Smart Mourinho

Amid the Catrina parade in Mexico City I found a place to watch the clásico between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. I must admit that it was not the best of these classic encounters, as FC Barcelona, having been strong in the league, were pressed by a disciplined Real Madrid side, where Mourinho had studied his adversaries well. Barcelona's stars were pressed high in midfield, and Real Madrid constantly threatened by splendid Jude Bellingham and Yan Diomande. Both Real Madrid's goals by Kylian Mbappé were the results of that pressure, forcing mistakes on Barcelona's defenders (add a bit of luck of course). While Raphinha had equalised for Barcelona, Real Madrid's first league victory at the Camp Nou since 2021 was fully deserved, and it gives an extra degree of excitement for a league that has seemed to be heading to Barcelona. 

Real Madrid defeats Sevilla

It was a pretty shitty week and I really needed a beer, despite the fact that I have been looking a lot after myself. But yesterday I just needed to do what I had not done for months: a match and a few beers. The only match was Real Madrid against Sevilla which I sat to watch with interest, as I had not seen the Madrid side for a while, now that Mourinho was back. The team is in third place in la liga, trailing FC Barcelona six points and one point behind Atletico Madrid, something that surely annoys them. While Sevilla can no longer be counted as a powerful club they have started the league well, and are in 6th place. So it could have been a match between top teams, but it was not as Real Madrid dominated from start to end. Arda Guler opened the score with a splendid goal, while Kylian Mbappe made it 2-0 on a fantastic dribble around the goalkeeper, and in the second half the Frenchman also made it 3-0 on a Panenka-penalty kick. And after Sevilla pulled one back by Manu Bueno, it was Real Madrid's new young signing from RB Leipzig, the Ivorian Yan Diomande,  who made it 4-1 on a good strike where the Andalusian defense nevertheless looked a bit passive. That said, Yan Diomande had a great match and is perhaps a new player to watch.

All in all, I did enjoy that afternoon of football and beer; just like when I was young! 

Glorified friendlies

It is heard to deny that in this second round of the 2026-27 season there have been some incredible matches. PSG won 2-4 in Manchester over City in a match where the financial cheaters appeared to a certain degree unlucky, with even Haaland having a bad day (even though he scored twice). In Rome, mighty Real Madrid came back from 3-1 down to win 3-4 in the final minutes of the match, while Club Brugge surprised with another 3-4 victory in Italy, over Inter Milan, with three goals by the young German Nicolo Tresoldi. The Norwegian sides continue strong, with Viking Stavanger tying 3-3 at home to mighty Bayern Munich, although the Germans came back from being 2-0 down. Bodø/Glimt defeated Broussia Dortmund 1-0 at home, while FC Barcelona trashed Galatasaray 1-4 in Istanbul, Aston Villa likewise trashed another Turkish team, Fenerbahce, 6-0 in Birmingham, and Liverpool trashed LASK 3-6 in Austria.

Indeed some great matches, great goals, but with only two matches into a league system where the top 24 out of 36 go through, there is nobody really fighting for anything important just yet. Teams like Porto, Inter, or Napoli, who have lost both matches, just need a couple of wins to make it, while nothing is certain yet for the leaders PSG, FC Barcelona, etc. as 9 teams have maximum points, and could easily fall in the table with just a defeat.

So, while great games, the true excitement is still absent from the CL, and that is the disappointment of this league system that UEFA appears to have created just to make more money. 

Just put Doku in

After the walk in the desert of national team football it was delightful to have the leagues start again, and nothing less than a match between Liverpool and Manchester City.

The Manchester side is immersed in a big scandal of financial malpractice. Basically, the club has been cheating for years, but in a world where money dominates, they have already appealed the finding that have found them guilty, and the legal back and forth will probably take years, as the side leads the Premier League, but should probably be forcefully relegated, such as other clubs that have been found to do the same.

But it is Manchester City, one of the biggest clubs in the world.

On the pitch the City side showed their quality in defeating a Liverpool side that had been the better side just until 10 minutes into the second half, when manager Enzo Maresca decided to replace Iliman Ndiaye with the great Belgian Jeremy Doku. He immediately changed the match, forcing Ryan Gravenberch to miss a tackle and get a second yellow, as well as create a chance that Erling Haaland scored the first goal on. Soon after, Doku himself scored a second for Manchester City, before Rayan Cherki made it 0-3 on a goal that seemed more like futsal.

It was pure Doku powerplay as the financial cheaters of Manchester City make seal their first place in the Premier League.