Newcastle vs Man City

It's critical Xavi gets it right for Barcelona on the pitch, and let's just say he did it this weekend. PLUS: talking points galore around Europe.

But it looks like Napoli have managed to reload on the fly between Kvaratskhelia, Gio Simeone and [Giacomo Raspadori](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/271679/Giacomo-Raspadori) up front and Leo Ostigaard and Min-Jae Kim at the back, while also cutting the wage bill and bringing in some much needed transfer funds. [Sadio Mane](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/169797/Sadio-Mané) who is, you know, pretty good. From Atletico's point of view, there were some disappointing individual performances (Joao Felix, [Marcos Llorente](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/206474/Marcos-Llorente) and [Nahuel Molina](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/164826/Nahuel-Molina), with his silly red card, above all) and the result obviously stings (Villarreal are a direct opponent in the race for top four), but there were also encouraging signs that the back three can hold up. [Erling Haaland](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/253989/Erling-Haaland) hit the post and forced a tremendous one-on-one save from the excellent [Nick Pope](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/161715/Nick-Pope) before he scored to make it 2-1. [Monza](/soccer/team?id=4007), and you expect Neapolitan schoolchildren to learn both the pronunciation and the spelling of his name. Martin Odegaard, who scored twice, has found his feet and [Oleksandr Zinchenko](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/217482/Oleksandr-Zinchenko), playing fullback the Pep Guardiola way -- coming inside and playmaking -- offers a different dimension entirely. And if Leeds' forwards weren't running north-south at every occasion, [Kalidou Koulibaly](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/150312/Kalidou-Koulibaly) likely wouldn't have gotten two yellow cards for pulling back opponents. Stones didn't have a great game and [Ruben Dias](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/234878/Rúben-Dias) has been inconsistent in recent weeks. [Manchester City](/soccer/team?id=382) were 3-1 down against [Newcastle United](/soccer/team?id=361) at a rocking St James' Park, and it could have been worse, if the referee had given a penalty or [John Stones](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/157974/John-Stones)' collision with [Fabian Schar](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/179233/Fabian-Schär). And yes, [Kyle Walker](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/129358/Kyle-Walker) had a torrid afternoon against [Allan Saint-Maximin](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/193281/Allan-Saint-Maximin), but the good news is he only plays him twice a year. [Ferran Torres](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/265869/Ferran-Torres) started in his place) and especially Ansu Fati, effectively moving to a 3-3-4 formation. At this stage, you assume he's going nowhere because with Nico having joined [Valencia](/soccer/team?id=94) on loan, there's nobody else to provide an alternative to Busquets (and no, [Franck Kessie](http://espnfc.com/player/_/id/194711/Franck-Kessié) would have to reinvent himself to play that role.)