Victors and Vanquished: Lyon Players Celebrate Early Festivities as Atletico Madrid Crumbles

This weekend proved to be a crucial one in European football, with potential turning points emerging in the title races of England, France, and Spain. Some teams broke through goal droughts, while others continued to struggle, and a goalkeeper emerged as an unexpected hero at the opposite end of the pitch.

Here’s our rundown of the biggest Winners and Losers from the past few days:

Lyon have found themselves in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons lately, as manager Paulo Fonseca received a nine-month ban following a ROW with a referee. However, the team managed to secure a significant victory in their first match without him on the sidelines, and they were significantly rewarded for their efforts.

In an away game against Nice, who were sitting pretty in third place with four consecutive league wins, Lyon displayed solid defensive skills and struck twice within five minutes late in the second half, clinching a victory that brings them to just two points shy of the final Champions League spot.

Owner John Textor was so elated by the outcome that he video-called captain Alexandre Lacazette right after the match to inform the players in the dressing room that their bonuses would be tripled for this game.

Is this a sound choice considering the club’s severe financial woes, which led to a warning in November that they could face relegation if these issues aren’t resolved by season’s end? Probably not. Could impulsive decisions like this partly explain how the club has landed in its current predicament? Quite likely.

For players worried about potential relegation to Ligue 2, at least they can dry their tears with plenty of €50 notes!

In a dramatic turn of events, Atletico Madrid seemed to be in control against Getafe as they led 1-0 with just over five minutes left on the clock. Despite being mostly outplayed by their city rivals, they were ready to climb two points clear at the top of LaLiga. Then everything unraveled.

In a shocking turn, Angel Correa was shown a red card in the 88th minute, and shortly thereafter, Mauro Arambarri equalised. Just four minutes later, Arambarri scored again, transforming Atleti’s crucial win into a devastating defeat.

The ramifications of this defeat were heightened just hours later when Real Madrid triumphed 2-1 over Rayo Vallecano. Consequently, Diego Simeone’s squad is now trailing by a point behind both Madrid and Barcelona, with the latter holding a game in hand.

While the title race in LaLiga is heating up, the Premier League battle appears all but decided – if it wasn’t already – as Liverpool surged 15 points ahead. For Arne Slot, the only silver lining aside from Arsenal dropping points is that Darwin Nunez broke his seven-week goal drought in Liverpool’s 3-1 victory against Southampton.

Nunez has been a rare disappointment for Liverpool this season, struggling to find the net even more so than in what was an inconsistent 2023/24 campaign. However, on Saturday, he delivered with a powerful equaliser right at the start of the second half. This goal followed an impressive assist against PSG, suggesting the Uruguayan is beginning to fulfil his potential.

If that holds true, it would be monumental for Liverpool. With one of Europe’s most dangerous attacking trios in Mo Salah, Luis Diaz, and Cody Gakpo, who together have netted 61 goals across all competitions, an in-form Nunez would provide a more direct, physical threat that they sometimes lack when chasing goals.

Much like many strikers, Nunez’s confidence dictates his form. After securing his first goal in 11 matches, he could be on the verge of reigniting Liverpool fans’ dreams of a treble.

Despite being eliminated from both the Champions League and Coppa Italia – to teams they were expected to conquer – Juventus has clawed their way back into contention in the Serie A title race, recording five consecutive league victories. However, Thiago Motta and his squad faced a harsh reality check courtesy of Atalanta on Sunday.

Not only did they suffer a heavy 4-0 defeat on home soil, but they fully deserved it, as Atalanta amassed an expected goals (xG) of 3.76 from their 19 shots on goal. This was a proper thrashing in every way imaginable.

Historically, it was significant too, marking the first time Juventus has lost a Serie A home match by four or more goals since 1967.

The outlook is now quite dire for the Old Lady, with the club out of both cup competitions and well behind the top three in Serie A. If they fail to secure at least Champions League qualification, Motta’s future at the club could be cast into uncertainty.

In Poland’s second division, things have taken a turn for the surreal, with a team showing up with just three players on the bench and a reserve goalkeeper called up to play outfield due to a lack of substitutes. It was a dire situation for Kotwica Kolobrzeg, who found themselves down 2-0 against Polonia Warszawa with just 30 minutes remaining. How could they rally? Their options seemed severely limited.

However, with ten minutes left on the clock, after narrowing the deficit, backup keeper Kacper Krzepisz was deployed in an outfield role instead of their intended final substitute Kacper Obloj. In what seemed like a bizarre tactical move, Krzepisz ended up playing a key role in winning a penalty in the seventh minute of stoppage time, which was converted to secure a vital point that pulled them out of the relegation zone.

Kacper might need to say farewell to his goalkeeper gloves; a positional change could be on the horizon.

As Nunez thrived in England, Cole Palmer faced his own troubles against Leicester, continuing what could be his toughest stretch of senior career thus far.

This frustration was heightened as he had a golden opportunity to secure his first goal in nine appearances when Chelsea were awarded a penalty; however, he shockingly missed, breaking a remarkable streak of scoring 100% of penalties throughout his Premier League career.

His record of 12 successful penalties in a row was the longest unblemished record in league history. While he may brush off the loss of that streak, his inconsistent form should start to alarm both him and his manager.

Palmer enjoyed 17 goal contributions in his first 17 matches this season but has only managed three in his last 15, a puzzling statistic especially since he faced off against teams like Ipswich, Leicester, and Southampton, where he was expected to perform well.

Additionally, Enzo Maresca disclosed that Palmer had been ill with fever and diarrhoea leading up to the match, making it quite a week to forget for the struggling young star.

In most clubs, a manager reaching their one-year milestone wouldn’t raise eyebrows, but Watford operates differently.

This Sunday marked a significant achievement for Tom Cleverley as he became the first manager to last a year since Javi Gracia back in 2019. During Cleverley’s tenure, a staggering 10 managers have come and gone at Vicarage Road before reaching the 12-month mark.

Unfortunately for him, his celebrations were dampened as his team fell 2-1 to Millwall, but just managing to mark this anniversary is a milestone in itself.