From rewarding the best, to high-drama between two big egos and shocking upsets galore, this midweek featured everything for everyone in the wide world of soccer.
This week, FIFA named their best in the world, the Mourinho-Pogba saga reached new heights and the best teams suffered surprising results around the top leagues in Europe.
Wind down from a busy week of action with another midweek edition of 90 Minutes’ Top Five.
1. Broken duopoly
For the first time in three years, someone not named Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo was named “The Best” by FIFA.
On Monday, the distinction for 2017-2018 went to Luka Modric, Golden Ball winner at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League winner who was chosen over Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.
If the FIFA awards take into account the entirety of the 2017-2018 campaign including national team competition -which they do- it’s hard to argue against a player who not only won or challenged for the top trophies, but was instrumental in his teams’ success.
Modric’s award is a testament no only to his own prowess, but to the effect of the World Cup in these types of recognitions. In a year in which Ronaldo and Messi had underwhelming performances in Russia, the door opened wide for a new name to be etched in the sport’s top awards. Luka Modric was just that name.
2. Trouble at Carrington
After a disappointing performance over the weekend in front of the returning Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United got another dose of negativity this week.
In a matter of 24 hours, the relationship between Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba took on another dimension while the team regressed to another level on the pitch.
Between Mourinho’s public removal of Pogba’s vice-captaincy to Ed Woodward’s vote of confidence in Mourinho and a stunning loss to Derby County in the League Cup, whatever little momentum the Red Devils had built quickly turned back into more scrutiny and drama.
Between Mourinho, Pogba and Woodward, something has to give. For United’s sake, they better hope it’s not too late already.
3. Round 1
This week also marked the beginning of a delicious one-two punch of marquee games between the Premier League’s best so far.
In the first of two games in four days, Chelsea drew first blood by eliminating Liverpool from the League Cup on Wednesday, ending the Reds’ perfect start to their season across all competitions.
As expected from two elite sides, the game was tense, it was close and left little room for mistakes. And naturally, it took a moment of absolute brilliance from a world-class player to be the difference in a 2-1 affair (more on that later).
The Blues may have taken the first battle, but the most important match comes Saturday when they face off again in London for control of the Premier League title race.
4. Best of the rest
If you’re a fan one of the top two teams in La Liga, you may want to skip ahead a little.
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For the first time since 2015, both Real Madrid and Barcelona lost in the same matchday. But the notable part of this Wednesday double-whammy is not just the result. Both elite teams were destroyed by their opponents, Sevilla and Leganes respectively.
On the other hand, Atletico Madrid seems to be waking up just in time, earning a second straight league win against Huesca, 3-0. For all the clamoring for offensive production from Atletico fans, Diego Simeone’s side has scored seven goals in the last three games.
The week was not forgiving for another European elite, this time in Germany. Bayern Munich dropped their first points of the season thanks to a surprising draw with Augsburg, while Borussia Dortmund gained ground with a 7-0 annhilation of Nuremberg and Schalke sank deeper at the bottom of the standings with another loss at Freiburg.
In Italy, Inter continues to earn dramatic victories, hanging on to beat Fiorentina, 2-1. Napoli’s revival continues with another commanding win against Parma, 3-0, and now leads the chase behind Juventus’ who stayed perfect after beating Bologna.
5. Goal of the week
So, about that moment of brilliance from Eden Hazard…
How about this scintillating dribbling by three defenders before putting one past Alisson with six minutes left in the game at Anfield?
In a week that featuring a heavy load of absolute golazos, it doesn’t get any bigger or better than Hazard’s game-winner against Liverpool.