Man United clinch Champions League spot, Inter win Serie A, Saka stars for Arsenal

Well, the European soccer weekend has been and gone, leaving behind plenty to discuss. Sunday’s big Premier League clash between Manchester United and Liverpool ended with Michael Carrick’s side celebrating a 3-2 win that clinches their Champions League participation for next season. Arne Slot’s side, meanwhile, keep waiting.

Elsewhere in England, Arsenal romped to a big win over Fulham, which was their best performance in months, and it’s no coincidence that it came with Bukayo Saka back in the lineup after weeks of minor injuries. In Italy, Inter Milan clinched the Serie A title and have much to celebrate considering how much was in flux last summer. Give credit where it’s due, to Christian Chivu.

Beyond that, there’s plenty to discuss around Barcelona, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Bayern Munich and more. It’s Monday morning. What better time for some musings? Let’s get into it.

– Man Utd’s seals Champions League return, loss sums up Liverpool’s season
– Saka shows why Arsenal need him for Premier League, UCL push
– Wrexham made to wait as Premier League promotion hopes ended

Manchester United clinch Champions League, while depleted Liverpool will have to wait

At this stage, all that matters to these two clubs is achieving the minimum results and doing some self-reflection to ensure next season is better. With their 3-2 home win over Liverpool on Sunday, Man United have crossed the Champions League finish line, which is not insignificant, given they finished eighth and 15th in the past two campaigns. Liverpool, you suspect, just want the season to be over (once they get their European ticket, of course) so they can figure out what went wrong this campaign.

Slot hit a familiar theme postmatch. He noted that this season it seems every Liverpool mistake gets punished and every contentious refereeing decision goes against him. He could have, frankly, avoided the officiating point. Did the ball glance off Benjamin Sesko’s hand before going into the back of the net to make it 2-0? Probably. I’ve watched the stupid super slow-motion replay a zillion times trying to figure out if the spin changes, indicating contact with Sesko’s fingertips. I guess maybe it does? I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s not what you should be thinking about at this stage of the season.

Nor is it helpful to bring up the old line about errors being punished — not in May. What is he implying? That they made the same number of mistakes last year when they won the league, it’s just that this season they’re not getting away with it? How about talking instead about how Liverpool — playing against Ayden Heaven and Harry Maguire — managed just one shot on target and 0.15 xG in the first half, despite 62% possession? Sure, United’s first goal was deflected (and made possible by a horrendous Andy Robertson header) and the second was a nightmare of defensive errors (and maybe a handball), but what about that attacking output?

Is it really all down to the absences of Hugo Ekitike, Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak? Or might it have something to do with the fact that Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch got outplayed — again — in the middle of the park, while Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong ghost around the pitch, doing little more than occasionally fluttering into view?

Nicol: Liverpool look ‘absolutely lost’ under Arne Slot

Steve Nicol slams Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat to Manchester United and suggests Xabi Alonso as a replacement for Arne Slot.

There are legitimate mitigating circumstances for Slot, just as there have been all season. From the poorly assembled squad (despite the expense and high-falutin names) to the failure of getting center back cover — Virgil van Dijk, at 34, has had had to play every minute of every league game — to the handling of Salah to the injuries. But equally, if you make a list of Liverpool players not named Dominik Szoboszlai who have not regressed this season, well, it’s a very short one. And to some degree, that’s on Slot.

As for United, this was not a flawless performance, but they showed cohesion and got the job done, creating more and conceding less than the opposition, which is what you’re looking for. It has sort of been the story of Michael Carrick’s interim tenure. He picked up a side that was in seventh place (and out of every cup competition) and took it into third. He had one job, and he did it.

Does that mean he should get the gig on a permanent basis? Not at all. Not yet, anyway. United should consider him as part of their manager hunt, weigh up the pros and cons, who is available, and take it from there. Because amid all the Carrick pros, there are cons, too.

Like the fact that United’s expected goal difference actually declined (from 0.46 to 0.16) after he took over. Or the fact that next season he’ll have Champions League football, which he has never had to deal with before. Or perhaps more important, that it’s not a question of what you achieved, it’s a question of what the club thinks you can achieve going forward. And whether there are more desirable options out there.

A word on Kobbie Mainoo, too: United will likely need to rebuild their midfield in a few months, and the long-term contract he signed suggests he will be part of the future. He’s technically gifted and one of the smarter players out there, but he’s also a guy who, especially for a younger player, has some pretty evident athletic and physical limitations. His vision, intelligence and reading of the game make up for it, but he needs the right framework and a coach who can provide it … if you believe in him. (Ruben Amorim, evidently, did not.) He needs to be a big part of the conversation with the new boss, whether it’s Carrick or someone else.

Internazionale’s title was a long time coming, but no less impressive

There’s a school of thought that says Inter Milan winning Serie A isn’t that big a deal. Napoli were hit by a biblical plague of injuries, AC Milan had a new coach and based their campaign around a 40-year-old (a legendary 40-year-old in Luka Modric, but still …), and Juventus got their strikers wrong and changed coaches early in the season. Meanwhile, AS Roma had a new coach (who ended up fighting with the coach emeritus), Atalanta had a new coach and then had to replace him after losing a couple of their best players, while it’s way too early for Como and Cesc Fabregas.

Somebody had to win, and it was Inter, who sealed it with a 2-0 victory over Parma on Sunday night.

Doubtless all of the above is true, to some degree, but here’s what else is true: Inter had a new boss too, one Christian Chivu, a guy who had won just three games in his career as a top-flight manager before coming on board. He was replacing Simone Inzaghi, who had delivered a title previously and, just as significantly, had walked out after seeing a potential Treble crumble in his hands, culminating with a 5-0 humiliation vs. PSG in the UEFA Champions League final.

Chivu was tasked with the rebuild, which was necessarily both psychological and technical. He won the trust of the players and the club hierarchy and he did so while operating on a budget, because that’s Inter’s reality (for now, anyway). His best attacker, Lautaro Martínez, missed a big chunk of the season, as did his midfield general Hakan Çalhanoglu, and his standout right wingback Denzel Dumfries. He navigated another European humiliation, against Bodo/Glimt, to finish the season strong: not only have Inter won the title, losing just one Serie A game since November, they also reached the Coppa Italia final.

And, on a team that was showing its age, Chivu started implementing the inevitable succession. Pio Esposito became a viable center forward at 20 years of age. Petar Sucic (22) and Yann Bisseck (25) grew in confidence and performance as did Luis Henrique (24), who reinvented himself as a wingback. Oh, and Fede Dimarco set a new Serie A assist record along the way.

Inzaghi may have built this Inter team and taken it to two Champions Legue finals in three seasons. But following in the footsteps of someone like that, especially after a crushing disappointment, was a mountain to climb. Chivu scaled it with confidence and aplomb. This is his team now.

What a difference a Saka makes, gifting Arsenal a goal and confidence boost

Nicol: Saka could win Arsenal the Premier League title

Steve Nicol says the return of Bukayo Saka to the Arsenal squad could win them the Premier League title.

OK, so it’s not all about him and, to be fair, Noni Madueke has done an admirable job when called upon to fill his boots down the right flank. But it’s pretty obvious that Arsenal are a far better and more confident side when Bukayo Saka (the real, fit version of Saka) is out there. His last start was six weeks ago, and he hit the ground running against Fulham, putting Raúl Jiménez on his backside with an ankle breaker move before teeing up Viktor Gyökeres’ opener, and then scoring himself to make it 2-0. Gyökeres added a third just before half-time, and it was lights out.

Fulham had a bunch of absentees, sure, but the fact is — other than the League Cup final against Manchester City, which they lost — we’ve rarely seen Arsenal play with such fluidity and positivity in recent months. If Mikel Arteta was looking for some sort of pressure-release valve after the bundle of nerves we’ve seen in recent outings, this was it. Some of the personnel changes — like Riccardo Calafiori at left back, Leandro Trossard out wide and Myles Lewis-Skelly finally getting his shot in midfield — might have had something to do with it. These are skilful players who know they’re not guaranteed a start, but equally know their best shot at minutes is to show quality and bravery. That said, a lot of it was down to Saka.

Gyökeres deserves a shout-out too. I’m not his biggest fan and, hindsight being 20-20, I’m not sure he was worth (or will be worth) the huge fee lavished on him. But then I’m also not convinced Arsenal’s approach this season necessarily played to his strengths either. And still, he soldiered on, working his backside off and helping any way he could. On Saturday, with Saka doing the providing, he reaped the rewards, grabbing his two goals that take his league total to 14. Only Erling Haaland, Antoine Semenyo and Igor Thiago have scored more.

The ball is back in Man City’s’ court. They face Everton away on Monday and have two games in hand in which to make up six points and four goals, before Arsenal play again on May 10.

Quick hits

10. Equaliser in the 10th minute of injury time? Bayern Munich have that magic dust: With the Bundesliga already in the bag and a return leg against Paris Saint-Germain coming up (after that rip-roaring 5-4 we witnessed last Tuesday) it didn’t feel so weird that Bayern might stumble at home against little 1. FC Heidenheim on Saturday. Their opponents, already relegated, played with no pressure and Vincent Kompany sent out all but three of Bayern’s B-team. Things looked to play out a bit like last week. Bayern went two goals down after half an hour, Leon Goretzka scored either side of half-time to level it up (the latter after Kompany had sent on the cavalry in the form of Joshua Kimmich, Harry Kane, Luis Díaz and Michael Olise), and a wonder goal from Budu Zivzivadze put the visitors 3-2 and on the verge of a historic upset.

But, hey, it’s Bayern. And after delivering the otherworldly at the Parc des Princes, here was Olise finding an improbable equalizer in the 10th minute of time added on. Deserved? Sure. Lucky? Meh, you make your own luck. Moments like these make you think Bayern have some mystical next level they can call upon at any time.

Will Barcelona win back-to-back LaLiga titles in El Clásico?

Luis Garcia and Craig Burley preview the upcoming El Clásico with Barcelona on the brink of winning another LaLiga title.

9. Barcelona beat Osasuna, next shot at clinching LaLiga will be the Clasico: Which, frankly, is not a bad setting to win it: against the eternal rivals. The gap is 11 points and if they don’t win it there, everything points to them still being champions, since Real Madrid would have to win out without Barcelona getting more than a point the rest of the way. And that’s rather unlikely.

Without Raphinha and Lamine Yamal on Saturday, Barcelona struggled against Alessio Lisci’s tight and organised Osasuna (who, since we’re on the subject of absentees, were without their star player, Víctor Muñoz). By the hour mark, Barca’s xG was still below 0.50, Osasuna had enjoyed the better chances (Ante Budimir hit the post and was terrorising the back four) and you wondered if it was going to be one of those days. Robert Lewandowski, who had done little to that point, broke the ice with a pinpoint header off a Marcus Rashford chip, reminding us that, at least for that type of goal, age is just a number. Ferran Torres made it 2-0, which was a good thing, since some more lax defending led to Raul García pulling one back. Not the most convincing of performances, but three points. Maybe they were thinking of the upcoming party. If so, you can’t really blame them.

8. Francesco Farioli wins title at FC Porto a year after the epic Ajax Amsterdam meltdown: Let’s just remind ourselves what happened to Farioli around this time last season. He was a 36-year-old wunderkind coach in his first campaign at Ajax and was sitting on a nine-point lead at the top of the Eredivisie with five games to go. And somehow, they threw it all away, winning just one of their last five and getting pipped to the title by PSV Eindhoven. Many wondered how you’d come back from that. But Porto had the foresight to believe in him.

And what they got from him was a frighteningly consistent side, capable of winning 26 of 32 league games (and counting) while losing just once. It won them their first title in four years, as Porto also reached the quarterfinal of the Europa League and the semifinal of the Portuguese Cup. Farioli showcased emerging talents like Spanish center forward Samu Aghehowa (before his season-ending injury in February) and Danish midfielder Victor Froholdt (who arrived from F.C. København). He built a brand-new rock-solid, all-Polish center back pairing with the arrival Jan Bednarek from Southampton and Jakub Kiwior from Arsenal (on loan). And he relaunched the European career of Gabri Veiga, back from Saudi Arabia. Not bad for a guy who never played professionally and got his university degree in Philosophy.

Who will become the new Real Madrid manager?

The ‘FC TV’ crew debate who will become the new Real Madrid manager next season.

7. Vinícius keeps Real Madrid afloat in Kylian Mbappé’s absence: The standards of “Madridismo” are impossibly high and at some point, just about everybody gets criticism. Earlier this year it was Vinícius Júnior (lack of goals, lack of workrate, lack of sync with Xabi Alonso). Now it seems to be Kylian Mbappe. He’s nursing a muscular injury, but fans didn’t appreciate seeing photos of him Paris and in Sardinia with his girlfriend — not 10 days before the Clasico, anyway. And not after his recent lacklustre performances. Inevitably, the “saving himself for the World Cup” brigade pipes up. You can’t blame Mbappe for taking care of himself, given Real Madrid have little to play for, but optics matter. Maybe staying home and showing you were working, being close to the team, would have made more sense right now.

The good news is that in Mbappe’s absence, the oft-criticised (often by me) Vini has more than stepped up. He bagged both goals — both Vini-style, after a one-two, cutting in from the left — in the 2-0 away win at Espanyol which delayed Barcelona’s title celebrations. Along the way, for the fifth straight season, he has hit the 20-goal mark in all competitions, something only seven players in the history of the club have managed. It’s still a challenge, whoever is in charge, to fit him and Mbappe in the same side — that hasn’t changed. What has changed is fan sentiment. For now, anyway.

6. Spurs blow away Aston Villa as Unai Emery’s gamble backfires: With West Ham United losing at Brentford on Saturday, Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 win away to Villa means they’re out of the relegation zone. Huge result, huge performance of the sort that makes you wonder how they got into the mess to begin with. The Roberto De Zerbi effect was palpable, they were aggressive with their press and assured in their movement. And they were water-tight at the back, something which hasn’t always been the case: Villa’s first short on goal of any kind only came around the hour mark. Nobody should be counting their chickens — the run-in is far from straight-forward — but West Ham’s is no cakewalk either. But this performance certainly bodes well.

As for Villa, it feels as if Emery was too clever for his own good in making so many changes (seven, not all of them enforced) after the Europa League semifinal first leg against Nottingham Forest, which they lost 1-0. Yes, they’re competing on two fronts, and no doubt players are worn down and tired. And maybe he thought the top five finish was in the bag domestically. (It’s not: AFC Bournemouth are six points back, Brentford seven and Chelsea could also be seven back if they beat Forest at home on Monday. Villa’s next game against Burnley feels like a “gimme” but it’s Liverpool — who may also need the points — and Manchester City away after that. And their goal difference isn’t great.) Throw in the fact that a performance like this — regardless of who is playing — is bad for morale and it looks as if Emery’s grand plan blew up in his face.

Nicol: Spurs won’t go down if they play like they did vs. Villa

The ESPN FC team discusses Tottenham Hotspur’s performance against Aston Villa in their Premier League clash, breaking down what Spurs must do to avoid relegation.

5. Bundesliga’s Champions League race a solid antidote to late season boredom: Let’s be real, the only proper title race left is the Premier League and, due to the screwy schedule, Arsenal have played two more games than Manchester City which doesn’t exactly add to the drama. Most Champions League spots in the big five are decided. But buckle up for the Bundesliga, because it’s a wild ride.

On Saturday, VfB Stuttgart — the comeback kids — bounced back from two goals down to snatch a 3-3 draw with an injury-time equaliser at TSG Hoffenheim while playing the last 20 minutes with 10 men. Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen trounced third-placed RB Leipzig 4-1. The upshot? Hoffenheim, Stuttgart and Leverkusen are all on 58 points, with two games to go. And the latter two face each other next week. What’s more, we likely will not know whether the Bundesliga will get four or five spots in next year’s Champions League for some time. The Premier League is already guaranteed to have a minimum of five clubs, but the margin in the UEFA country rating between Germany and Spain is wafer-thin. It will depend on how Bayern Munich, SC Freiburg, Atlético Madrid and Rayo Vallecano do in their respective European competitions, starting this midweek. That means the three Bundesliga pretenders won’t know if they’re fighting over one spot or two spots. Which should ensure matters go down to the wire…

4. Diego Simeone wins with the kids … and a golden oldie: It was no surprise that Simeone would pretty much rest everyone who is likely to start the return leg against Arsenal in midweek for the away trip to Valencia. Fourth place was locked up a while ago, nobody really cares about chasing Villarreal in third, so why not play a bunch of youngsters and reserves who might actually be motivated?

The goals came late, but Atleti had the upper hand against a Valencia side who aren’t quite safe yet and are playing with fear. We even were treated to Nahuel Molina smacking the post with a rocket from just inside the half. The scorers, Iker Luque and Miguel Cubo, were both first-team debutants — with a combined age of 38. And the latter’s goal was created by a moment of genius and quick-thinking from another substitute, one Antoine Griezmann, who came on for a cameo. Man, I miss him already.

3. Draw at Como means Napoli seal Champions League spot, with or without Antonio Conte: Getting a point at Como — by no means a foregone conclusion give how Fabregas’ side are themselves pursuing a place in the Champions League — secured Napoli’s top four (and, likely, second place) finish. Consider how this team was decimated by injuries — from Kevin De Bruyne to Romelu Lukaku to André-Frank Zambo-Anguissa to Amir Rrahmani to David Neres to Giovanni Di Lorenzo — just five players started more than two-thirds of Napoli’s league games this season. That means it’s another year in which Conte has proved his worth as a manager (despite the disappointment in Europe). The question is what happens next: The Italy job is open, he’s been there before and delivered. It can be hard to say “no”.

As for Como, they had the upper hand in this clash and created the better chances, while also conceding opportunities and seeing Matteo Politano hit the post. It’s a function of Cesc’s brand of attacking football and he’s proving to many that it can work — and work well — in Serie A too.

2. Heavily rotated PSG held at home, but Ligue 1 title is one step closer: Just like the other Champions League semifinalists (bar Arsenal), Luis Enrique rested a bunch of players for the visit of Lorient, with only Willian Pacho and Désiré Doué in the lineup among those who started against Bayern midweek. With Lucas Chevalier nursing a thigh injury, we got to see the third keeper, 19-year-old Italian Renato Marin, between the sticks. It finished 2-2 against a side with nothing to play for but pride and PSG paid a hefty price for some defensive errors. Pacho (who probably wouldn’t have been playing if not for Ilya Zabarnyi’s injury) didn’t look great and Lucas Beraldo showed, again, that he’s better in midfield.

Still, the fact that Lens ended up drawing away to Nice a few hours later mitigated the damage. Pierre Sage’s crew had the upper hand for much of the game and broke through with Allan Saint-Maximin, before Saud Abdulhamid got sent off and Ali Abdi poked home the equalizer. The draw leaves them six points back with three games to go. One, of course, is the head-to-head with PSG on May 13, which is a must-win. But even with the three points there, Lens would have to win out and PSG would have to lose either at home to Brest or away to Paris FC on the last day of the season. It’s hard to see that play out and the faces of the Lens players coming off the pitch suggests they feel the same.

1. More woe for Milan as even Max Allegri says Sassuolo defeat was ‘their worst game of the season:’ Kudos to Allegri for not citing Fikayo Tomori’s second yellow after 24 minutes as an excuse. Not least because they were already down a goal (the eternal Domenico Berardi scored after five minutes) at that stage, but that’s where it ends. Talking about “not wanting to throw away 10 months of work” makes little sense, either. What work? The work that drove you into the top four thanks to a combination of inertia, some Mike Maignan saves and a 40-year-old Luka Modric playing more minutes than any other outfield player? That work? The work that saw you put together an xG of 0.24 with a single shot on target against a side with nothing to play for? That work?

Milan supporters backed the team until the final whistle and then vented their anger to the point that Maignan, the captain, concluded that it was best not to have the players go to their section to thank them. Yes, they are still well placed to qualify for the Champions League, but make no mistake about it: this was a wasted year, with very little progress. It’s hard to believe that this is the same club who won Serie A with the youngest squad in the league not that long ago. There’s a lot for the club to think about this summer.

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