This 1-0 defeat must be a huge disappointment for Napoli. You can look at it in different ways of course. Napoli had a great chance within 2 minutes. And in the first 20 minutes they should have scored at least 2-3 goals. If you don't, you're bringing the trouble on yourself. But if Napoli reach their level as they can play, then we get to see a nice game in Naples. I wouldn't dare say who the favorite is now after the first game. AC Milan was very good in the league match against Napoli when they won 0-4. Would Benfica have no chance at all in Milan at Inter?

An unnecessary deficit at the moment for Newcastle United, but they have come back from a beaten position more often. With a current 6th place, Aston Villa also has good chances of reaching European football. As a sub-top team in England, it is difficult to qualify for European football. Where in any other country you could participate in the top 4 in the final ranking, in England you have to be happy if you don't get relegated, that's how strong the competition is. And the competition seems to have become stronger, especially in terms of width. But that also has everything to do with the television money and sponsors.

Arsenal's last success was about 20 years ago, but they were really good back then. They also reached the final in the CL. I can remember that they even became undefeated champions without losing a single match. But Manchester City was nowhere to be seen then, they only got good after the capital injection of the sheikh from the Middle East. But Guardiola has made it a nice team. Individually, PSG have many more stars, but City play exactly the way guardiola wants football to be played. Still, the title of Arsrenal is certainly not a certainty. Difference with City is 5 points. 1 defeat and a draw and they are level again.

In any case, the statistics from the past are no indicator of the showdown between Manchester United and Sevila tomorrow night. Sevila's current form is the biggest problem, or are they just not good enough maybe? In any case, this is no longer the Sevila that won the El a number of times. And luuk de Jong is not part of that team either. United will play the first game at home, they might put up a win there like 4-0, then the game in Sevila will be just a formality. But Sevila has often defeated big teams in away games in the past. A draw would be a good starting position.

All teams at the top all have a glorious past, but Inter Milan and Manchester City have taken a giant step towards the semi-finals. Who can actually stop this Manchester City team? Bayern Munich was dangerous just after the break yesterday, but failed to score a goal. Otherwise it is 1-1 and you get another real game. Important for City that they managed to score the 2nd and 3rd goal. That pass from Haaland at the 2-0 was also of great class. That also indicates that he is absolutely not selfish, because he could have gone for his own success. It's a pleasure to turn to City's machine, and the machine's name is Guardiola.

A poor performance from Barcelona, but what impact does that have? Barcelona has long been eliminated from the European tour, so they cannot be bothered by that in the preparation. And in the league they are a truckload of points ahead of Real Madrid, which, by the way, did not even manage to catch up. Real Madrid themselves lost 2-3 at home. That is typical for Real Madrid this season, they are very volatile. Not a shadow of the team that managed to win the Cl last year and easily became national champion.

Union Berlin is having a great season so far in the league in Germany. But they are also still active in the Europa League, and they have very good opportunities to reach the final. German football is back on the map thankfully. And Bayern Munich is also very vulnerable this season. Lots of draws and defeats. If Borussia Dortmund has a chance to become champions, it is definitely this season. But Bayern is still the leader and of course also the big favorite for the title, but the lead has shrunk enormously. This week there is the match between the numbers 18 and 17 on the list, Schalke 04 and Herta Berlin. The ideal opportunity for Schalke to come from last place with a win.

Top 4 that will no longer work, but Newcastle United is a team that does not have a lot of experience yet. It is possible that they will drop some points, but 12 points is just too much. 6 points might have been manageable. Finishing 4th doesn't suit Liverpool's form at all either, as Liverpool are having a dramatic season so what better reflection than not finishing in the top 4? Liverpool is unthinkable from the CL, but this season it was quite hopeless against Real Madrid in the eighth final. It looks like we won't see any surprises in the European games from qualifying, or maybe a team could still qualify through the FA cup.

We will soon experience the new matches in the CL. I am very curious, especially about the match between Manchester City and Bayern Munich, we can expect a few things there. I don't know if Bayern Munich will line up a completely different team tonight than in the league. And I don't mean in terms of players, but in terms of level. If Bayern reach the level of the competition, they will be played off the mat by City without a chance and it can also become 4-0. That would be a shame, then there would be no tension at all in Munich. City on their way to their first CL title since the club's existence.

Reportedly, Atalanta suffered a deserved defeat against Bologna. Statistics such as ball possession and shots on goal do not always say everything, nor do the number of corners mean much. In percentage terms, the chance that you will be able to score a goal from a corner is also quite small. But this Atalanta no longer has the magic of a few seasons ago, when they once finished 2nd in the league and almost reached the semi-finals of the CL. I don't know where it will go in the league, but qualifying for the CL will be a very difficult story in this way.

I'm not quite sure what to expect from the Manchester City vs Bayern Munich match. Manchester City clearly seems to be in a better fast than Bayern Munich. And the Haaland weapon, that is a large weapon that Bayern Munich does not have at its disposal. I suspect he will make the difference in both games. Of course, they were able to get used to Haaland at Bayern Munich for a few seasons, so the defenders of Bayern Munich have some experience with the attacker who was on a roll at Borussia Dortmund at the time. But at City he has managed to lift himself to an even higher platform than he already had at DOrtmund.

The battle for the world championship was already decided after 1 round. Then we already saw how stable the RB car was compared to the other cars. Of course you also need a good driver to win that victory. Could Perez also become world champion on his own, for example? What would happen if Verstappen drove for Mercedes and Hamilton for REd Bull, for example? I myself wonder how Verstappen would do in the Mercedes car. I would also like to see Verstappen and Hamilton together in a team again, but that is a uoption that will never happen I suspect.

Gijs Brouwer is currently playing a match against Francis Tiafoe. First set won by Tiafoe and also in the 2nd set Tiafoe is quickly ahead and it seems to be over. Tiafoe is a player that we will hear a lot from in the future, I think. We see that the clay court season has opened, but many players still have the tournament in Paris in mind. The world's top in particular is preparing to shine there. We hear very little from Nadal at the moment.

Harry Kane has been playing almost all his life at Tottenham Hotspurs, hasn't he? I wouldn't see why he would suddenly switch to another club like Real Madrid or another club in Spain/Italy. From a sporting point of view, he is of course improving, because Tottenham Hotspurs is no longer the team that can compete with the absolute top in Europe. Every year the question is whether you can qualify for the Champions League. But Kane has spent his whole life in London, I can imagine that you don't want to leave that behind just like that. Besides, I don't think he earns too bad at the Spurs. He would also be a great fit for a club like Real Madrid or Barcelona, but in Italy you have more choice if you want to play in a top team.

From a logistical point of view, it doesn't seem very nice for the participating teams either, you have to move your own over a considerable distance. there are of course enough rest days between the matches, but it seems to me that players find it more pleasant to stay in 1 place during a tournament period. It was well organized at Qatar, but you automatically get that when you organize a tournament in a fairly small country. Whether it was a smart choice is another question. And the 2026 World Cup is still a few years away, we haven't even started the qualifying period of that tournament yet. A lot can change in teams in 3 years, of course. Players who are still playing in the 2nd division can suddenly be the basic player of a country in 2026.

Feyenoord has been at the top from the start and PSV and Feyenoord have not had any serious chances for the title this season. I think the turning point was in the Ajax - Feyenoord match with a 1-1 score, in which everyone expected Ajax to push through to equalize with Feyenoord. After all, Feyenoord's lead was only 3 points at that time. Then Ajax had the opportunity to repair the backlog, but unfortunately that did not work out. What else can you say about the competition? PSV, Ajax and AZ are all unstable, and no one is consistent enough. The fact is now that either Ajax or PSV will grab next to a CL ticket. That is a big blow from a financial point of view.

It was also a dangerous game for Arsenal, no one wins at Liverpool just like that. Even though Liverpool are having perhaps their worst season in the last 10 years at the moment. The big winner of this weekend therefore seems to be Manchester City, which itself had no problems at all with a 4-1 victory yesterday. Of course, they also have their sights set on winning the CL. We also suddenly see Aston Villa back in 6th place with a goal difference of +1. You wonder how that is possible with that goal difference. Nevertheless, a very good performance from this team.

If you've seen Barcelona play the last matches, you don't have the idea that the best team in Spain is playing football here. It could have been much better I think. Real Madrid have often delivered nicer matches, but were sloppy in their completion and they also had to miss Benzema for a while. When he was active again, he also had to find rhythm. The fact that he had to miss the World Cup was not noticeable from his form afterwards. I don't know if it is such a successful season for barcelona. They have both been eliminated in the CL and EL and in the cup they have had a big beating from Real Madrid with a 4-0 home defeat. Do you have to be satisfied with this season? I think you can have your doubts about that.

In the end it ended 2-2, but maybe Arsenal shouldn't be dissatisfied with this. After all, Salah missed another penalty, otherwise it would have been 3-2 for Liverpool. Still a costly loss of points for Arsenal, but nothing to worry about yet. If Manchester City manages to win the overdue game, you will have a very exciting title race. Man City does have a slightly better goal difference, which can also be of decisive importance later in the competition. Newcastle and Manchester United have scored exactly the same number of points, but United's goal difference is not good. Only a balance of plus 7 in total. How realistic is it to think that Newcastle might qualify for the Cl next season?

A very important win by Lazio yesterday against Juventus, which should have benefited from Atalanta's loss of points earlier in the weekend. And for Lazio, the points were also important because it is now more firmly in 2nd place. What a miracle goal that Inter conceded in the last minutes of the game. I don't know if it was deliberate, but it was a nice goal from Salernitana. AS Roma also performs well with a 3rd place and is also active in the quarterfinals of the EL next week. Inter have had a very mediocre series in the last period, they have to watch out that they don't lose 5th place so that they are condemned to play the EL and not CL.