The European football weekend has been and gone, but in its wake we have a ton of talking points to unpack! Let's begin with the Premier League and the title race, with Manchester City's huge win at Chelsea on Sunday coming after Arsenal lost to Bournemouth. City and Guardiola now have the momentum heading into next weekend's game with Arsenal, who only have themselves to blame for Saturday's chastening home defeat to the Cherries; will we get a few more twists and turns between now and the end of the season?
In Italy's Serie A, upstart Como had title favorites Inter on the ropes with a 2-0 lead, only for Cristian Chivu's side to rally like champions and win 4-3 in the best game of the weekend. In Spain, Barcelona won the derby over Espanyol and Real Madrid drew against Girona to make it seem like LaLiga is almost done and dusted, while we got plenty to discuss around Liverpool (who picked up a big win), Bayern Munich (who set a new Bundesliga goal record), Tottenham (who are now officially in the relegation zone), and much, much more.
It's Monday morning, so what better time for some musings? Let's get into it.
- Is it happening again? Reviewing Arsenal's prior title wobbles - Ogden: Man City's big win piles pressure on Arsenal in title race - Olley: Tottenham's relegation looks inevitable after Sunderland loss
Manchester City smack Chelsea... have they shifted momentum too?
It definitely feels that way. On Sunday, they slapped Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a dominant second half, winning 3-0. They've lost one Premier League game since November, and Pep Guardiola seems to have found his formula in terms of starting XI and tactical approach. Unlike Arsenal, they've also been there and done that.
And then there's the arithmetic. Six points back with a game in hand, and a head-to-head clash (next week) at home means City control their destiny just as much as Arsenal. Win out, and you're champions.
That said, it's worth remembering that while City are clicking nicely (and have been since February), in the past nine games they also dropped points to both Nottingham Forest and West Ham, while also losing home and away to Real Madrid. This script can easily be turned on its head next weekend. Guardiola knows this better than most, and you can be sure he won't be getting carried away.
On Sunday, Chelsea set up to play on the counter and leave City the ball (they ended up with 67% possession in the first half). It worked (sort of) until the inevitable individual error -- Andrey Santos getting brushed aside by Nico O'Reilly -- and the floodgates opened. Rayan Cherki's magic set up Marc Guehi to make it 2-0 before Moises Caicedo got caught in possession for City's third.