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Hello! Barcelona gave us a lesson in banishing demons yesterday.

Available soon:

🌟 Raphinha and Barca shine

🍕 When pizza hit Fergie in the face

🔀 Major seasonal changes in MLS?

🏠 Plush cushions in Madrid

Raphinha revived: Brazil’s treble shows Barca’s individual and team improvement

Barcelona does not have a proud history against Bayern Munich. They had lost six in a row against the Bundesliga, including that infamous 8-2 defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2020 Champions League. You have to go back to the semi-finals of the 2014/2015 competition for the last time the Catalans won one against Bayern.

But with Hansi Flick, the man responsible for dishing out that 8-2 humiliation, now in the Barca dugout and led by a revived Raphinha, Barcelona roared to a 4-1 victory yesterday.

Over the past two summer transfer windows, Raphinha has been one of the players Barca wanted to listen to offers. On Tuesday he spoke about the “disrespect” he experienced on social media this summer when Barcelona pursued Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams. On Wednesday he scored a hat-trick and led his team to victory. Quite a turnaround.

The 27-year-old symbolizes the progress made under Flick. In addition to the collective leap forward under his smart leadership, individuals have also shown marked improvement. Perhaps no more than the Brazilian, who has scored seventeen goals (nine goals, eight assists) in thirteen games this season.

Operating on the left wing or as a number 10, Pol Ballus explains how the Raphinha feels liberated under Flick, knowing that he will often play 90 minutes and will have plenty of opportunity to showcase his skills.

Barca courage

That newfound confidence was perhaps best reflected in Raphinha’s second goal: he drove into Bayern’s defense and then fired a shot into the corner of the goal with his weaker right foot (above).

In fact, all three goals came from bursting runs as he exploited the space behind the Bayern backline.

Our tactical expert Michael Cox explains that this was helped by Flick’s “almost comically aggressive” defensive positioning. Playing effectively on the halfway line, on top of the central midfielders, led to quick possession and allowed Raphinha to fire back.

With nine La Masia graduates helping Barça banish their Bayern demons, Raphinha summed up the state of play nicely. “It’s time to forget the past and think more about the present we have,” he said.

And the future? That means a trip to the Bernabéu on Saturday to take on Real Madrid and Ballon d’Or favorite Vinicius Junior – fresh from his own Champions League hat-trick. How brave will Barcelona’s defensive line be then? This will be fascinating.

Haaland finds a new way to score

Elsewhere in Europe, Erling Haaland drew comparisons to Zlatan Ibrahimovic with his acrobatic, improvised finish (above) in Manchester City’s 5-0 stroll to victory over Sparta Prague (with their centre-backs literally running to their own goal at times to to lure the opponents). Czech side). Even watching it in slow motion, it’s hard to understand how Haaland contorts his body to reach the ball, let alone direct it towards the goal.

Liverpool continued their good start under Arne Slot, with their 1-0 win against RB Leipzig their eleventh win in twelve games this season. It’s the club’s best start to a season in 132 years and our forecasts give them a 79 percent chance of progressing straight to the last 16. With Aston Villa they are at the top of the Champions League table.

🎙️ Liverpool face Arsenal on Sunday – a match that already feels seismic for the Gunners. Our team discussed it in the latest Handbrake Off podcast.

News overview

Battle of the buffet: The day United and Arsenal had a falling out and Fergie was hit by a pizza

(Photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)

There is no longer a rivalry in the Premier League like Arsenal versus Manchester United in the early 2000s. The pair were the best in the country, led by Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Games were characterized by brawls, brutal challenges and sheer disgust. Or as former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein put it: “If you look at it today, there would probably have been about four or five red cards.”

Their meeting on October 24, 2004 – 20 years ago today for the observant among you – can certainly be described as tasty, although perhaps a bit on the nose.

Arsenal’s Invincibles attempted to go 50 games unbeaten, but a generally volatile affair ended with a 2-0 win for United, a massive full-time failure in the tunnel and Ferguson being hit by a flying slice of pizza.

The perpetrator remained a mystery for years, until Cesc Fabregas threw up his hands in 2017 and admitted that, as a fresh-faced seventeen-year-old, he was the infamous pizza flinger.

The Athletic has put together an oral history of the Battle of the Buffet, retold by those who were in the middle of the action.

My personal favorite quote comes from former United and USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard about teammate Wes Brown: “It was a sea of ​​people. Just a sea. Too many people in too small an area and you didn’t know who was who. It was crazy. Wes likes a piece. Wes was able to start a fight in an empty house, so he certainly enjoyed it.

Season change? MLS plots start to sync with Europe

Big changes could be happening in the MLS. The league is considering switching the calendar to a fall-spring season, reports Paul Tenorio.

Why? MLS executives believe the changes would help maximize the league’s participation in the global transfer market by synchronizing the U.S. window with Europe.

It could also help bring more attention to the MLS Cup playoffs, which under the existing schedule compete with MLB, college football, the NFL, NBA, college basketball and NHL for viewers. The changes could be implemented as soon as after the 2026 World Cup.

What do you think of this?

Who are your neighbors?

Move into La Finca, dubbed ‘Madrid’s Beverly Hills’, and you can count Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Toni Kroos among your nearby residents. However, you’ll need some change to secure a spot in this exclusive private development, with luxury apartments starting from €2.5 million ($2.7 million, £2.08 million) to more than €10 million.

Private swimming pools, gyms, saunas and cinema rooms are part of the territory. Interestingly, Mbappé actually lives in the property that once belonged to former Madrid striker Gareth Bale – putting green and all.

Around the Athletic FC

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And finally…

Do you think you’re out of luck? Consider Angelholms FF, the Swedish sixth-division club that went an entire season undefeated and didn’t concede a goal – and still finished second. Fortunately, they can still make up for it in the promotion play-offs.

(Photo: Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty Images)