Weekend Review: Could Carvajal injury derail Madrid’s season?

Real Madrid needed a win to keep the pressure on Barcelona at the top of the LaLiga table. They delivered, beating Villarreal 2-0 on Saturday, but it cost them: Dani Carvajal was stretchered off with multiple tears in his right knee. The challenge of repeating as champions of Spain just got a whole lot more difficult.

In the Premier League, Manchester United underdelivered once more, grinding out a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa on Sunday. As uninspiring as the result and performance were, though, it’s likely to be enough to keep embattled manager Erik ten Hag in the Red Devils’ dugout for a little while longer.

Some of the Bundesliga’s best were flying in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, but Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund were brought back down to earth in a hurry when domestic play resumed. Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw by newly promoted Holstein Kiel while Dortmund were dropped 2-1 by Union Berlin.

What else did you miss in European football this weekend? We get into all that and more in this edition of ESPN’s Weekend Review.

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Top takeaway: Ten Hag clings to Man United hot seat

It was reported after the humiliating defeat against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend that Ten Hag had two games, at FC Porto and at Aston Villa, to save his job as Manchester United manager. After a miraculous UEFA Europa League draw in midweek, he set his team up to defend and to scrape out a draw in Birmingham, and he got it.

Were these two performances good enough? Definitely not, but at least United didn’t lose, which is likely going to buy him a bit more time. He is still under massive pressure and potentially on borrowed time regardless.

The Red Devils are 14th in the table with seven points and a goal difference of minus-3. It is their lowest total after seven league games since 1989. They are already 11 points behind leaders Liverpool. They haven’t won any of their past five matches, and have only beaten Fulham, Southampton and Barnsley so far this season.

There is still no cohesion with the ball in this team, and they were largely inept going forward on Sunday at Villa Park, despite the flatness of their opponents. Ten Hag seems totally clueless on how to infuse his team with identity and style, and Sunday’s draw is not going to help his case much.

Best match: Brighton 3, Spurs 2

This encounter between Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham showcased the Premier League at its absolute best — and also the best and worst of Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs. They were so dominant in the first half, pressing the life out of every Brighton player, scoring twice and controlling pretty much every phase of play. As we have seen too often under the Australian, though, his plan crumbled in the second half through mediocre defending, a lack of balance, a loss of control and, once again, the manager’s inability to stop the rot. To lose 3-2 is embarrassing for Tottenham.

Best goal: Pereira vs. Man City

The assist is what makes this goal so special. Raúl Jiménez‘s genius backheel caught the whole Manchester City defence by surprise at the Etihad on Saturday, which made for an easy tap-in for Andreas Pereira to open the scoring for Fulham against the champions. It didn’t count for much in the end, as the Cottagers lost 3-2, but you probably won’t see a better assist all season.

A beautiful assist from Raul Jimenez to tee up Andreas Pereira! 🤩

📺 Peacock | #MCIFUL pic.twitter.com/lfZxgjwrOT

— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) October 5, 2024

MVP of the weekend: Bukayo Saka

For the seventh game already this season, Saka was decisive for Arsenal on Saturday. After scoring against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek in the Champions League, he carried the Gunners in the Premier League this time, against Southampton with a goal and two assists as his team was trailing 0-1 against all odds. The England international, still only 23, has now three goals and seven assists in 10 games in all competitions already this season. He is continuing to show people what a world-class player he is. — Julien Laurens

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Top takeaway: Will Carvajal’s knee injury derail Madrid’s title challenge?

Real Madrid were heading for a crucial 2-0 win over Villarreal on Saturday — in a game that had pitted second vs. third in LaLiga — when an awful injury for Carvajal changed the complexion of their evening entirely. What looked like an innocuous collision between Carvajal and Yeremy Pino in added time (as the Villarreal winger came across to block Carvajal’s clearance upfield) resulted in a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, a ruptured external collateral ligament and a ruptured popliteus tendon in his right knee.

A hush descended on the Santiago Bernabeu as Carvajal was stretchered off, covering his face with his hands to hide his tears. Madrid reacted admirably on Sunday — extending the veteran’s contract by another year, until 2026, in a show of support — but they’re left with just Lucas Vázquez as a reliable right-back option, and pondering whether to move in the January transfer window.

Spare a thought for Pino, too, who suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament last November. Two weeks ago, he was blamelessly involved in the incident that saw Barcelona keeper Marc-André ter Stegen suffer a serious knee injury. Now, the same has happened with Carvajal.

Best match: Girona 2, Athletic 1

Sevilla’s 1-0 win over Real Betis in the Seville derby gets a mention, but for nonstop action, it was hard to beat Girona’s 2-1 win over Athletic Club at Montilivi on Sunday. The game saw four penalties taken, three of them by Athletic, and all of those were missed, each by a different taker: Álex Berenguer, Iñaki Williams and Ander Herrera. Girona keeper Paulo Gazzaniga saved all three: Berenguer in the first half, and then Williams, and then Herrera, when Williams’ spot kick had to be retaken due to Gazzaniga advancing off his line.

Best goal: Vinícius vs. Villarreal

Vinícius Júnior also went off injured at the Bernabeu on Saturday, but six minutes earlier he’d scored the goal of the weekend. When he picked up the ball midway inside the Villarreal half, there was no obvious danger. In fact, there were five Villarreal defenders close by. But Vinícius needed just three quick touches to set himself, before firing an unstoppable rocket of a shot past goalkeeper Diego Conde. It’s not the sort of goal we’re used to seeing the Brazilian score, which made it all the more impressive.

MVP of the weekend: Robert Lewandowski

Lewandowski needed just 32 minutes to score a hat trick in Barcelona’s 3-0 win at Alaves on Sunday. That takes him to an impressive 10 LaLiga goals this season already. All three were vintage, instinctive finishes from one of the modern game’s great goal scorers, who, at age 36, is back to his best this campaign. And the first two goals were brilliantly set up by Barca’s other player-of-the-season contender so far, Raphinha. — Alex Kirkland

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Top takeaway: Bundesliga brings Dortmund, Leverkusen back to earth

Both Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund won their Champions League games during the week, but both came down to earth fast on Saturday.

Leverkusen gave away a comfortable two-goal lead against newly promoted Holstein Kiel, who managed to score twice and thus secure just their second point in the Bundesliga. Meanwhile, Dortmund could not carry the confidence found by thrashing Celtic 7-1 on Tuesday. Instead, for the third time in a row, their outing in the Bundesliga left much to be desired, as they traveled to Union Berlin and lost 2-1 in front of a fierce crowd inside Alte Försterei.

While it was expected that Leverkusen could not always pull off dramatic wins as they have done so often under Xabi Alonso, Dortmund are in a much more dire situation. New manager Nuri Şahin was supposed to turn the ship around when he was installed in June, but the Schwarzgelben are essentially where they were 12 months ago.

Best match: Frankfurt 3, Bayern 3

Sunday’s highly anticipated matchup between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich turned into an entertaining back-and-forth. Coming off a much-celebrated win at Besiktas in the UEFA Europa League, Frankfurt were not afraid to attack Bayern. At 2-2 as the second half kicked off, it seemed as though Bayern could bag another three points thanks to a goal by Michael Olise. Kingsley Coman had the chance to put the game out of reach, but his shot was denied by rising-star goalkeeper Kauã Santos, only for Omar Marmoush to run in behind Bayern’s back line and beat Manuel Neuer for the equaliser.

Best goal: Schlotterbeck vs. Gladbach

Sometimes Keven Schlotterbeck, the older brother of Dortmund defender Nico, gets overlooked, but the 27-year-old is actually a fairly talented centre-back for FC Augsburg who can also score goals. He showcased that on Friday, when he stopped a rebound from a corner kick with his chest and volleyed a shot past Borussia Monchengladbach goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas.

MVP of the weekend: Jonny Burkardt

It has been quite the ride for Burkardt. The Mainz forward struggled throughout last season because of the effects of a complicated knee injury, but coming back stronger is not just an overused phrase in athletes’ speeches, it describes the way Burkardt has come rolling into this season. He scored twice against St. Pauli on Saturday, as Mainz celebrated a 3-0 win. One day later, Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann selected Burkardt for the upcoming UEFA Nations League games to replace the injured Kai Havertz. — Constantin Eckner

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What else you missed this weekend

Juve finally concede — agonisingly

Thiago Motta’s Juventus were so, so close to starting the Serie A season with a record-equaling seven games without conceding a single goal. Until Douglas Luiz‘s clumsy 84th-minute challenge gave away a penalty, converted by Razvan Marin, to give Cagliari a 1-1 draw at Allianz Stadium on Sunday. It was all the more painful for Juve given that forward Dusan Vlahovic had earlier missed a golden opportunity to put them up 2-0 and out of sight.

A win would have put Juventus one point behind leaders Napoli at the top of the Serie A table and right in the title race. Instead, they’re three points back, behind Inter Milan, and level on points with Lazio and Udinese.

It could have been even worse, though. Cagliari hit the post in added time. — Kirkland

Magdeburg’s return to European relevance

Once upon a time, Magdeburg was among Europe’s elite. The established club from the German state Saxony-Anhalt beat AC Milan in the 1974 European Cup Winners’ Cup final. As with so many teams from the former German Democratic Republic, though, things got rough after the German unification with a recovering economy in the eastern parts of Germany unable to adequately support the local teams.

From time to time, a club would manage to move up the Bundesliga, with Hansa Rostock, Energie Cottbus and Union Berlin the three prominent examples. It seems as if after years of struggle in the lower leagues, Magdeburg could be ready to make the jump, thanks to manager Christian Titz. The former Hamburg boss has been coaching Magdeburg since 2021 and managed to impress observers with his innovative style that often overcame the club’s financial limitations.

Titz’s team fumbled the chance to overtake Fortuna Düsseldorf, the 2. Bundesliga leaders, on Sunday, as Magdeburg only drew with Greuther Fürth. Still, 50 years after the final win over Milan, a comeback story is in the making. — Eckner