The weekend set
Paris Saint-Germain, and their 6-0 drubbing of Montpellier? Not even: the best forehand is to be credited to Chelsea, who put on a great show in Wolverhampton with eight goals in the match despite a wooden defense. A certain Noni Madueke (hat-trick) had in any case warned that he was going to send his backhand in all directions, while his partner Cole Palmer (who also planted a fabulous lob) assured the service (three assists). As you can see, there is necessarily a bit of world top in a squad of 166 players.
Madueke at 00.00am: “Everything about this place is s**t”, posted on Instagram by mistake talking about Wolverhampton 😅
Madueke at 3.15pm: scores a goal against Wolves.
Madueke at 3.23pm: scores again.
Madueke at 3.27pm: hat-trick.
Four goals in four days. 🔵🌪️ pic.twitter.com/nNl5VJG7fS
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 25, 2024
The performance of the weekend
For those who still haven’t understood, Bayer Leverkusen doesn’t look like a flash in the pan. And if some have doubts about his mental strength, the reigning German champion is ready to prove to them that his performances last season were no accident. Accustomed to comebacks in the final moments in 2023-2024, Xabi Alonso’s men took advantage of the first day of the Bundesliga to do it again: conceding 2-2 after leading 2-0, the country’s boss finally beat Borussia Mönchengladbach in added time. Who’s the boss?
Score some last minute goals again you say? 😏#BMGB04 pic.twitter.com/WDvq2UNvrm
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) August 23, 2024
The weekend blunder
Cristiano Ronaldo must have had nightmares (again), he who had already experienced the thing : In their injury-time defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion, Manchester United saw Joshua Zirkzee squander an Alejandro Garnacho goal when it would have put the tie at bay. Red Devils on the royal road to a major success. Instead, his team finds itself with three points on the clock after two days and starts its season in the worst possible way. What an idea, also, to touch the ball in an offside position…
Thank you Joshua Zirkzee, you saved many lives as well as causing lots of depression 😂 pic.twitter.com/pm06A4VW8G
— Davidelah (@Davidelah7) August 25, 2024
The weekend man
His name could be Erling Haaland, who scored a hat-trick in Manchester City’s win over Ispwich and has now scored against all 23 Premier League clubs he has faced. But for this honorary title often reserved for strikers, there is a match with Andrej Kamaric, who also scored three times with Hoffenheim against promoted Holstein Kiel. So who will end the debate and crown the best player of last weekend? Bradley Barcola, who also played for PSG on Friday night and is clearly ready to get on the same level as his elders?
Erling Haaland has now scored against ALL 23 Premier League clubs he has faced 🤖🇳🇴
Ipswich joined the list after just 11 minutes 😂 pic.twitter.com/W5iEGD6ORk
— OneFootball (@OneFootball) August 24, 2024
The weekend failure
Since we must choose only one among the many candidates created and selected by Elye Wahi, here is the best: half an hour into the game of Marseille-Reims, the striker sent the ball over the goal that was entirely open to him. A wasted opportunity among many others, which would have deserved a more suitable fate and which should have allowed the Phocéens to win. Unfortunately, the ball did not want to go in when it was touched by the ex-Lensois, and OM had to settle for a draw in a match with a lot of net shaking. How ironic…
😱| What a failure of hers Wahi! 🤏😮💨 #OMSDR pic.twitter.com/3b5bO7qO8Z
— DAZN France (@DAZN_FR) August 25, 2024
And otherwise…
- At the bar, it’s clearly not just beer that can be dangerous: during Orléans-Valenciennes, a fire broke out in the stadium’s refreshment bar and caused the match to be stopped…
- Bayern Munich won with difficulty for Vincent Kompany’s debut, and above all had the opportunity to celebrate one of its key players: against Wolfsburg, Thomas Müller joined Sepp Maier as the most capped player in Bayern’s history with… 709 appearances, no less!
- Yes, the terrible streak is over: having lost ten consecutive home games, Nantes finally put things right by beating Auxerre at the Beaujoire… with a magnificent bonus goal, scored by Bahereba Guirassy!
- Antoine Griezmann is being treated for his failed Euro, but not Kylian Mbappé: Atlético Madrid won thanks to their Frenchman, Real did not need him to win.
- Florian Thauvin is doing well, very well: now captain of Udinese, the former Marseillais produced a magnificent assist-goal combination against Lazio.
This Thauvin candy for Lucca’s opening goal, to be consumed without moderation 💥🔥pic.twitter.com/TewFS5LuGg
— Paul Vinay (@PauloVinay) August 24, 2024
We found a use for having so many players at Chelsea!
