WHAT WE LEARNED: City slickers, resurgent Real and bullish Bayern - European leagues round-up

Two giants of the Spanish game might have been battling it out in the Madrid derby, but even the pull of a mouthwatering Real vs. Atletico clash was superseded this weekend by the remarkable events at the Etihad Stadium. Arab News examines scintillating City and the rest of European football’s major talking points this weekend.

Manchester City’s dismantling of Chelsea has sent huge shockwaves throughout English football, with the rest of Europe feeling the aftershocks. It was a blistering performance from the reigning champions, but also one that led many fans to question if Maurizzio Sarri has lost his fingertip-grip on the Chelsea dressing room.
“I don’t know. You have to ask the club,” the embattled Italian said when asked if he feared being fired just eight months into a three-year contract at Stamford Bridge.
But we have been here before with the west London club, the players seem to have far too much power. To outsiders, it appears that if they dislike a manager or the way he sets up his teams, they collude to get him sacked.
Think Roberto Di Matteo in 2012, months after he won the club’s first — and, to date, only — Champions League trophy. Think Jose Mourinho in the wake of the Eva Caniero scandal. Think Antonio Conte after the Italian led them to an unlikely Premier League title.
Player power is on the rise in Europe’s top leagues — often not for the better — and Chelsea’s squad have recently been at the vanguard of a toxic culture of drastically underperforming to get a manager sacked. Let us hope Chelsea stick by Sarri.
Meanwhile, Aguero’s second hattrick in as many games kept the City title charge a nose ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Despite a robust performance from Tottenham to beat Leicester at Wembley, it still looks like a battle between Guardiola’s City and Klopp’s Reds for glory come May.

Courtesy : Arab News