EUROPEAN NEWSPAPER REVIEW: Barcelona’s rout, heads to roll at Real Madrid, and Superheroes in Hamburg

Andy Mitten looks at what the European newspapers are reporting with gushing praise for Barcelona.

Barcelona’s 4-0 hammering of Real Madrid in the Clasico made every national front page in Spain, the tone of the headline dependent on the location of where the newspaper was published.

‘What a rout’ read the headline of Sport in Catalonia complete with a picture of Suarez and Neymar embracing after the Catalans’ fourth goal. ‘Lesson’ said its rival Mundo Deportivo while the Catalan language el 9Esportiu’s headline was ‘Four bars’ resplendent with an image of the four bars on the Catalan flag.

In Madrid, the tone of the cover of MARCA was less celebratory. ‘Bernabeu calls for heads to roll’ stated the cover in response to the howls of criticism for president Florentino Perez from the stands. Those very stands which applauded Andres Iniesta for his wonderful performance, a decade after applauding Ronaldinho’s brilliance.

The game was still making headlines on Monday with the Catalan sports tabloids delighting as much in Real Madrid’s angst as their own delight. The more cerebral Catalan daily La Vanguardia was evidently pleased by the global reaction to Barcelona’s superiority. The win even made the front pages outside Spain.

‘Galactic Barça’ read the front page of Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport and ‘Royal Barcelona’ declared L’Equipe’s cover in France, complete with a large photo of both teams standing side by side in front of a French tricolour.

There were other games in Spain this weekend and Atletico went ahead of Madrid into second after beating Real Betis away, but they hardly seemed to matter. The Clasico dwarfs everything.

At least the Spanish papers could celebrate the homegrown football they’d seen. In Germany the front page of BILD screamed “BOMBEN-ANGST!” on Wednesday morning. “Terror stoppt Fußball!” exclaimed the Cologne Express - headlines requiring little translation to convey the fear in Germany after the Nationalmannschaft’s friendly against Holland in Hannover on Tuesday night was called off. “Bundesliga on the edge” continued the Express, unsure if the weekend’s league fixtures would go ahead.

In the end, they did – although increased security measures resulted in long queues at many stadia, Borussia Dortmund kicking off 19 minutes late in Hamburg on Friday night. “HSV de-mystify helpless Dortmund” said the FAZ, as Bruno Labbadia’s men celebrated a convincing 3-1 victory, Lewis Holtby and Mats Hummels (own goal) adding to Pierre-Michel Lasogga’s spot-kick opener.

The German striker celebrated with a Superman t-shirt – a cheeky nod to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s recent Batman celebrations, much to the delight of the local Hamburg press. “HSV’s Superman defeats BVB’s Batman!” said the Hamburger Abendblatt. “HSV superheroes take Dortmund to the cleaners!” added the Morgenpost. But a more sober Süddeutsche Zeitung saw it differently, lamenting, “HSV destroy any hope that Dortmund could become a genuine rival to the mighty FC Bayern”, who travelled to Schalke on Saturday evening.

Following 196 arrests (SPORTBILD) in violent scenes outside the Veltins Arena, Kicker reported that “Schalke keep the pace until Bayern’s quality prevails” in a 3-1 win. “Bayern can win ugly, too” said the FAZ after the champions “showed they can easily overcome any opponent even without shining” (Süddeutsche Zeitung).

In his first game as permanent manager, André Schubert’s Borussia Mönchengladbach stretched their unbeaten run to seven with a 2-1 win over Hannover. “Raffael sweetens boss’s debut” said Kicker after the Brazilian scored an 84th minute winner.

Werder Bremen’s “rollercoaster season reached a low point” on Saturday (Süddeutsche Zeitung) as they were hammered 6-0 by Wolfsburg. “Wolves in goal mood” observed the FAZ, whilst BILD poked fun at Bremen’s record-breaking 54th Bundesliga own goal.

Bayer Leverkusen’s purchase of Javier Hernandez is a strong contender for bargain of the season after the striker scored twice in his side’s 3-1 win away at Eintracht Frankfurt. “Chicharito cleans up” said Kicker, “€11 million pays for itself – the Mexican is the man of the hour with 12 goals in 15 games”, added BILD.

Events in England also caught the attention of the German press who have been following the exploits of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Jürgen Klopp closely. “Klopp has English football at his feet” said SPORTBILD after “Klopp’s raiding party tore City apart” (FAZ) following Liverpool’s 4-1 triumph at the Etihad. SPORTBILD hailed Schweinsteiger as Manchester United’s “man of the match” in their 2-1 win at Watford and also reported on Chelsea’s interest in Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

L’Équipe responded to English fans’ rendition of La Marseillaise at Wembley on Tuesday with a simple “Thank you” written in English on Wednesday morning’s front page. The prospect of the national anthem being played in traditionally separatist Corsica caused controversy in the run up to Ligue 1’s first ever Corsican derby between Bastia and Ajaccio (1-2). In the event, Paris Match reported that the French anthem was not booed.

Tributes to the dead were also paid in Marseille – the southern city traditionally hostile to Paris culturally and socially, as well as in football. On Tuesday, L’Equipe reported on a “Nous sommes Paris” banner hung from a bridge near the Stade Vélodrome by the Ultras Marseille. The OM players posed with the banner ahead of their 2-0 victory away at St Étienne on Sunday evening. Elsewhere, “PSG widened the gap” at the top (Le Monde), “returning to good old habits” (Le Point) in a 2-1 win away at Lorient.

In Italy, the cover of Monday’s Gazzetta dello Sport celebrated Internazionale’s 4-0 with a picture of Jonathan Biabiany and the headline: ‘Biabiasi. Inter 30 and more. Four goals and first place. After seven 1-0 victories, the Nerazzurri win 4-0 against Frosinone. The Frenchman who was stopped by a heart problem opens the scoring. Battle of the Stadio San Paulo next Monday’.

Their opponents will be Napoli, now in second, in one of the most atmospheric Italian stadiums. Napoli meanwhile won again, beating Verona 2-0 away and the pink paper found space on their cover to write: ‘Higuain – Insigne: Sarri dominates and catches La Viola in second place.’ Fiorentina could only draw against Empoli, but Serie A is tight. Juventus - remember them? - continued their good form after a terrible start by beating AC Milan – remember them too? – thus leapfrogging them to move into 6th.