Short and sweet: The games between the giants devoured the cards in the power rating

The short month of the year ended and brought with it a number of conclusions: Ambape illustrated the superiority over the squeaky Real, Neymar brought PSG back to the ground.

Xavi has marched Barcelona to the list, while Bayern's defense is a herd without a shepherd.

And also: the news of Chelsea's narrow victory, the Milan derby and the Liverpool cruise

Guy Cliff

05/03/2022

Saturday, 05 March 2022, 08:50

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share on Email

• Share on general

• Comments

  Comments

Summary: Chelsea - Liverpool 11:10 (League Cup final) (Sport 1)

February is only the second month in the calendar year, but when it comes to the world of football, it marks a new beginning: the transfer window is closed and there is no possibility of reinforcements, many leagues across Europe return from the winter, and European factories return with the knockout stages.

February is the shortest month of the year, but every day for the past 28 days has provided some insight into the luxury groups on the continent.

The Champions League games have taught quite a bit and left an appetite for the rematch, the League Cup final and the reopening of the championship battle revived the English season, and the battle for the Scudetto in Italy is hot, crowded and unpredictable than ever.

After shuffling the cards, here is the re-ranking of the top ten teams in Europe.

More on Walla!

"More liars than Putin": Super League leaders under attack, UEFA threatens

To the full article

Unstoppable.

Anconco (Photo: GettyImages, Stuart Franklin)

Tenth place: R.B.

Leipzig (new entry)

With eight goals in seven games in February, Christopher Anconco is one of the hottest players in Europe, and it really hasn’t started now.

The Frenchman, who dropped out of Paris Saint-Germain, found a home in Red Bull's incubator, and in 36 games this season in all competitions he has scored 25 goals and netted 13 more - involving more than one goal per game.

Leipzig lost just one game this month, and were also in a dramatic 3-2 draw against Bayern Munich.

After a bad start to the season, the Bulls appointed Domenico Tedesco as the team's coach in place of Jesse Marsh, and since then the team has returned to the ability that has characterized it in recent years.

Leipzig is fourth or a number of points like Hoffenheim and Freiburg are after it, but it is significantly stronger and is in a great position to qualify for the Champions League next year as well.

Also, thanks to the suspension of Spartak Moscow from the Europa League she also secured her place in the quarter-finals, and while she is also in the Cup semi-finals (Dortmund and Bayern have already been eliminated), in the pinkest scenario she could win two prestigious titles this season, something that was hard to imagine. Bottom at the end of 2021. With an average of three goals per game this month, one of the hottest attacks on the continent is not going to stop.

In drought.

Martins (Photo: Reuters)

Ninth place: Inter (4-)

The big crash of the ranking: Inter have not scored four games in a row, have won only once in the last seven games, and worse, look at Napoli and AC Milan in the table from below.

Although Narazuri has a missing game and only two points less than the rivals, they are in very bad shape and the ability of Lautro Martins, who interrupted in the last game in the form of almost two months without a goal, is worrying.

So despite the bad results and home losses, how is Inter still in the top ten?

Simona Inzaghi's team is enjoying at least for now because of the doubt.

She was the best team in Italy for many weeks, she has a deeper and higher quality staff than her rivals at the top, and also against Liverpool she was good despite the loss.

Liverpool's experience in the stands did make the difference, but until the first goal in the 75th minute, Inter were more dangerous.

It was Inter's first knockout game in the Champions League in about a decade, and from that loss it can only learn.

Sub game season.

Jiro celebrates against Inter (Photo: Reuters)

Eighth place: Milan (new entry)

Olivia Giroud played nine seasons in England, scoring in local and international finals, winning the World Cup, finishing as runner-up in the Euros, and despite the entire list of achievements, probably the biggest game to be signed in his name came in the Milan uniform.

The Frenchman stepped into the shoes of the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic, scored twice in three minutes in the last quarter of an hour and turned a loss into a victory that reopened the championship battle.

The striker has been vilified many times during his career, moving on the wide scale between underrated and overrated, but no matter how the Rossoneri season ends, he has already made his mark at the club.

Although Milan has declined a bit since then with two draws in the league and 0: 0 in the first game of the Cup semi-final against the city rival, but in the triple battle with Inter and Napoli, it achieved the most significant result this month and it needs to leverage it.

If Giro continues to score, Brahim Diaz continues to star and Sandro Tonali continues to dominate the midfield, a championship will not be a bad word.

Purchasing players are just part of the revolution.

Obmiang and Torres (Photo: Reuters)

Seventh place: Barcelona (new entry)

Three months ago no one believed it would happen, but Barcelona today are one of the top ten teams in the world, and their debut in the rankings they earned thanks to improved offensive ability under Xavi compared to the uninspired football introduced in the Ronald Koeman era.

The era of the Koman era, Memphis Depay, was pushed onto the team bench, and was replaced by acquisition players Adama Traore, Fran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Obmiang.

The striker from Gabon was already in a sharp retreat at Arsenal, but now it seems all he needed was a change of mood.

With five goals in six appearances, Obmiang exceeds all expectations.

Barcelona scored a quartet four times in February, including against renowned teams such as Atletico Madrid, Napoli and Bilbao, who a month earlier had knocked them out of the Copa del Rey.

Xavi manages to get the most out of his link-up: Frankie de Jong once again looks like a senior player, Pedri played played back to being fresh and also Gabby contributes on the offensive side.

The new coach also manages to make a contribution from players who seemed erased: Osman Dembele starred against Bilbao despite the contempt whistles from the crowd, Luc de Jong continues to score and contribute from the bench, and Danny Elbas also shows that even if he is not the player he was a decade ago, he is still able to burn wings.

Barcelona are still battling for a place in the top 4 in Spain, but they look much better than their rivals for the battle.

After a terrific start to the season, the Catalans could suddenly finish in third place and possibly even win the Europa League.

More on Walla!

Koeman: "Laporta wanted to get rid of me, I did not get time like Xavi"

To the full article

The game that will get him into the season?

Lukaku celebrates with Lawton (Photo: GettyImages, Michael Regan)

Sixth place: Chelsea (1+)

When she is in great turmoil following the announcement by Roman Abramovich that he has decided to sell the club, the European champion manages, with great difficulty, to achieve the results.

The Blues made amends for the 2012 World Cup loss to clubs with an extra-time win over Palmeiras, and missed an opportunity to lift the League Cup after a penalty shootout, despite having equal strength for Liverpool throughout the match.

Mason Mount provided some huge misses, and it was precisely at these moments that the question arose as to what would have happened if the two pioneers left on the bench, Romulo Lukaku and Timo Werner, had enough confidence.

The German scored a double and cooked for the Belgian in a 2: 3 hard-hitting Lawton in the Cup a few days later, and while this is not an impressive result to say the least, this game could change Chelsea this season.

The Blues have scored significantly less than the two teams above it, and if Werner and Lukaku manage to produce a streak and improve their numbers, Chelsea will not degenerate into the top 4 struggles and could strive to reach the Champions League semi-finals.

More than default?

Asensio (Photo: Reuters)

Fifth place: Real Madrid (1-)

The Spanish league leader continues to achieve the results and maintain the gap at the top, but something squeaks.

Real have only conceded twice in six games in February, but have also scored just five.

Carlo Ancelotti's team was a disappointment in Paris, achieving a narrow 0: 1 over Rayo Vallecano thanks to a magic moment from Vinicius and Karim Benzema, and the 0: 3 over Alabs was not particularly reflective and was achieved with lukewarm ability.

The bright spot, as mentioned, is a collaboration between Benzema and Vinicius that develops from month to month, but Real has a hard time shining as in previous months.

Marco Asensio has established himself as the third rib on offense and at times looks pretty good, but he feels like a default given his opponents ’weakness for the spot.

Although Real still have a chance to beat PSG after losing 1-0 in France, the absence of the yellowed Casimiro is expected to be noticeable and could be decisive.

Maybe now will come the opportunity for Federico Valverda, who is a bit stuck in place this season, to prove he is the face of the team link for the coming years.

More on Walla!

Real Madrid ready for PSG: "Vinicius and Benzema have reached an amazing level of connection"

To the full article

Enjoying together and waiting for Neymar.

Messi and Ambape (Photo: Reuters)

Fourth place: Paris Saint-Germain (2+)

This month, more than ever, it was hard to figure out who this 2021/22 PSG is.

The French were superior against Real Madrid, but that week they absorbed a trio from Nantes at half-time.

On the plus side, Killian Ambape has risen to new heights with extra-time winning goals against Ran and Real, and his collaboration with Lionel Messi has also looked better recently.

The two celebrated with a quintet against the outgoing champions Lille, Messi cooked for Ambape a pair against Saint-Etienne, and together they showed that the foundations for success in the most important enterprise of all have already been laid.

Against the Blancos, PSG looked better in all parts of the pitch and especially in the link-up, where Marco Verratti impressed in front of the Spaniards' legendary midfield.

On the other hand, PSG finished their way to the cup already in the quarterfinals, and the collapse in the first half in Nantes also came like a thunderbolt on a clear day.

Neymar had already managed to shrink to 3-1 at the start of the second half, but his negligent penalty miss missed the momentum.

With Ambape and Messi at their peak, Paris are still waiting for the Brazilian to recover.

In the goalkeeper position, it appears that this month Gianluigi Donaroma has gained momentum over Kaylor Navas, and it is possible that by the summer the Costa Rican will realize that he will no longer be able to get the goalkeeper jersey back.

More on Walla!

Paris Saint-Germain professional director: "I feel Ambape will stay"

To the full article

Premier season is not easy.

Ofmakno (Photo: GettyImages, Joosep Martinson)

Third place: Bayern Munich (1-)

Every season there is a game or two in which Bayern Munich suffers a surprising league loss, and it is usually also possible to go over it in silence because stumbles happen, but the feeling is that the problem this time is deeper.

Similar to the five they absorbed against Mönchengladbach this season in the cup, even in 4: 2 to Bochum it was impossible to ignore the serious problem that Julian Naglesman has in defense.

Injured Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels have already been forgotten, and it now appears that the Bavarian defense is a herd without a shepherd.

The spotlight is mainly on Dayo Ofmakano, who was substituted in the half after absorbing a quartet from Bochum.

I will not be in a hurry to say that the Frenchman who arrived this season from Leipzig is a flop, I do not rule out the option that in the future he will even be one of the top five brakes in the world, but at the moment the acclimatization season at the top European club leaves scars.

Ofmakno is not the only culprit.

Nicklas Zola, who has already signed for Dortmund for next season, is far from his peak, and it seems that the absence of Leon Gorczka's link also leaves Yuzua Kimich too lonely at the back link.

At the same time, Naglesman is experimenting with offensive lineups we have never seen before in Munich - with Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Koeman, Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski all opening up together.

For a local championship this will suffice in the absence of a worthy alternative, but against the greats of Europe?

The imbalance does not look promising.

Shield or brake?

Stones (Photo: TPS, Clive Brunskill)

Second place: Manchester City (1-)

Although there is an English team that is above it in the table, the reigning champion is still the favorite to retain the title.

It was enough to see her score nine goals in three days (0: 4 in Norwich, 0: 5 in Lisbon over Sporting) to realize that at any given moment she is capable of upshifting, but since then two particularly worrying games have come.

The Citizens' nemesis in recent years, Tottenham, has completed a season-long double, this time with an exceptional away win.

Young Min Sun who manages to crack Pep Guardiola's defense every game cooked up twice, Harry Kane saw his goal disqualified but still managed to end the game with a double including an unforgettable winning goal in the 95th minute.

As far as City are concerned, there are more embarrassing losses than Tottenham, but given the fact that these were the only points the Spurs have accumulated in a four-game streak, this loss is not too flattering for the Blues.

Then came a close victory over Everton, who were also far from impressive.

The Topiz look bad and are struggling against relegation, and yet City were just equal in strength.

The lead won thanks to a late and incidental goal from Phil Foden, when later came Everton's allegations of discrimination by the referee for touching a hand in the box that did not lead to a whistle.

On the pitch, Guardiola's new trick was to put Ruben Diaz, Americ Laport and John Stones together on the pitch, with the Englishman placed at right-back in place of team-mate Kyle Walker who came down to the bench.

Given Joao Censello's continuity on the left, it will be intriguing to see towards the final stages of the season whether this is a trend or whether Walker will be able to regain his place.

Liverpool at its peak.

Klopp celebrates with League Cup (Photo: Reuters)

First place: Liverpool (2+)

The first two months of 2022 have done a wonderful service to Jurgen Klopp's legacy at Liverpool.

After competing respectfully in January without Muhammad Salah and Sadio Mana, this month he got the Egyptian and Senegalese back and continued to close gaps from Manchester City.

Liverpool have won this month in every way possible.

The Reds came to Burnley’s pitch, a place where both Manchester United and Tottenham have stumbled in the last month, returning with a small 0-1 draw.

At San Siro against Inter, they managed to decide a fairly even game with two late blows and a 0-2 draw that probably closed a story.

On Leeds' perforated defense they managed to celebrate with a six, and also in the equal and great 0-0 against Chelsea in the League Cup final they managed to come out with the trophy thanks to the composure from the penalty spot.

Salah and Mana's fitness, Luis Diaz's immediate integration, the defense stabilizing and maintaining the level at the gate even when Allison is off - all point to a healthy system, a team that knows how to adapt to different situations, different pitches, different factories.

After a month in which Klopp's factory always seemed intact, now comes a particularly difficult game schedule. Tests against West Ham (B), Brighton (H), Arsenal (H) and Manchester United (B), all teams in half The top of the table, will give us a much better idea regarding Liverpool's candidacy to lift the 20th championship in its history.

• sport

• World football

Tags

• Liverpool

• Manchester city

• Bayern Munich

• Paris Saint-Germain

• Real Madrid

• Barcelona in football

• Chelsea

• Milan

• Inter

• multi.

  Leipzig