Indeed, that is bad for Rakitic, but if Rakitic joins an elite Saudi league team then the distribution of European players in other Saudi league teams will not go well. I believe a league will be more competitive if good players are not only at one dominating club and this is a good step taken by mediocre Saudi league teams to get additional strength from European players. Previously Yannick Carasco also joined Al-Shabab but the results were still not optimal and therefore Al-Shabab added depth to their squad by bringing in Rakitic.

Rakitic is 35 years old and actually even if there was an offer from a Turkish league or Ligue 1 team, it would still be good, but unfortunately that offer has never been heard of until now. The decision has been made by Rakitic to continue his football career in Saudi Arabia and he at least gets a relaxed league without having to think about future titles and most importantly can help this team improve and also get a big salary.

Imagine that Real Madrid put Dani Carvajal as a center back because Rudiger was injured in the previous match and that's all because the defender option wasn't available until now. I mean, Tchouameni is absent from serving a yellow card penalty, Militao is rumored to be back at the end of March, Alaba is still injured and Nacho is left as a pure center back, isn't this a very messy situation?

I don't know who is to blame for a situation like this and again, the club management also made a strange decision when this winter they did not borrow a single defender to overcome this. I already know that the defenders are still injured but still believe in the current squad. I can't stop wondering how long Real Madrid will depend on miracles in the midst of this increasingly fierce competition.

I think if Real Madrid played with a complete squad I don't think their concentration would be so broken and in last night's match I also saw the moment when Rodrygo had to go down to the defensive line to block an attack from Atletico. Real Madrid's situation is really chaotic at the moment and in the next match against Girona and this will be one of the determinants of winning the La Liga title this season.

It is possible that after making this mistake, Juventus further improved their defense and many of Inter's opportunities were wasted. I think it's normal for a team to make a mistake and then fix it and that's good, but sometimes if you just focus on fixing that without developing your attack then it's no use. Juventus should realize they are one goal behind and they need to be more aggressive if they want to get a decent result against Inter.

What we see are two teams with different mentalities and I think Inter here is much more dominant even though they won with luck. Overall, Inter is in control of the title race this season and Juventus might be able to catch up if a team is able to beat the team. But the chances are very small and it seems quite impossible that any team can beat Inter.

Chelsea never seemed to learn from experience and repeatedly when they played Wolves they were always in danger until they finally lost again. The previous two meetings were always wins for Wolves and although Chelsea can always win at home against Wolves at Stamford Bridge, now this record has been broken for the first time for Wolves by beating Chelsea at home.

I think Chelsea's instability is still a problem that cannot be completely resolved and they should know that facing Wolves is currently not an easy thing for them. Chelsea may have been ahead from the start of the match but this advantage did not last long and in the end the score was reversed to become a 2-4 win for Wolves. Matheus Cunha also recorded a hat trick in this match and it was his first hat trick wearing a Wolves uniform. Chelsea had to drop to 11th position and Wolves rose to the top 10, what a tragic fate for this team from London with so much money invested but still often experiencing failure.

Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim share 1 point after the two only drew 2-2. It is not surprising that the result will still be like this considering that both teams have not won in the last 5 matches and it seems that anyone who bets on one team winning will lose their money. Most of the previous matches between the two teams only got a draw and there was no change at all to achieve victory.

If it continues like this, it is possible that either Wolfsburg or Hoffeheim will end this season at the bottom of the standings. They have lost what they showed at the start of the season and are starting to fall back into their old habits of slowly dropping down the table. The competition will be more tense considering the difference will be smaller than before.

The Choc des Olympiques derby was finally won by Lyon with a narrow score of 1-0 and Marseille again suffered bad results in the last few matches. Even though they are hosts, Lyon is actually not the favorite considering that before this victory they were still in the relegation zone and Marseille, who are actually quite good at being in 8th position, should be able to secure full points to overtake Reims.

But it seems like the prestige between the two big Ligue 1 teams has never subsided and Lyon doesn't want to waste this opportunity to beat Marseille at home. The only goal was scored by Lacazette in the 37th minute and after that no other goals were scored in this match. Now Lyon have been away for a while from the relegation zone by 3 points and they have to win again in their next game if they don't want Metz to put them in danger again.

Talking about Real Madrid and Manchester City, who is the best will certainly be a debate every season and I agree with you that Real Madrid is above Manchester City. Maybe from me the benchmark is of course Real Madrid's consistency over the seasons in winning the Champions League title and their quality did not decline one bit when they failed to win this title. Manchester City had everything last season and this season even with almost the same squad they will have much more difficulty facing Real Madrid with significant changes to the squad.

Bayern Munich is indeed good but sometimes the results do not meet expectations more than last season and I think Tuchel is the person responsible for all these situations. Atletico and Inter have become champions league regulars in the higher stages and perhaps Atletico, who is still with the same coach, Diego Simione, is still a real threat considering the aggressiveness of their players is at a different level in this competition.

It's a shame that such a big match only ended with a narrow score, even though it was an own goal. Inter won 1-0 against Juventus, even though I expected an exciting match from the two teams in the Scudetto competition this season but it seems that one of the determinants of the chances of winning this time has to end with a match like this. Federico Gatti was the player who scored an own goal in this match and put Inter ahead until the match was over.

Juventus should be able to equalize the score to make the match more lively, but it seems they also can't hope for it with statistics of only 1 shot on target in 90 minutes. I am actually quite disappointed with the game of both teams but however this result is very profitable for Inter and now they lead by 4 points from Juventus.

Liverpool's first nightmare was when Alisson and Van Dijk miscommunicated, resulting in a blunder for Arsenal's second goal scored by Martinelli and suddenly the atmosphere at the Emirates stadium was tense. Liverpool were devastated they missed the chance to win at home to Arsenal and instead tried to equalize but Liverpool had to endure a second nightmare after Konate saw a red card for fouling Kai Havertz.

Liverpool, who only played with 10 people, were unable to attack while defending and in the end, when Leandro Trossard came on as a supersub in the 74th minute, it only added to Liverpool's misery. Leandro Trossard scored an individual goal past several Liverpool players and it was a fantastic goal. Arsenal rose to 2nd place in the standings with 49 points and Liverpool remained at the top with 51 points. The difference between the two teams is only 2 points, but don't forget that Manchester City still has 2 postponed matches, which of course can lead them to the top of the standings if they manage to sweep the match with 6 additional points.

Still in the atmosphere of European player transfers, there are new arrivals in the Saudi league and they are certainly familiar with this great figure and yeah Ivan Rakitic has officially joined Al-Shabab. After spending his entire career in Germany and Spain, the former Schalke, Sevilla and Barcelona player finally started to think about ending his retirement by joining a Saudi league team. Ivan Rakitic will be in a competition with other European players such as Ronaldo, Benzema, Mane etc. and Ivan Rakitic's contract will end in 2025.

If you look at Al-Shabab's performance this season, it has dropped quite drastically and they really need to add depth to their European players so they can compete again with the elite Saudi league teams and I think the right decision was to choose Ivan Rakitic in this transfer. He is an experienced midfielder and there is no doubt about his quality. Even though his prime is over, at least at the Saudi league level he is still good enough to boost the team.

Source: https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1754399463073095818

Exciting news comes for The Gunners fans because their mainstay right wing defender from Japan, Takehiro Tomiyasu, has reached a new agreement with Arsenal. Takehiro Tomiyasu has signed a long-term contract and he will stay longer at the Emirates Stadium. This proves his love for the team from North London and with this deal there is nothing that can make him leave.

Previously there had been rumors that Takehiro Tomiyasu had been a target for Bayern Munich since last summer, but it seems that with this agreement all of that will disappear and Takehiro Tomiyasu is ready to welcome a long season with Arsenal. Takehiro Tomiyasu is a player who has a flexible position and apart from being able to fill in at wing-back, he can also act as a center-back by taking advantage of his height. Takehiro Tomiyasu has been part of Mikel Arteta's plans for several seasons and his good performance will certainly be maintained by the club and ward off all intervention offers from any club.

Instead of taking advantage of Girona's previous draw by winning, Real Madrid instead played a draw against Atletico and even though they only got one point, Real Madrid still topped the standings with a difference of 2 points from Girona. It should have been a 4 point difference if they had won against Atletico but Marcos Llorrente's goal denied them the victory that was in sight. Real Madrid repeatedly had opportunities but their finishing was far from expected.

Apart from that, Ancelotti's selection of players in the second half was also poor and instead of adding attacking type players, Ancelotti seemed to just want to play it safe with that slight advantage. Ancelotti should have included Vinicius instead of Dani Ceballos. The result was that with minimal defenders, Real Madrid conceded in the final minute because Atletico always attacked attacks through aerial passes and took advantage of the height of their players. Real Madrid had to accept this draw because with the limited options in defense they at least did not lose to Atletico.

Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko ensured Leipzig's win at home with a score of 2-0 and this was a win that was eagerly awaited by everyone in the team. We know that in the last 4 matches Leipzig always had difficulty winning and playing in front of their fans, this time they succeeded in completing that mission. Statistically, Union Berlin lost badly to Leipzig and they did not move in this away match. Leipzig dominates with 64% ball possession and Union Berlin only 36%, the difference in squad depth is too big.

Even though from the start it could be said that Leipzig had won with a two goal lead, Union Berlin had to suffer a loss in the 73rd minute after one of their players received a red card and their hopes of shortening the score or equalizing the score were immediately dashed. Union Berlin must continue to fight in the next match because they have now failed to increase the point difference from Koln.

Yeah, there was Le Parisien there and also two quite famous journalists too, I forgot their names but now Fabrizio Romano is also fueling this rumor. This news is getting louder because Le Parisien is so close to PSG, so this makes Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid even more likely. In fact, no team wants to lose their players for free, especially as we know that Kylian Mbappe is a star player with a market value of 180 million euros.

But on the other hand, Kylian Mbappe has not wanted to leave since last summer and wants to leave when his contract expires. So here the one who suffers the most is PSG because they won't get a penny of money after Kylian Mbappe left. But it seems that Real Madrid is not that cruel and will definitely give a bonus to PSG for keeping their target player for several seasons.

There is news that the official announcement of Kylian Mbappe's departure will be made next week and that is only news of his release and he will still be a PSG player until this season's competition is over. Indeed, that is the thing that is most worrying and if Kylian Mbappe still changes his mind then this will be the longest chapter of the transfer saga in history.

It's true that this is too fast, but if we look at the progress so far, I think it's enough to make Valencia one of the candidates who can secure a place in European competition. Maybe there are also those who doubt Valencia because they often lose consistency but this time I am very confident they can do it. Valencia came from bottom of the table to be in their current position and they managed to beat opponents who usually make things difficult for them.

I don't think it has to go to the European league because the conference league alone is enough for Valencia and its competition with Real Sociedad and Bilbao is worth looking forward to. Valencia's job is not easy, especially since Real Betis and Las Palmas are also scouting them. Consistency is the key for any team looking to win that spot.

Maybe the problem that Manchester United will face is the lack of alertness in defense which often causes them to concede goals. Andre Onana is also still a questionable goalkeeper and he often concedes goals when Manchester United is ahead. This was seen in the previous match against Wolves, even though Manchester United was ahead but had to be held to a draw by Wolves and had to go through the match with a dramatic victory. Rashford and Hojlund are back on fire and it would be a shame if these players' goalscoring efforts would be tarnished again by Manchester United's poor defending.

On the other hand, West Ham cannot be said to be a stable team so far because they often experience draws and against Sheffield they were not able to win convincingly. This will be an exciting match that cannot be missed and I also agree with you, I will favor Manchester United to win and I hope Andre Onana doesn't make too many mistakes later.

Today Napoli have to prove that they are one of the strongest teams in Serie A and cannot continue to suffer less than convincing results in every match. Napoli's match against Verona will last in about 30 minutes and I think playing at home could be a very promising result for Napoli to secure an additional 3 points and at the same time to overtake Fiorentina.

There is no other reason for Napoli not to win because they are very slumped in 9th position in the standings with only 1 win from the last 5 matches and of course they must immediately end this bad trend. Walter Mazzari is fully responsible for the current performance of his squad and if he fails to provide the best results for Napoli then at the end of the season his name will definitely be removed as Napoli coach. Meanwhile, Verona will still fight hard so as not to return to the relegation zone and it is possible that they will not give up at all against Napoli, especially since they know that Napoli is not as strong as last season.

Leipzig has thrown away so many points in the last 5 matches and they must win this time to host Union Berlin at home. I think Leipzig will still win despite the bad results they have had so far and if they lose again then they will be knocked out of 4th place in the standings more quickly. Of course that's not what they want and therefore they have to win no matter what.

Competition is getting tighter in the Bundesliga with a margin that is not much different and after knowing that Frankfurt failed to win last night, Leipzig certainly cannot waste the opportunity in today's match against Union Berlin. On the other hand, Union Berlin, which is struggling to stay away from the relegation zone, certainly does not want to lose and Leipzig must be ready for the pressure exerted by Union Berlin. My prediction is that this will be a narrow win for Leipzig but does not rule out the possibility of a draw. So I will bet BTTS for this match.

Valencia is getting closer to the opportunity to win a place in one of Europe's competitions next season and its victory over Almeria last night was certainly very important to continue progressing to a better position. Valencia is now very different from the previous season and they continue to make good progress this season by occupying 7th place in the standings. It's not easy for Valencia, who every season always finishes in the lower middle position and this season is the start of their revival.

There are still so many games left this season and they have to maintain their current performance in order to continue to achieve their desired targets because it is time for one of the big La Liga teams which has been in decline to change and give the best to its fans. Valencia must first unseat Real Sociedad who are 2 points away at the moment and another win against Las Palmas would be great. On the other hand, Valencia can make good use of Real Sociedad's instability so far.

It is appropriate that Ronaldo's impact will be this big for the development of the Saudi league. Al-Nassr did not waste their money to sign one of these football GOATs and his exposure will also become wider in the following years. The Saudi League has never been quiet since its arrival, plus many European players have also joined this league.

Maybe I think if the Saudi league wants to be seen as more, then every team in the Saudi league must get an equal share of European players because otherwise this league is like a farmers' league because the gap is very large from the elite teams in the Saudi league. I think the bosses in the Saudi league should pay more attention to other teams and if there are investors who try to invest in other teams, it will certainly be very helpful in getting European players. So here I mean it would be fairer if each team had the names of European players who were quite popular, that would be very good for the Saudi league in the future.