Chelsea and Lukaku too good for Arsenal, Ronaldo drama at Juventus, Nice-Marseille brawl, more

What a weekend of fun we had across Europe! There were big wins for Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City in the Premier League, a big fight in Ligue 1 that will resonate for some time, and some off-field drama involving Cristiano Ronaldo’s status at Juventus. Also we saw Barcelona, Man United and Real Madrid battle to frustrating draws, a bit of good luck for Atletico Madrid and some mild panic (maybe) for Bundesliga front-runners Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

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It’s Monday, and Gab Marcotti reacts to the biggest moments in the world of football from the past weekend in Europe.

Lukaku looked like an instant fit for Chelsea as Arsenal free-fall

Thomas Tuchel likely couldn’t have asked for a better debut from Romelu Lukaku, his pricey new attacking juggernaut.

It’s not just the fact that the Belgian international road-graded and rag-dolled Pablo Mari and Rob Holding seemingly at will, or that he held up play and dispensed service just as advertised. It’s the fact that Chelsea went from having Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic in the front three to Lukaku and Kai Havertz without missing a beat. When you can seamlessly swap in two players with entirely different characteristics and maintain your tactical shape and pressing patterns more or less seamlessly, that’s a “W” for any coach.

– Report: Lukaku scores, Chelsea ease past Arsenal
– Olley: Pressure’s on Arteta after Arsenal’s summer spending

Defensively, Chelsea were largely untroubled, bar a few occasions after the break, and in midfield, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho looked in control as usual. Chelsea seemed equally comfortable with or without the ball, and it felt as if they could turn it up several notches seemingly on command. Whatever else you think of Tuchel, his ability to impart huge amounts of tactical knowledge in a short period time (like he did at Paris Saint-Germain) is impressive. The challenge now will be making the right decisions in terms of man management and game management for the rest of the campaign.

Of course, some will point out that it’s hard to tell where Chelsea’s prowess ends and Arsenal’s deficiencies begin.

Lukaku was superb in his second debut for Chelsea, but what really stood out was how Arsenal failed to change their approach to defending him. Mark Leech/Offside/Offside via Getty Images

Most disconcerting to me was how unprepared they looked in dealing with two basic bread-and-butter Chelsea threats. Marcos Alonso and Reece James are attacking wing-backs — you need to make allowances for that, whether by having a central midfielder drop into the backline and your full-back come across, or by having a winger track back or, in some cases, your holding midfielder go wide. Far too often Arsenal did none of those things, particularly on Kieran Tierney’s flank, and he was far too exposed against James, who notched a goal and an assist.

– Weekend review: Lukaku, Depay stand out and Kane returns

The other was the ball into Lukaku. The number of times Chelsea found him not through the air, but with bog-standard north-south balls along the ground, was frankly disconcerting. Yes, he’s big and strong and if your central defender tries to cut in front of him, there’s a real risk that he’ll turn you. But that’s why you have another plan, whether by dropping a central midfielder to help in front or by putting more pressure on the ball up the pitch, which, I guess, is what Mikel Arteta was trying to do. Only none of it happened.

In Arteta’s defense, there were a number of absentees, from Thomas Partey to Gabriel, from Ben White to Martin Odegaard (who was registered too late for kickoff after his move from Real Madrid). But these were tactical flaws, not just shortcomings in terms of individual quality (though there was plenty of that too).

Arteta continues to talk of a spirit that “can’t be broken” and remains bullish. He’s right to do so; getting depressed does nobody any favours and obviously, there are deeper issues in terms of how this squad was put together, which is why he can’t be the only scapegoat. But what Arsenal need now is an improvement of performance in their next outing — improving results will be tough given they’re playing Manchester City — cutting out some of the basic errors that have cost them dear thus far. After that, it’s Burnley and Norwich, and if things still don’t turn around by that stage, it will get very ugly very quickly.

Juventus drop points, Ronaldo benched… but ‘nothing to see here’?

Gab Marcotti analyses the transfer rumours surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo and explains how this saga might conclude.

From the moment the lineups were announced, there was a single talking point in the Juve-sphere ahead of their game away to Udinese: why was Cristiano Ronaldo benched?

The club said it was a “shared decision,” with Ronaldo and coach Max Allegri deciding that he should not be in the starting lineup as this would have been his first game since the Euros, and he wasn’t quite match-fit yet. Meanwhile, club official Pavel Nedved insisted there was no backstory and it had nothing to do with his future.

– Report: Ronaldo denied game-winning goal by VAR as Juve draw

There are two reasons few bought his explanation. One is that (as clubs often do) if you’re going to bench someone like Ronaldo, you normally brief the media the day before or even that morning, just to take the sting out of the speculation. The other is that there was the small matter of Ronaldo’s Instagram post (the one that mentioned Juventus zero times) and the El Chiringuito report.

Afterward, Allegri said the benching was his decision: “I figured it’s very early. Like many other players, he’s not yet at 100 percent. Against Udinese we needed quick forwards who could run behind … so I told him to sit out and he was fine with it.”

Is the speculation over? Probably not. For the reasons outlined in my column last week, it’s unlikely this will go quiet just like that. Ronaldo is too big, and there is too much money involved. But equally, unless he decides he wants to leave and can find a club willing to fork out a fee — maybe not quite the roughly $30m Juventus need to break even on his amortization, but not nothing, either — odds are he’ll still be a Juve player come Sept. 1.

As for the game itself, Juve’s night was marked by two dreadful errors from Wojciech Szczesny, which resulted in two goals conceded. You can’t legislate for individual mistakes, especially ones this craven, so you move on. Paulo Dybala, still waiting for a new contract, looked very sharp and Juve showed plenty of mettle. The midfield remains an issue, but it should improve once Manuel Locatelli starts, rather than merely coming off the bench.

After the ugliness of Sunday night, we need answers about Nice vs. Marseille

Gab & Juls explain the punishments they’d like to see after crowd trouble forces Nice vs. Marseille to be abandoned.

We’ll see how French authorities deal with the fallout from the abandoned game between Nice and Olympique Marseille Sunday night. There’s a fierce rivalry between the clubs and matters came to a head after Marseille’s Dimitri Payet was struck by a bottle thrown from the stand containing the Nice Ultras. Payet threw it back into the stands (and then followed up by throwing another, for good measure), which led to a pitch invasion and a full-blown melee involving players from both teams as well as some Nice supporters.

– Ligue 1 clash abandoned as fans storm pitch

You can find the video if you want, but suffice to say nobody covered themselves in glory here.

Unless new evidence emerges, there have to be serious bans for a number of Marseille players, including Payet, Matteo Guendouzi and Alvaro Gonzalez — not to mention Jorge Sampaoli, who at one point, seemed intent on fighting anybody within reach. (It’s a good thing OM legend Basile Boli was around to keep him at bay.) And there has to be stiff action against Nice, of course. A points deduction and, sadly for their supporters, the closure of the Allianz Rivera for a good number of matches feels like the minimum here.

So let’s allow the investigators to do their thing. In the meantime, they also need to clear up what happened when Marseille refused to come back on to the pitch. Punishment for not coming back out — unless you can somehow prove that conditions had changed — seems excessive.

French football probably wants to forget this night of infamy, but the only way you move on is with a full, transparent investigation of the sort that holds everyone to account.

Man United show bad habits against Southampton

Julien Laurens plays the role of Paul Pogba’s agent and offers his best advice to the midfielder.

The problem with United last season was that too often, they were a side that allowed the opposition to set the tone. Sometimes, it was fine, because they have better players than most of their opponents. Sometimes, it was OK because this is a good counterattacking team with fleet-footed forwards and set-piece specialists. But other times, it became a problem because United couldn’t make their areas of advantage count, and that’s pretty much what happened in the 1-1 draw against Southampton.

– Report: Man United held to draw at Southampton
– Man United ratings: Greenwood to the rescue
– Ogden: Pogba has his future in his hands

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team are, on paper, much diminished following the departures of Ryan Bertrand, Danny Ings and Jannik Vestergaard and yet, rather than controlling the tempo, United allowed them to impose their frenetic pace on to the game, especially in midfield. And so Fred and Nemanja Matic ended up doing things they’re not very good at doing (simply put). Throw in Anthony Martial having a stinker and a bad mistake from Harry Maguire toward the end, one that could have cost them the game, and it was a Sunday to forget.

Read all the latest news and reaction from ESPN FC senior writer Gabriele Marcotti.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs to find a formula for games like these matches in which you can’t allow the opposition to drag you down to their level. Sure, things will presumably improve once Jadon Sancho begins to start regularly and once Marcus Rashford returns. And yes, maybe with different personnel decisions — like playing Mason Greenwood up front — this could have turned out different too. But the overriding sense is that, unless they score first and hit on the counter, it’s very difficult for United to dominate games like these. It’s been a bad habit they’ve had since Solskjaer arrived, and it’s one that’s difficult to shake.

Any positives? Paul Pogba showed, again, that he can be a difference-maker. But then, most of us already knew that …

Antonio who? Romelu who? Inter Milan start with a bang

Inter aren’t my preseason choice to defend their Serie A title. It’s not a knock on them; it’s simply the fact that, as I pointed out on the FC show, there’s a whole series of downgrades throughout the team. Edin Dzeko, Denzel Dumfries and Hakan Calhanoglu are unlikely to offer as much as Lukaku, Achraf Hakimi and Christian Eriksen. And Simone Inzaghi, especially in his first season, is unlikely to match Antonio Conte’s second season.

That said, they were devastating out of the gates against Genoa, winning 4-0. Admittedly, they’re a side who aren’t very good to begin with and, on top of that, are largely incomplete, but still, as the old cliché goes, you can only beat what’s in front of you.

– Report: Inter off to hot start, score four vs. Genoa

When you score twice in the first 15 minutes, things suddenly get a lot easier, but give Inzaghi credit for insulating Inter from a lot of the off-the-pitch problems they went through this summer. Also: keep an eye on Stefano Sensi. Injuries limited him last season, but he could be a real value-add this season, whether in a more advanced position, like on Saturday, or in midfield.

Liverpool’s Elliott shows that labels are just that

With goals in back-to-back Premier League games, Janusz Michallik says Jota has to start vs. Chelsea.

Last week I talked about how Liverpool might fill the void left by Georginio Wijnaldum. Sure, Fabinho is now free to play in midfield, but you still have to deal with Jordan Henderson (who is a year older), James Milner (who turns 36 in January), Thiago Alcantara (who has barely started half his club’s league games over the past two seasons), Curtis Jones (who is still young) and the duo of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita who, for different reasons, have contributed little.

– Report: Jota, Mane score in Liverpool win
– Liverpool ratings: Henderson, Alexander-Arnold superb

Given how demanding (and important) the midfield is in Jurgen Klopp’s set-up, how far Liverpool go this season would largely depend on how often he can find a viable trio out of the names mentioned above, but Saturday’s 2-0 win over Burnley introduced another candidate into the mix: 18-year-old Harvey Elliott.

You may remember Elliott as the youngest player ever to appear in a Premier League game when he came on for two minutes for Fulham against Wolves in May 2019, aged 16 years and 30 days. Back then, he was a slight winger and that’s the position he’s mostly played since, including last year’s loan spell at Blackburn. But against Burnley, he was in a midfield trio with Henderson and Keita and flourished.

I have no idea if this is where he will make his career, but let it serve as a reminder that, especially with young players, we too often get stuck on labels and forget that footballers are there to be molded.

Real Madrid endure wild night vs. Levante

Alejandro Moreno dives into Vinicius Junior’s performance in Real Madrid’s draw with Levante.

For the neutral, Sunday night’s 3-3 draw between Real Madrid and Levante was entertaining. For the Madridistas, not so much. Real Madrid took a 1-0 lead in the first half (Karim Benzema setting up Gareth Bale when he probably could have finished himself) and, interestingly, Isco (despite being out of contract, despite his peculiarities) was running the show in midfield. It’s evidence that Carlo Ancelotti will work with what he has and nobody will be frozen out.

– Report: Real fight back at Levante in six-goal thriller
– Real ratings: Vinicius Junior the ‘super sub’ stands out
– La Liga on ESPN+: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S. only)

Then came the defensive horror show (coupled with a general lethargy at the other end) that saw Levante go 2-1 up (the second was a good finish, sure, but note how Lucas Vazquez totally loses Jose Campana). Vinicius Junior came on and equalised, and you expected Madrid’s winner… but instead, another defensive blunder and Levante were ahead again, before another Vinicius goal — this one a sublime finish — levelled it at 3-3. It stayed that way even after Levante went down to 10 men and had to put an outfield player between the posts.

You don’t expect players like Casemiro, David Alaba or Nacho to make these sorts of errors, and you expect it even less when they all come in one game. My guess is that this will concern Ancelotti less than the general drop in level and intensity after the break, when Madrid seemed to stop playing for a good 15 minutes or so. Amid the positives (Isco and Vinicius having already equalled his goals total from last year’s Liga), that’s the one negative to worry about.

Abraham delights Mourinho and Roma

Unlike the guy who (in some ways) replaced him at Chelsea, Tammy Abraham didn’t score on Sunday in Roma’s 3-1 win over Fiorentina. But he did just about everything else, setting up two goals, hitting the woodwork, tying up defenders and providing a continuous and physical threat behind the back-line. A “handful” is what you’d call it, in layman’s terms.

– Roma off to winning start in Serie A

It’s exactly what Mourinho wanted from him, and the prospect of Abraham teaming up with 20-year-old Nicolo Zaniolo (who was harshly sent off) has Roma fans dreaming big. The game did set up nicely for Roma since Fiorentina keeper Bartłomiej Dragowski was sent off in the 17th minute. But as Mourinho pointed out, they performed better 11 vs. 11 and 10 vs.10 than they did with a man advantage.

As ever with Mourinho at this stage of his career, you’re not sure what you’re going to get over the long term — it’s not lost on anyone that his relationships tend to go south after a couple years, sometimes sooner. But for now, he’s hitting all the right notes and clicking with the Roma fans, and Abraham is a big part of that.

Barcelona stumble and Koeman faces Messi issue

Alejandro Moreno shares his thoughts on Barcelona’s 1-1 draw vs. Athletic Bilbao in LaLiga.

A week ago, many of us were full of praise for Barcelona’s first Lionel Messi-less league performance (and a 4-2 win) against Real Sociedad. On Saturday, they traveled to San Mames, to take on another quality side in Athletic Bilbao, and it was a wake-up call.

Against an opponent who, despite a bunch of absentees, were definitely fired up — partly by the return of supporters, partly because, well, it’s Athletic Bilbao — Barca struggled not just to impose themselves, but to get out from the back. Some will say that Eric Garcia — who was told before kickoff that his grandfather had died — should not have played. Well, he did, and he was poor. Things got worse when Gerard Pique had to come off after half an hour.

Dan Thomas is joined by Craig Burley, Shaka Hislop and others to bring you the latest highlights and debate the biggest storylines. Stream on ESPN+ (U.S. only).

Inaki Williams, who seems to do everything well except finish, could have had a hat trick. As it happened, somehow, Barca were still in the game late on and could even have escaped with the three points. Memphis Depay scored a great goal (and missed what looked like an easier chance shortly thereafter) and Frenkie De Jong hit the crossbar, but a draw was a more-than-fair result.

– Report: Barcelona battle to 1-1 draw
– Barcelona ratings: Depay, De Jong lead the way

After the match, Ronald Koeman was asked whether Barca’s opponents feel more confident knowing facing them now that Messi is gone. “It’s true. I don’t like to keep talking about this, but he’s the best in the world. Rivals are more fearful facing a team with Messi. You notice he’s not there. We know this, but we can’t change it,” he said.

Questions like those are lose-lose for Koeman. The only way to answer them are either by lying or by sounding like Captain Obvious (he chose the latter). The sooner he can get enough out of his team that he’s not asked about Messi, the better. And in Bilbao this weekend, they took several steps back.