“Liverpool’s season goes from bad to worse. A wretched 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest, who were entrenched in the relegation zone ahead of kick-off, dealt a further blow to Arne Slot’s hopes of salvaging his Premier League title defence and left him facing yet more awkward questions about how to arrest the club’s slide. We dissect the major talking points. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
“Manchester City missed an opportunity to put pressure on Arsenal in the title race, falling to a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United at St James’ Park. The result leaves Pep Guardiola’s team in third, a point behind Chelsea, and potentially seven points behind Arsenal, should Mikel Arteta’s side beat Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. The game was decided in a dramatic seven second-half minutes. Both sides had missed an abundance of chances before Newcastle opened the scoring in the 64th minute. A smart interchange in midfield between Bruno Guimaraes and Harvey Barnes ended with the latter shooting low and hard past goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The lead only lasted five minutes, however, as Newcastle struggled to clear from a corner and Ruben Dias equalised, his shot squirming between the legs of Fabian Schar. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
YouTube: Newcastle United v. Manchester City | PREMIER LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS
“… On Saturday, the Camp Nou will once again host a game, two and a half years after it was shut for a €1.5billion (£1.3bn; $1.8bn) redevelopment. It has felt like an eternity for Barca fans — and many neutrals besides — with the team mostly playing across the city at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Montjuic. Barca’s game against Athletic Club and the celebrations around it will be historic — just like that first match against a Warsaw XI on September 24, 1957. As The Athletic discovered, much has changed since then, but there are also parallels with the circumstances around the Camp Nou’s reopening this weekend. Why did Barcelona play against a team from Warsaw, Poland? Some believe it was an act of protest; with Spain under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Catalans were referred to as ‘polacos’ (Polish) in a derogatory way by the rest of Spain. But that was not the reason. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Eulogio Martinez, on the floor, scores Barcelona’s opening goal
Scissors Kick 