The European soccer season is back! After a three-week international break in which absolutely nothing happened -- nope, nothing at all -- we got a huge Premier League game as Man City snuck into Anfield and emerged with a 3-0 win over Liverpool that, while impressive, does little to remove the fog of anger that will follow Erling Haaland & Co. around for the rest of the season (and probably beyond).
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Man United and Tottenham battled to a 1-1 draw that did little to dispel the pressure on their managers, Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi, even though Spurs should be walking away a little happier with the result. Beyond that, Arsenal got another win despite looking sloppy after the break.
Outside England, Real Madrid battled for a 1-0 win over Villarreal, a game that will be remembered as much for Jose Mourinho's all-too-familiar antics as it will for Vinícius Júnior's deserved red card. We also got talking points galore for Barcelona (can Lamine Yamal get some rest?), Bayern Munich (it's time to talk about Manuel Neuer), Paris Saint-Germain (who still haven't gotten going this season) and much, much more.
It's Monday morning, so what better time for some musings? Let's get into it.
- Man City show defiance in wake of cheating scandal, trounce Liverpool - Late draw with Spurs shows how much trouble Carrick & Co. are in - Arsenal fight back as Premier League resumes under cloud of City verdict
Man City seal off the outside world and do what they do best at Anfield
Their coach Enzo Maresca called it "noise," which is inappropriate when viewed from the outside. "Noise," like "rumor" and "speculation," implies some sort of trivial annoyance, not to be taken too seriously when you have a job to do.
City's guilty verdict is anything but "noise" -- it's a near-existential threat to the club. And no matter how convinced you are of their innocence and how much of the City Football Group spin you believe, if you think overturning the verdict is going to be a slam dunk, you're either a fool or badly deluded.
But from Maresca's perspective, it works. Give your fear a name -- "noise," in this case -- and then block it out. Professional athletes do this sort of stuff all the time. Control what you can control. Let others worry about what you can't. It's Psychology 101 and City nailed it, as they showed in a rousing second-half performance while winning 3-0 at Anfield.
Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola evidently tried to channel the situation and energy of the occasion, but when you're without Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo (plus Hugo Ekitike, of course) there's only so much you can muster. They turned in a low-key first half, had a couple chances after the break and then the worm started to turn, beginning with Ryan Gravenberch's second yellow.