European Newspaper Review

‘Super Decepcion’ read the headline on Saturday’s Sport following Barçelona’s 4-0 defeat in Bilbao the night before against Athletic Club in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup. The second leg is on Monday at Camp Nou. Can Barça come from 4-0 down at home, especially as they’ve now conceded eight goals in their last two games? “The defensive errors are castigating the team,” opined the front page of Sport and the tone was similar across all the Spanish media – and even gleeful in Madrid.

It also contrasted sharply with three days previously when Barça won the European Super Cup 5-4 against Sevilla in extra time. The scorer? Want-away winger Pedro, who wasn’t in the starting line-up despite the absence of Neymar. With the score at 4-4 (Barça had led 4-1), the Canarian came on as a late substitute as the scene was set. After the defeat in Bilbao, Sport hammered Barça’s players with Adriano awarded 2/10 and Ter Stegen, Dani Alves and Rafinha just 3. Lionel Messi, Pedro and substitute Andres Iniesta were given the best marks – 5/10.

Real Madrid are still playing friendlies ahead of La Liga starting next week – two weeks after the Premier League - with real stories thin on the ground.

In France, Ligue 1 is well underway and the French papers continued to be dominated at the start of week by Marcelo Bielsa’s dramatic decision to quit Marseille minutes after his side’s opening day defeat at home to Caen. AFP suggested that a contract extension had been agreed but had been altered by CEO Philippe Pérez. Bielsa stressed therefore that his decision to quit had already been made before the defeat. Rumours in l‘Equipe and Mercato365 that Marseille had contacted Jürgen Klopp, were quashed by Bild on Wednesday.

A dispute over the number of relegation/promotion places between Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 seems to have been settled, according to l'Equipe. Back in May, the French Football League (LFP) decided to reduce the number of relegated teams to two, a decision welcomed by the top French clubs as ensuring greater stability. Furious Ligue 2 clubs responded by asking the French Football Federation to overturn the decision, to which the FFF acquiesced last month. On Wednesday, 18 of the 20 top flight clubs quit the Professional Football Clubs’ Union (UCPF) in protest and requested that France’s highest administrative court, the Conseil d'Etat, repeal the decision. On Friday, l'Equipe reported that the court had upheld the decision. The number of relegation places remains at three.

l'Equipe also confirmed on Tuesday that Mathieu Valbuena had completed his move from Dinamo Moscow to Lyon, whilst FranceFootball ran an online feature on Ligue 2’s pitiful attendances, where only Metz (14,000), Nancy (15,000) and Lens (30,000) average 5-figure gates.

Germany’s papers were full of reaction to the DFB Pokal first round, which featured the usual “giantkillings”. Berlin’s Taggesspiegel mocked FC Union fans for singing about becoming German champions as their side lost 2-1 away at Viktoria Köln. In Bavaria, Süddeutsche Zeitung criticised Ingolstadt manager Ralph Hasenhüttl’s substitutions as the Bundesliga newcomers lost 2-1 to 4th tier SpVgg Unterhaching, whilst the Abendzeitung München reported on Bayern Munich’s “laborious” 3-1 win away at 6th tier FC Nöttingen.

Division 2 Karlsruhe SC lost a dramatic Swabian derby away at division 5 Reutlingen. Karlsruhe conceded three penalties and were reduced to eight men as they lost 3-1, the manager having also been sent to the stands. Captain Daniel Gordon summed up his feelings to Bild: “when it’s s***, it’s really s***”.

Hamburger SV had an even worse week. First, the Bundesliga giants were dumped out of the cup away at fourth division Carl Zeiss Jena (3-2), a result described by Tagesspiegel on Monday as “classic Hamburg”. Then, on Tuesday, Bild reported that a rucksack belonging to HSV director Peter Knäbel and containing sensitive documents relating to players’ salaries had been found in a Hamburg park. Bild then revealed on Wednesday that an official HSV fan t-shirt actually features choreographies by fans of Hertha Berlin. Things are likely to get even worse this weekend; Hamburg’s opening game is away at Bayern Munich, where they have lost 8-0 and 9-2 in recent years. “Classic Hamburg”, indeed.

RB Leipzig’s tie away at VfL Osnabrück was abandoned after the referee was struck by a lighter thrown from the stands. Osnabrück had been leading 1-0 with 20 minutes to go. On Friday, Die Zeit reported that the DFB had awarded Leipzig a 2-0 win, despite the club’s offer to replay the match. In more worrying news, Welt reported on a gunshot being fired at Hertha Berlin’s team bus during their trip to Armenia Bielefeld.

Finally, online fan culture magazine Faszination Fankurve reported on BVB fans’ decision to boycott their away game at TSG Hoffenheim next month after being charged €55 for a ticket. The hardcore fans will attend the club’s reserve fixture instead.

Finally, in Italy, La Gazzetta Dello Sport carried an interview with former AC Milan legend Giovanni Rivera where he opined that Roma stalwart Francesco Totti is one of the best ever players in the history of Serie A. He also claimed that Mario Balotelli “could be on the same level as Messi or Ronaldo if he really put his mind to it.”

As regulars at Anfield will attest with the striker who is likely to move, Balotelli has shown little evidence of putting his mind to anything productive in the last year.