss at the Parc des Princes. Lucky for Luis Enrique that the two games they did not lose against Monaco came in the Champions League, where nonetheless they did not play well, and they had the benefit of playing with an extra man for most of the second half in both games.
As for the game itself, the three points are big because the gap over fifth place remains a hefty eight points. The performance? Well, it was somewhat Dortmund-esque. They took the lead in the first half while conceding more than they should have and, against 10 men (Cologne had a man sent off in first half injury time), took their foot off the gas after going 2-0 up only to have a nervy ending after giving up a goal with two minutes to go. Some habits, evidently, are hard to break.
There were defensive lapses, to be sure, and it’s hard to imagine the Atleti of old conceding so readily after scoring, as happened on Saturday. But knowing you have so many options and so much quality has got to be a boost. Especially since they face Real Madrid just before the international break later this month, and — if they advance past Spurs in the Champions League — they could face Barcelona three times, plus play the Copa del Rey final, all in the space of 11 days.
Why Guardiola won’t miss the Carabao Cup final despite touchline ban
We can debate whether this is a fair reflection of expectations given that Milan never had European football to contend with, wasn’t forced to change managers in the fall (like Juventus), didn’t suffer a biblical scourge of injuries (like Napoli) and added highly paid veteran free agents such as Adrien Rabiot and Luka Modric. What’s not in doubt is that media — note the Allegri to Real Madrid rumors rearing their head again — and (most) fans buy the narrative. One made all the sweeter by the fact they won both derbies in Serie A this season.
I’m OK with rotation and prioritizing competitions, but there are limits. It’s not just that Arsenal were level until 24 minutes from time. Or the fact that they gave up 18 shots — the most since April 2022 — and 1.99 expected goals to a side 60 places beneath them in the football pyramid. Fielding a back three when you normally play a back four sends a message. So does giving two 16-year-olds (defender Marli Salmon and midfielder Max Dowman) their debuts while asking Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke to play as wing backs.
Between this goal and his hat trick last weekend, the hype machine for Yamal is in overdrive. Local media note that Yamal has now scored 50 goals (six for Spain, the rest for Barcelona) as a senior professional, and he’s only 18 years and 237 days old. Lionel Messi hit 50 at 20 years and 315 days, Cristiano Ronaldo at 21 years and 297 days. It feels unhelpful to make comparisons, but you can blame Yamal for that: That’s the magnitude of what he’s achieving so far. You only hope his body allows him to continue.
Amid all this, there’s talk of Spalletti getting a new deal, though I don’t see what the rush is. He has a contract through the end of the season, which automatically renews for another two years if Juve qualify for the Champions League. Sure, he has done a great job, and there’s no doubt his people would argue that Juve may want to keep him even if they don’t finish among the top four. Plus, a show of faith would strengthen his position. But Juve would be wise to remember why they gave him that conditional contract in the first place. The basic reality: Spalletti is very expensive, and if they don’t qualify for Europe and get that additional revenue, he might be a luxury they can’t afford. Cross that bridge when you get to it.