Rennes crush PSG again, Arsenal go away
Published:
A second defeat for PSG on Sunday and Ligue 1 restarts. Arsenal are walking on water in the Premier League and away from their chaser Manchester City. In Spain, Real Sociedad had a good weekend. The Serie A leader is kept on the handkerchief. Finally, the championship in Germany is still on winter break.
PSG drops again and revives the tension
Unbeaten between August and December, PSG blame the 2023 strike. The Ligue 1 leader fell again at Rennes (0-1) on Sunday, January 15, reviving the tension at the top of the championship. Rennes, a true pet of Paris in recent seasons, won thanks to their captain Hamari Traoré. The entry of Kylian Mbappe, who returned from the holiday after the World Cup, did not change anything.
The Parisians’ dominance continues to melt away with this second defeat by Lens, who returned to three points thanks to a 1-0 win over Dolphin Auxerre. At the bottom of the podium, OM won against Lorient and moved five points behind the Parisians. “The teams behind do not give up. We must not start losing too many points because otherwise we will have problems,” Paris captain Marquinhos said on Amazon Prime.
Other chasers are reviving the intense race for European places. AS Monaco and Rennes, who were impressive against Ajaccio (7-1) on Sunday, are just five points off the podium. “Lille”, which was extremely effective against “Troyes” (5-1), is not far away.
That’s why Neymar and Lionel Messi’s PSG are the only leading cador to lower their flag this weekend, an anomaly handed down a month after their Champions League round of 16 first leg against Bayern.
Regrouping in the pack of contenders for the Champions League
Six clubs in the pocket but only three places in the Champions League, runaway Napoli and big favorites for the scudetto after their display against the Bianconeri (5-1). In the 18th round of the Italian Serie A, a general consolidation was observed at the top of the tournament table.
Atalanta Bergamo conceded eight goals to defenseless Salernitana (8-2), Lazio overcame Roma Sassuolo (0-2), and Roma dominated Fiorentina thanks to Paulo Dybala’s double (2-0). The trio is three points behind “Juventus” (3rd) and “Inter” (4th), and four points behind “Milan” (2nd).
Among these three clubs, “Juve” lost to Napoli (5-1), “Inter” lost to “Hellas Verona” 1-0, and “Milan” drew with “Lecce” (2-2).
Real Sociedad is doing the right thing
A third unsuccessful trip for Atletico Madrid: The Colchoneros were held to a 1-1 draw on Sunday in Almeria on matchday 17 of La Liga and remain in fourth place. The Madrid team opened the scoring with a clever move by Antoine Griezmann, who left Geoffrey Kondogbia’s pass to striker Angel Correa (18th). But Almeria hit back with Lucas Robertone’s perfect cross, which ended with former Reims centre-forward El Bilal Toure’s header (37th).
Real behind Real: Real Sociedad continue to impress and move within three points of Real Madrid (2nd, 38 points) thanks to a brilliant 3-1 Basque derby success against Athletic Bilbao at Anoeta on Saturday.
Txuri-urdin (white-blue, in Basque) started strongly with a goal from Alexander Sorloth (25th) and a brace from Takefusa Kubo, who brushed off a defender from the small bridge before Unai Simonu (37th) made amends. Athletic Bilbao closed the gap thanks to Oihan Sancet’s poor clearance from Alex Remiro (40th), but Basque captain Mikel Oyarzabal sealed victory with a penalty (63rd).
The two leaders of La Liga, “Barcelona” (1st) and “Real Madrid” (2nd), faced each other in the final of the Spanish Super Cup played in Saudi Arabia, not in the league. And Cules coach Xavi took the opportunity to lift his first trophy.
Derby Day: Arsenal beat Tottenham, Manchester United City
Thanks to Hugo Lloris’ first own goal in 354 Premier League matches, “Arsenal” extended their lead at the top of the table to 8 points. Although the North London derby between the Gunners and Tottenham is traditionally one of the most heated derbies in England, it was thanks to two goals from Arsenal in the first half, who then bowed out with goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale to finish the job (2-0).
The Gunners have 47 points to 38 from City, who lost in Saturday’s derby against United. “Red Devils” defeated “Manchester City” (2:1) and confirmed that they returned to the top of the English championship. Led but never resigned, with a little help from the referees they overthrew a City no longer running smoothly with the transparent Erling Haaland. United are closing in on the podium with 38 units, one length behind their neighbor (2nd).
Chelsea offered a capital success against Palace (1-0) as they broke the piggy bank again to sign Mykhailo Mudryk for €100m. With 28 points, the Blues remain 10th and ten off the Champions League qualifying spots, but the Londoners, and especially their manager Graham Potter, desperately needed it. Next week in Liverpool, we will have to confirm a slight promotion in what is practically a double or nothing match for the two teams.
At the beginning of the season, “Newcastle”, which was a surprise team “Fulham”, found a mistake at the very end of the match (1:0), resulting in cancellation of the penalty shot by Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic. turned into The Elders, who edged out Manchester United on Saturday, have regained third place on goal difference (38 points, +8 to 22), one point behind the reigning English champions.
