This was a weekend of big scorelines in Europe, where the headlines have been stolen by Liverpool’s seven unanswered goals against Manchester United. Beyond that, we also have a 6-1 from Spain, as well as a monstrous result from the Netherlands that nothing can prepare you for.
By Neel Shelat
đŽó §ó ąó „ó źó §ó ż England: Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United
Manchester United reached perhaps the highest point of the season last weekend when they lifted the Carabao Cup, but they slumped to a historic low exactly seven days later.
Given Liverpoolâs inconsistent form throughout this season, the Red Devils might have felt that they were in with a pretty good chance of beating their rivals at Anfield for the first time in over six years, but they were in for a big surprise.
To be fair, the visitors just about looked the more threatening side in the first half and even put the ball in the back of the net close to half-time (after which the flag instantly went up for offside), but just a minute later, they conceded to Cody Gakpo to trail into the break. On the other side of it, they conceded twice in the space of five minutes to Darwin NĂșñez and Gakpo again, seemingly losing the fixture right there.
But then, they crumbled.
Mohamed Salah made it four in the 66th minute after yet another counterattack, before NĂșñez got number five and started to make the scoreline look a little ugly. Salahâs second (which made him Liverpoolâs all-time top-scorer in the Premier League) and the departing Roberto Firminoâs late strike took it up to seven, inflicting upon Manchester United the worst Premier League defeat in their history to end a 12-match unbeaten run.
Clearly, this is an utterly humiliating result, but United cannot afford to dwell on it as they are in action in midweek for a Europa League Round of 16 tie against Real Betis. Liverpool, on the other hand, will hope that this marks their return to form as they still seek to salvage a top four finish from an otherwise disappointing campaign.
đ«đ· France: Lens 1-1 Lille
The Derby du Nord is one of the fiercest rivalries in French football, so it was unsurprisingly the headline fixture of this weekend. In addition to local bragging rights, a lot rode on this fixture in terms of the race for Europe.
The two northern rivals were separated by six points heading into the match and were both involved in slightly different aspects of the battle for continental qualification. Lens started in third, so they sought to hold on to the spot that would place them in the last round of the Champions League qualifiers, whereas Lille started in sixth and looked to break into the top five for Europa Conference League action at least.
Lens were also seeking to arrest a slump in form that left them with just one win in eight matches heading into this one, a run which saw them go from close proximity to PSG to the risk of dropping out of the top three. Lille, on the other hand, had endured a bit of a poor start to the season but were on the up since the post-World Cup resumption of French football, losing just two matches since.Â
Fittingly, therefore, it was Lens who drew first blood close to half-time when José Fonte diverted a free-kick delivery into his own net. The visitors got a deserved equaliser in the 69th minute through Jonathan David, who became their joint top-scorer in the 21st century alongside a certain Eden Hazard.
Both teams might be left a little disappointed with that result because it drops Lens out of the top three, while Lille failed to take advantage of Rennesâ weekend defeat. There is a long way to go yet, though, so the European battle in Ligue should be quite exciting.
đȘđž Spain: AtlĂ©tico Madrid 6-1 Sevilla
After honouring their relationship with Athletic Club in their previous home match, Atlético Madrid were celebrating Diego Simeone at the Wanda Metropolitano this weekend.
The reason behind that is the fact that the Argentinean was preparing to take charge of his 613th match for the club, surpassing the record of 612 held by Luis Aragonés. This came just a week after he broke the record of most LaLiga matches in the dugout of a single club, with his 425th being the Madrid derby.
The spoils were shared in that game as it ended 1-1, but this time, the AtlĂ©ti players ensured that their manager had even more reason to celebrate. In fact, they put up their biggest victory of the season in a 6-1 demolition of Sevilla, with goals from January arrival Memphis Depay, Antoine Griezmann, Yannick Carrasco and Ălvaro Morata.
This will be an extra-memorable night for Griezmann too, as he scored his 150th goal for the club to close in further on AragonĂ©sâ record tally of 172.
Visitors Sevilla will be keen to forget all of this quickly, as they find themselves languishing in 17th place and only remaining above the relegation zone on goal difference five months on from Jorge Sampaoliâs reappointment as coach.
đ©đȘ Germany: Bochum 0-2 Schalke
The Bundesligaâs title race has been drawing a fair bit of attention as there are teams level on points at the top of the table, but the relegation battle is somehow even closer.
There was a big six-pointer this week between the bottom two, Bochum and Schalke. Three points separated the sides as Thomas Reis returned to the Ruhrstadion with a big chance to get one over on his former employers.
The hosts had a few presentable chances early on, but they went into the half-time break with a deficit after a howler from Manuel Riemann that led to him pushing the ball into his own net while attempting to dive backwards and claim it as it stood dangerously close to the goal line.
A well-worked corner that allowed Marius BĂŒlter to make it 2-0 in the 79th minute sealed the result, taking Schalke above Bochum on goal difference. Elsewhere, losses for Hoffenheim and Stuttgart left the Bundesligaâs bottom four level on points, meaning that goal difference is the only thing separating absolute safety from the bottom spot at the moment.
Hertha Berlin are only a point above them, so we should be in for a very exciting five-team relegation scrap in Germany this season.
đźđč Italy: Roma 1-0 Juventus
The last Serie A match of the weekend saw Roma take on Juventus in a potentially pivotal fixture for both sidesâ European aspirations.
Roma had the chance to break into the top four again after Milanâs loss to Fiorentina, whereas Juventus were scrambling to enter the top six after their big points deduction. They started seven points adrift of Atalanta, so they are very much in with a chance of still salvaging a continental spot via the league.
As one might expect from a match between two teams that very much prioritise defence first, this was far from an exciting match. Half-decent chances were few and far between, so it was always going to take something special to break the deadlock. That came from Gianluca Mancini in the 57th minute when he scored his first goal of the Serie A season with a drive from outside the box to the far corner.
Perhaps the most notable moment of the game besides the goal was Moise Keanâs cameo. About 40 seconds after being sent on at the end of normal time, the Italian striker kicked out at a defender who fouled him by holding him back, leading to a straight red card.
That led to the end of Juventusâ seven-match unbeaten run, keeping them down in eighth place.
đłđ± Netherlands: PEC Zwolle 13-0 Den Bosch
We have given Dutch football a fair bit of coverage in our columns of late due to the very close title race in the Eredivisie, but this week, it is time to drop down to the second tier.
Eerste Divisie leaders PEC Zwolle, managed by Dick Schreuder (whose brother Alfred was recently sacked by Ajax) hosted FC Den Bosch on Friday night as they sought to preserve their lead having lost the last two matches. It is safe to say that they got back to winning ways in some style, recording the biggest-ever win in the leagueâs history and tying with Ajaxâs 13-0 win over VVV Venlo in 2020 for the biggest-ever win in Dutch league football.
Among the goals were Greek striker Apostolos Vellios who scored four, ex-Werder Bremen man Lennart Thy who bagged a hat-trick off the bench and five others. Obviously, it was an absolutely disastrous day at the office for visiting goalkeeper Konrad Sikking, who let in 13 of the 15 shots he faced to earn the lowest-ever player rating in FotMobâs history.
Looking at things from a broader context, this win puts PEC Zwolle in a commanding position in their quest for promotion as they have an 11-point buffer to the play-off spots with as many matches left to play. Den Bosch, meanwhile, will be glad that promotion and relegation between the Eerste Divisie and Tweede Divisie does not resume until next season as a result of the pandemic since they are currently third from bottom.
Cover Image from IMAGO