Man U Liverpool

After a clobbering like Liverpool's 7-0 win over Man United, what's a manager to do? Why are Real Madrid in trouble? ESPN's Gab Marcotti weighs in.

[Robert Lewandowski](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/125824/Robert-Lewandowski), [Pedri](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/250465/Pedri), [Gavi](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/323702/Gavi) and [Ousmane Dembele](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/229744/Ousmane-Dembélé) are Barcelona without four of their five most gifted players. Other than a few uncharacteristic wobbles (and a generous penalty, which [Ivan Rakitic](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/102251/Ivan-Rakitic) missed), Atletico were rarely threatened. [Serge Gnabry](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/178980/Serge-Gnabry) and Joao Cancelo out of the starting lineup). A [Wesley Fofana](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/270190/Wesley-Fofana) header had given Chelsea the lead -- greeted by fans mockingly singing "We scored a goal" -- and he wasn't going to relinquish it. [Thibaut Courtois](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/134283/Thibaut-Courtois) who had to come up big on two occasions (denying [Borja Iglesias](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/214995/Borja-Iglesias) and [Ayoze Perez](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/192133/Ayoze-Pérez)). And why did [Manuel Locatelli](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/217538/Manuel-Locatelli) come off for, ahem, [Leandro Paredes](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/153115/Leandro-Paredes)? And when the two biggest stars, [Karim Benzema](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/46858/Karim-Benzema) and [Vinicius](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/257039/Vinicius), have off days, it gets really tough to find a way through. They were somewhat absent-minded on the pitch, failing to close out the game when they had a chance, allowing Nantes to equalize twice (Gigio Donnarumma's poor day at the office had a lot to do with it) and then getting it done at the end. [Newcastle United](/soccer/team?id=361) have now gone five games without a win, so the perception is that they're on the slide and running out of steam. Then there's [Kylian Mbappe](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/231388/Kylian-Mbappé), making history (again) in Paris. [Cody Gakpo](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/249524/Cody-Gakpo)'s opener in the 43rd minute, the game had been a relatively close-fought affair that felt as if it could have gone either way. In [LaLiga](/soccer/league/_/name/ESP.1), [Barcelona](/soccer/team?id=83) snuck a win over [Valencia](/soccer/team?id=94) while [Real Madrid](/soccer/team?id=86) were frustrated by [Real Betis](/soccer/team?id=244), results that give Xavi & Co.