📰 Table Of Contents
Bundesliga
- Biggest win: FC Schalke 04 1-6 RB Leipzig, 1. FSV Mainz 05 5-2 VfL Bochum
- Shock result: SV Werder Bremen 2-1 VfL Wolfsburg
- Star Performance: Karim Onisiwo (FWD: 1.FSV Mainz05) – Three goals vs VfL Bochum
A full week of action across the Bundesliga has solidified the title race in the top flight of German football as one of the biggest talking points across the continent in the 2022-23 season, with perennial title winners Bayern Munich continuing to slip as the Rückrunde heats up in the wake of the 2022 World Cup.
Julian Nagelsmann’s Bavarian giants were held to just a single point in both of their fixtures on matchday 17 & 18, with a pair of 1-1 draws against 1. FC Köln (H) and Eintracht Frankfurt (H), keeping Bayern to just three points from a possible twelve since football has returned to the country.
But the biggest results of the weekend go to both RB Leipzig and 1. FSV Mainz 05. Marco Rose’s Die Roten Bullen battered hapless FC Schalke 04 in midweek during a 6-1 thrashing in Gelsenkirchen which helped keep the domestic giant rooted to the bottom of the table, while Mainz finally returned to winning ways on Saturday against relegation-threatened Bochum who came into proceedings last week on a three-match winning run.
48 – Karim Onisiwo scored his first hat-trick in the Bundesliga today and has now registered more goal involvements than any other Mainz player in the top-flight (48 – 29 goals, 19 assists), breaking Yunus Malli’s record (47 – 29 goals, 18 assists). Leader. pic.twitter.com/9TQ68dwkdu
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) January 28, 2023
Mainz forward Karim Onisiwo bagged a hat-trick in that result which certainly goes down as the performance of the round, while other notable results elsewhere came with SV Werder Bremen ending their five-match losing run against the league’s form side in VFL Wolfsburg whose six-match winning streak was put to an end, Union Berlin besting capital rivals Hertha BSC (2-0 W) in a weekend derby, and Borussia Dortmund giving Xabi Alonso’s revitalized Bayer Leverkusen a moment of pause (2-0 W). With all of the sides in the top six failing to taste defeat, the gap between first and sixth has been trimmed to just five points as this season looks to be one of the most hotly contested Bundesliga campaigns in recent memory.
La Liga
- Biggest win: Unión Deportiva Almería 3-1 RCD Espanyol de Barcelona
- Shock result: Cádiz Club de Fútbol 2-0 Real Club Deportivo Mallorca
- Star Performance: Marcos Acuña (LB: Sevilla Fútbol Club) – One goal/one assist vs Elche Club de Fútbol
Barcelona fans will feel as though this could be the year they could return to the very top of La Liga under one of their own in manager Xavi as the Spanish giants got a little help from lady luck as well as Real Sociedad after Barça labored to a 1-0 away win against Getafe to jump to a five-point lead over bitter rivals Real Madrid who were held to a scoreless draw at home against the visiting Basque outfit.
🔟 | THAT WAS PERFECT!
Marcos Acuña v Elche:
👌 124 touches
⚽️ 1 goal
🎯 2 shots/1 on target (0.14 xG)
🅰️ 1 assist
🎁 2 big chances created
🔑 5 key passes
👟 83/90 accurate passes
🦵 5 tackles
📈 10 Sofascore ratingMagical display by Sevilla’s left-back! 🔥#SevillaFCElche pic.twitter.com/Xu93s4u7nt
— Sofascore (@SofascoreINT) January 28, 2023
It was relatively business as usual across the weekend program in Spain overall, with UD Almería earning the biggest result in terms of goals scored when they ran out 3-1 winners against Espanyol, while Sevilla seems to have turned a corner finally in 2022-23 after winning three of their last four and climbing into mid-table on the back of a comfortable 3-0 home win against visiting Elche, thanks to one of the weekend’s top performers in left-back Marcos Acuña who chipped in with a goal and an assist across an influential display.
Ligue 1
- Biggest win: Stade Brestois 29 4-0 Angers Sporting Club de l’Ouest
- Shock result: Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Stade de Reims
- Star Performance: Franck Honorat (RM: Stade Brestois 29) – One goal/two assists vs Angers Sporting Club de l’Ouest
Turning to France and the weekend’s action across Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain was unable to extend their lead at the top of the table beyond the three-point gap between themselves and high-flying RC Lens after Reims earned a point in the capital thanks to a stoppage-time strike from on-loan Arsenal youngster Folarin Balogun who bagged his eleventh of the season five minutes into added time to keep Reims on their undefeated run under young manager Will Still.
11 – Folarin Balogun has scored 11 goals in Ligue 1 this season for Reims, the most of any player aged 21 or under in Europe’s big five leagues:
11 – Folarin Balogun
9 – Jamal Musiala
7 – E. Wahi, K. Kvaratskhelia, B Saka, G MartinelliFlourishing. pic.twitter.com/iviArEt7q6
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 29, 2023
Only one club in the top seven managed three points at the weekend when Lorient bagged a win 2-1 in the Derby de la Bretagne against regional rivals Stade Rennais on Friday night in front of home support, with Lens (D), Olympique de Marseille (D), AS Monaco (D), and LOSC Lille (L) all also dropping points.
Stade Brestois did however send fans home in jubilant spirit when they smashed Angers 4-0 on Sunday to continue their ascension from the relegation zone in what was the biggest result at the weekend, with winger Franck Honorat putting in the weekend’s top performance during the result with three direct goal contributions (1 goal, 2 assists) as Brest officially saw daylight outside of the bottom four. Olympique Lyonnais, OGC Nice, Toulouse, and Montpellier also boast three-point hauls at the weekend, but all the talk remains whether or not if PSG can hold off Lens and Marseille at the top of the table.
Serie A
- Biggest win: Associazione Calcio Milan 2-5 Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio
- Shock result: Associazione Calcio Milan 2-5 Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio
- Star Performance: Michele Di Gregorio (GK: Associazione Calcio Monza) – Cleansheet vs Juventus
To close out the weekend round-up, we wrap up with Italy while looking at the full week of recent results in a 2022-23 Serie A season that continues to provide twists and turns at every corner as the top flight of Italian football has been fully rejuvenated, with giants Juventus foundering in the wake of their 15-point deduction while losing at the hands of Monza at the J Stadium on Sunday in one of a few shock results at the weekend.
AC Milan have conceded 4+ goals in consecutive Serie A games for the first time in their history. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/hQiRNDESqM
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 29, 2023
Sassuolo was another “lesser” side to get one over on the big boys with a massive 5-2 away win at the San Siro against AC Milan just days after Milan lost 4-0 on the road against Lazio in Rome while setting a club record by surrendering four goals in consecutive matches for the first time in their illustrious 123-year history. Inter bounced back from their loss against Empoli on Monday to beat Cremonese away from home at the weekend to remain second in the table, but Napoli’s win against Roma to bookend the weekend fixtures sees them maintain their 13-point lead at the top of the table.
