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Written by Niv Rai, 09/29/2024
This month, domestic soccer leagues restart, including the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and more. Additionally, the international leagues such as the UEFA Champions League and Nations League are beginning.
So far in Europe's top domestic league in England, the reigning champions Manchester City look to continue their 4 year winning streak against upcoming contenders and 2 time runners-up Arsenal. Haaland for Manchester city continues to break records scoring 10 goals in 5 consecutive matches managing back-to-back hat tricks. In last weekend's clash the all important game between both contenders ended in a controversial draw with a red card awarded to Arsenal. With this game the rivalry between both sides continues to heat up as the season unfolds. This season large teams such as Manchester United have continued to see disappointing results against Liverpool, Tottenham and Brighton whereas teams like Liverpool with new management have seen great success currently standing at 1st place 1 point ahead of Manchester City.
Altercation this weekend between Manchester City's Erling Haaland (Blue) and Arsenal's defender Gabriel after a 2-2 draw. Haaland told Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta to "Stay humble" after a 97th minute equalizer from Manchester to end the game a draw.
In Germany, top goalscorer Harry Kane and Bayern Munich continue to dominate the Bundesliga with 25 goals in 5 matches. The side stand first on the table and are rechallenging the league title against current undefeated champions Bayer Leverkusen. The clash between both contenders ended this weekend in a 1-1 draw continuing the Bundesliga race. Still, the table is extremely close, where only 4 points separates 7th place SC Freiburg from 1st side Bayern Munich.
Moving south to Spain, the title race between champions Real Madrid and Barcelona kicks off with Barcelona under new management of Hansi Flick taking 1st place after 8 matches scoring a total of 25 goals. Starting this season, Real Madrid have another record breaking transfer of Kylian Mbappe coming from PSG. Mbappe continues to make regular impacts with 7 goal contributions in 8 games. Madrid with an amazing lineup including 3 ballon d’or contenders of Vini Jr, Kylian Mbappe, and Jude Bellingham are looking likely to defend their La Liga title.
In Italy in the Serie A, Juventus, Milan, Inter, Torino, Napoli, Empoli, Lazio, and Udinese are all looking to take the top spot and challenge Inter Milan's title, where all clubs are separated by only 2 points. In a weekend clash last week the title winners inter milan lost 2-1 to runners-up AC milan with a last minute winner from Matteo Gabbia continuing the infamous Milan derby and rivalry.
Moving on to international football, in the opening weekend of the Champions League, Bayern Munich started strong, scoring 9 goals against Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia placing them at the top of the table based on goal difference. Future fixtures next week include: PSG vs Arsenal and Leverkusen vs AC Milan. In the UEFA Nationals league, a route into the 2026 world cup begins, with Italy, England, Greece, Georgia, Denmark, and Portugal all starting with 100% win rates securing first in each of their respective groups. After a disappointing loss in the EURO final against Spain this summer, England under a new manager are looking to bounce back internationally winning all games since the tragic loss. Qualifiers for the 2026 North American FIFA World Cup continue to kick off later next month. Canada have already secured their spot in the world renowned tournament as one of the hosts, and are looking good after a 2-1 win against the USA.
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