And then there was one. With five games played, Arsenal are the only team in the UEFA Champions League with an unblemished record. The Gunners' impressive 3-1 win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday saw to that, but what of the other results this week?
What can we read into Chelsea's confident 3-0 win over Barcelona? What does Liverpool's 4-1 capitulation at the hands of PSV Eindhoven -- at Anfield no less -- mean for under-fire Reds boss Arne Slot? And what on Earth was Pep Guardiola thinking when he named a second-string squad to face Bayer Leverkusen?
Read on as ESPN experts Julien Laurens, Sam Tighe, Rob Dawson and Gab Marcotti answer all the big questions from Matchday 5.
- Arsenal remain perfect in Champions League, firm up contender status
- Lindop: Liverpool's nightmare continues with UCL loss to PSV
- Dawson: City's squad issues were made apparent in Leverkusen loss
Q1. Will Guardiola come to regret fielding such an under-strength team? Manchester City's top-eight chances are slimmer, and they now face unnecessary pressure over their three remaining games against Real Madrid, Bodo/Glimt and Galatasaray. City also know first-hand the perils of dropping into that playoff round, having been eliminated last year by Madrid.
Marcotti: This was beyond weird. The only time you see this many changes is when there's a meaningless fixture or an early-round Carabao Cup game in which you secretly don't mind if you go out. I don't think there's a coach in the world, other than Pep, who would try to pull something like this.
Man City's next three games are Leeds United at home, Fulham away and Sunderland at home. It's not as if you need to rest for those. Nor was it a case of wanting to keep the second-string involved. When you make 10 changes, there isn't going to be any chemistry anyway. You're effectively telling the 10 guys coming in that they're reserves and nothing more.
I can only speculate, but my hunch is that there's something else going on that know about. Guardiola usually doesn't do stuff like this. Not necessarily anything sinister, maybe just some weird newfangled motivational technique, or maybe trying to send a message to the guys who lost at Newcastle United? Either way, it was a huge miscalculation, possibly prompted by the fact that Leverkusen had two regulars, Edmond Tapsoba and Robert Andrich, suspended for this game. (Or maybe he didn't notice that Erik Ten Hag had been sacked?)
In any case, life now gets needlessly complicated. Real Madrid away are next, followed by Bodo/Glimt away -- they may not be high up the table, but they play on a plastic pitch north of the Arctic Circle and the game is in January. For all Pep knows, he could be walking into a literal blizzard. The possibility of having to go into the playoffs (or, worse) is very real, and that means adding two more fixtures in an already congested calendar.
Mario Melchiot and Stewart Robson discuss Manchester City's struggles to get a win after their 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen.
Dawson: Guardiola made a mistake with his starting XI against Bayer Leverkusen and he admitted to it afterwards.
No one is saying he shouldn't rotate -- the packed playing schedule means he has to. The point is that he made 10 changes when it could have been limited to four or five, particularly with Leeds at home next up in the Premier League. The issue with City's performance was that there was no rhythm to it at all, though it shouldn't be a surprise when so many players were starting a game for the first time in weeks.
It was an odd decision from Guardiola because losing to Leverkusen has put unnecessary pressure on the rest of the Champions League campaign. They've a tough game against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu next month. If they lose that -- and they could -- they might need to beat both Bodo/Glimt and Galatasaray in January to give themselves a chance of finishing in the top 8.
Tighe: A glance at the result, and at Man City's rotated XI, may well produce a scoff, and it's an outcome that's made all the more galling by the fact Leverkusen heavily rotated too.
Clearly, taking Erling Haaland out of this team is not something City can get away with. He's scored 58% of their Premier League goals (14 of 24) and 50% of their Champions League goals (5 of 10). The over-dependence is concerning, but Pep likely felt the need to try and give him a break given the Norwegian forward is on course to clear 4,000 minutes this season (and then head into a FIFA World Cup). If not here, at home against an injury-hit Leverkusen, then when?
It should be noted, too, that the City team on the pitch really should have got this done. They registered 1.8 xG on the night, which is the same as Chelsea managed in their 3-0 win over Barcelona, and more than Benfica did (1.2) in their 2-0 win over Ajax. Tijjani Reijnders, Nathan Aké, Oscar Bobb and Rayan Cherki all missed chances of varying presentability. Haaland was subbed on to save the day and missed two more.
Laurens: I love Guardiola dearly, but his decision to rotate so heavily made no sense whatsoever. Not because City lost; their B team did enough and created enough chances to win and they will still qualify top eight regardless.
It made no sense because Guardiola has decided to completely change the way his team is playing. There's a new philosophy, a new system, and new things to teach. His strongest team is still learning it, and it was the wrong move to change everything for a Champions League match. I'm all for rotation, but not the whole team when you need consistency for the squad to learn the new football you want to play.
It was evident against Newcastle that City's new style hasn't clicked, and this could very likely lead to three defeats in a row when they play at home against Leeds this weekend. I am only kidding, but Tuesday was a reminder that, in Man City's current state of flux, Pep can't really play Pep roulette anymore.
Q2. In a battle between two previously perfect teams, Arsenal humbled Bayern off the back of a devastating second half, with Mikel Arteta's subs -- and the Gunners' depth -- changing the game. Are they the best team in Europe right now?
Marcotti: Probably. What's impressive to me is the way they can find different solutions. Yeah, we've all heard about the set pieces and the counter-attacks (and they scored that way too). But Arteta has a whole box of tricks he can rely on, and he has the courage to act. Taking off Bukayo Saka is a huge call because he's one of your two best set-piece takers and he's your biggest star (and a good egg all around). Yet Arteta had the guts to do it, and it paid off handsomely.
Arsenal beat -- comprehensively -- a team that had won every single game bar one this season. And, sure, Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies were sidelined, but they've been out pretty much all season. (Not to mention that Arsenal were without Gabriel Magalhães, Viktor Gyökeres and Kai Havertz, plus Martin Ødegaard was only just coming back from injury.)
Luis Díaz was pretty much Bayern's only relevant absentee, so that's not much of an alibi. The way Arteta's side came out in the second half, even before the goal, was truly impressive. Bayern didn't know what hit them. I don't know if they can keep this up all season, but what I do know is that they have more levels they can tap into. We haven't seen the best of Saka yet this year and they're simply a better possession side with Ødegaard in the team.
Craig Burley reacts to Arsenal's 3-1 win vs. Bayern Munich to sit top of the Champions League table.
Laurens: Arsenal are the best team in the world right now and it is not even a debate. They are the only team still unbeaten in the Champions League, where they have only conceded one goal in five games. We saw on Wednesday that even the second-best side in Europe is not even close to them.
Arsenal destroyed the German champions in the second half, nullifying their fire power up front and controlling Harry Kane really well. Arsenal are the best team out of possession in the world by a mile and, even if their football is not the sexiest, they are so efficient in both boxes. The depth of their squad is also what propelled them to the win on Wednesday night. Arteta brought on Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli and they both scored. Not many teams in Europe have such a strong squad as the Gunners who are still without Ødegaard, Havertz, Gyökeres and Gabriel.
Tighe: I'd say so. The feeling coming into the season was that Arsenal had finally accrued enough quality and squad depth to last the distance. We're not even into December yet and that notion has been proved unequivocally correct, as despite serious injury problems, they've risen to the top of the Premier League and Champions League tables. Injuries to Ødegaard, Saka, William Saliba and Gabriel -- in addition to a host of others in the supporting cast -- should theoretically have knocked Arsenal off course early on but, if anything, it only seems to have strengthened their resolve.
That second half performance against the previously unbeaten Bayern was a whirlwind, an irrepressible display of dominance. Arsenal's remarkable depth -- and Arteta's clever use of it -- allowed the Gunners to play at an incredible intensity that only ever seemed to increase. Any team with this much quality at their disposal cannot be overlooked for the title of top dogs right now.
Dawson: Arsenal might not have the best one to 11 in Europe, but they've got the best squad and that's what wins you trophies. Modern football and its hectic schedule requires managers to use a lot of players and Arteta has built a formidable group at the Emirates. Just look at the bench against Bayern Munich: Ben White, Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapié, Ødegaard, Martinelli and Madueke were all among the substitutes. Gabriel and Gyökeres weren't part of the squad because of injuries.
The number of options Arteta has is frightening. Nothing is won in November, but it's starting to feel like one of those statement weeks for Arsenal. A heavy win over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, impressive Champions League victory over Bayern on Wednesday, and then a trip to Chelsea at the weekend. Three wins from three in the space of eight days would cement Arsenal's place as the team to beat in the Premier League and Champions League this season.
Q3. Enzo Maresca and Estêvão won 3-0 at home against Barcelona and Lamine Yamal. Was it Barça being bad or Chelsea finally putting it together with Estêvão in the starting XI?
Marcotti: I love how Maresca swatted away the stupid question about whether Estêvão's role model was Yamal, reminding folks that his guy had played at a high level for some time now and is a starter for Brazil. Maybe Yamal has more gifts, but the main difference is that Barcelona (and Spain) are leaning hard on Yamal while Chelsea are managing their Brazilian starlet's minutes, which probably makes sense given he just moved across an ocean.
We saw what Estêvão generally always gives you: quality and work-rate. Sure, his task was made simpler by Hansi Flick's somewhat goofy team selection (just because Eric García in midfield worked against Athletic Club doesn't mean you should do it again, not when Marc Casadó and Marc Bernal are both available) and Ronald Araújo's silly first-half sending off (actually Araújo could be filed under goofy team selection as well). But Estêvão plays with maturity and composure, to go with his quality.
Actually, you could make the case that Estêvão plays with more maturity and makes better decisions than any Chelsea midfielder or forward, with the exception of Pedro Neto, Moisés Caicedo and Cole Palmer (when he's not stubbing his toe).
The thing is, you can't even really say that this game would have taken a different turn if Ferran Torres hadn't squandered his early chance because it's not as if Flick varies the way he plays based on the scoreline. More simply put, a high-energy youthful side like Chelsea may be up and down, but when they're up, they can have their way with a Barça team that plays like this and is set up like this. Which is what happened.
We should also recognize, I think, Barcelona's total inability to deal with Neto's movement up front: maybe they had prepared for Tyrique George or Liam Delap or maybe not at all.
Stewart Robson and Craig Burley talk about Barcelona's defensive issues after their 3-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Dawson: It's a difficult one to judge because Araújo's moment of madness meant that Barcelona had to play for more than half the game with 10 men. Chelsea made the most of the advantage and deserved to win, but it's difficult to treat it as anything more than an isolated result.
If nothing else, it will give Chelsea an awful lot of confidence ahead of Arsenal's visit to Stamford Bridge this weekend. Maresca's young side perhaps don't have the consistency to challenge for the Premier League title over the course of a 38-game season. But they do possess terrific individual quality with players like Caicedo, Enzo Fernández and Estêvão and it might mean -- right now -- they are better equipped to win cup competitions. Winning the Champions League is all about being better on the day and Chelsea showed they can do it at the Club World Cup.
Tighe: It was a bit of both! Eyebrows were raised when the starting XIs were announced, with Neto selected ahead of João Pedro up front. Maresca had also previously pleaded patience on Estêvão's adaptation to life at Chelsea ... only to then chuck him in for this blockbuster game. But it was a well-crafted strategy, devised to test Barcelona's much-maligned high defensive line, and it worked.
Wingers Estêvão and Alejandro Garnacho received nine progressive passes each, the most of anyone on the pitch, while Neto received four and the roaming Fernández received five. Many of these were balls in behind the Barça line, into gaping spaces, and either created chances or forced emergency defending.
Many will continue to question the Blaugrana's defensive approach, but Flick won't change his style. Not ever. With that in mind, perhaps the visitors' biggest faux pas was their inability to use possession as a defence mechanism (Chelsea couldn't have hurt them if they didn't have the ball!), and that's where the injury-enforced absence of Pedri really hits home.
Laurens: Barcelona were bad and were outplayed by Chelsea, just like they were by a second-string Paris Saint-Germain team earlier in the campaign. The Blues didn't even have play that well as Barça made it way too easy for them -- just as they did against Club Brugge three weeks ago -- allowing their opponent to easily waltz into their 18-yard box and score three goals.
If you can't match the opposition's intensity, can't get any pressure on the ball, then your defensive high line becomes a liability and you are left far too exposed. Araújo is a burden for Barcelona in these kinds of games. He was also very poor in the draw in Belgium, but on Tuesday he really let his team down badly. I am not sure that even if Torres scored his huge chance at 0-0 early on, that it would have changed anything. Flick was outcoached by Maresca, who put a simple tactical plan together and benefited from Barcelona's capitulation.
Q4. Liverpool were humiliated at home for the second time in a week, losing 4-1 to PSV in a game that showed them at their absolute worst. How long does Arne Slot get to fix this?
Marcotti: It can't be just on him to fix this. He's not Harry Redknapp from back in the day; he doesn't go and make personnel decisions on his own. It wasn't Slot's decision alone to not sign anyone except Federico Chiesa last season, it wasn't his decision alone to extend the contracts of Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah (and not Trent Alexander-Arnold), it wasn't his decision alone to bring in the many guys Liverpool brought in this past summer, it wasn't his decision alone to let Ibrahima Konaté's contract run down the way it has.
So yeah, hold Slot accountable, but it's not just on him. And it doesn't necessarily mean Liverpool were wrong to make the choices they did, just that it can't all hang over his head. Especially as a lot of the blame doesn't seem to be about his tactics, or his team's preparation, but rather individual performances and the fact that the new guys aren't pulling their weight (and some of the holdovers are underperforming).
I think Slot has earned the right to be trusted, at least through the end of the season. And, just as important, if you're going to make changes, you have to look at everybody who was part of the decision-making process. (Starting with the original sin: not signing a central defender and not having a contingency plan for whatever happened with Marc Guéhi on deadline day).
Stewart Robson and Craig Burley discuss the pressure on Arne Slot following Liverpool's 4-1 defeat to PSV in the Champions League.
Laurens: He has time and the club is not thinking about sacking him or even looking for a potential successor. But for the first time, Slot looked both clueles and lost. He doesn't know what to do anymore and doesn't know what has hit him in the last two months or so. Nine defeats in 12 is ridiculous for a team that won the Premier League so comfortably last season.
Remember how easy he got it last year having no new players to integrate and surfing on Jurgen Klopp's wave? It is the total opposite now, with more and more problems being added every day. And I don't really feel for him because he wanted all these new players and he got them. He could have insisted more for a new centre back too. He tried to change the team far too quickly with the new signings instead of making a smooth transition. He is not the only one to blame -- he certainly bears a responsibility for this chaos -- but he is not the only one.
Dawson: Liverpool are on an awful run of nine defeats in 12 games, but it's the manner of the last three defeats which is most worrying. They've conceded 10 goals against Man City, Nottingham Forest and PSV. It's a clear sign that things aren't right when the team is so disorganised that they're shipping a lot of goals regularly.
There's no doubt that, despite last season's title win, Slot is under pressure. Liverpool's board will be trying not to panic and reminding themselves that it wasn't so long ago that they were beating Aston Villa and Real Madrid. That said, the next three games will tell us a lot about where this team is. If the players are still buying into what Slot is trying to do then Liverpool should have more than enough individual quality to beat West Ham United, Sunderland and Leeds. If they're beginning to lose faith, then it will be on show in these next three games. We're moving towards crunch time and Slot needs to stop the bleeding quickly.
Tighe: These are tricky situations for football club owners, and specifically in Liverpool's case, the following three things are all true: 1) Last season's title win should afford some grace and patience; 2) the massive summer squad overhaul was always going to need time; and 3) this is simply not good enough.
It's tough to recall many Liverpool sides over the past 30 years that look as defensively calamitous as this one does, right now. What a strange thing to say about a unit that includes a host of Premier League winners and is led by the mighty Van Dijk (who currently looks just as listless as anyone else). For Slot to stand any chance of keeping this job much longer, the noted issues that have consistently plagued this team -- failure to deal long and second balls, massive defensive lapses and the underperformance of many bonafide attacking stars -- need to be cleaned up.
For the last two months(!), they haven't -- in fact, they've only got worse. When you put it that way, you might argue he's lucky not to have come under more pressure already. As Rob says, if these next three fixtures don't produce nine points, perhaps that will be cause to hit the big red "eject" button.
Q5. What is it going to take to fix Real Madrid? Only Kylian Mbappé's hat-trick spared their blushes in a chastening 4-3 win at (relative) minnows Olympiacos. That's now a second bad performance in a row, with pressure on Xabi Alonso and friction with Vinícius Júnior consuming them.
Marcotti: There is a ton that is not working at Real Madrid right now. The Vinícius issue is something Alonso needs like a hole in the head but, even if they were suddenly buddies, the other hurdles would still be there. They conceded three goals at Olympiacos (and only just shaded the expected goals), could (should?) have lost at Elche and failed to score in their two outings before that. Mbappé is papering over all the cracks up front, where they look distinctly one-dimensional. And, at the back, there's no solidity. Sure, if Dean Huijsen gets a run of games and Éder Militão returns they'll be better (you hope). But until that happens, it's a bumpy ride.
When Real Madrid win and folks say "Hey, it looks like Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid!" that's not a compliment. Not because Ancelotti wasn't good (he's the GOAT to many of us) but because Alonso has a different brief. He's supposed to introduce patterns of play and a coherent tactical set-up, not just man-manage individuals and get them to do something special a couple times a game. It's a hugely difficult task at a club like Real Madrid and, right now, he has a long way to go.
Craig Burley and Stewart Robson discuss Real Madrid's struggles following Kylian Mbappé's impressive performance during their 4-3 win vs. Olympiacos.
Laurens: I am more worried by the fact that Alonso is slowly but surely losing the support of some big players than by the team's current form. It was always going to take time for the new manager to implement all his ideas and change the mentality and style of play of this team. It is normal that at times the Merengues still rely on individual talents to win them matches, Mbappé with his quadruple on Wednesday at Olympiacos, Vini in the Clasico against Barcelona. Why wouldn't you? If you have this quality in your side, then let them win you matches.
So I can forgive the lack of proper patterns of play, the lack of clear ideas and some poor tactical and in-game management decisions. However, Alonso is way too smart to ignore the importance of man-management in this club's dressing room. He played for Real Madrid, he saw the success that Ancelotti got with his methods. Without betraying his principles, he could mellow a bit in his rapport with his dressing room and that would go a long way and help fixing many of the problems that he currently has.
Tighe: To see Real Madrid out-shot 18-15 by Olympiacos and only squeeze past them thanks to a Mbappé masterclass is ... concerning. But to be fair, this season's Champions League has been a wild ride so far -- FK Qarabag have more points than Juventus, while Tottenham have more than Barcelona. Strange things are happening, and at least Madrid got the win.
Alonso and Los Blancos always had the look of a slow burn. He has a very clear philosophy that includes quite a lot more regimented defending than these players are used to, and elements of this team are still very young (Huijsen, Álvaro Carreras, even Arda Güler). The track was always going to be bumpy, and Alonso likely knew it wouldn't always look pretty. Here and there, you can see hints of what he's trying to do -- but the team's improvement does not seem to be linear. With yet more Vinícius drama bubbling up, this is going to be a very tough mini period for Alonso. He's already ridden one out, and will have to ride out more, if all of this is going to truly come together.
Dawson: Is there much wrong with Real Madrid? They're top of LaLiga and safely inside the top eight in the Champions League with four wins from five games. Plenty of clubs would love those problems. Granted, they're on a bit of a bumpy run with the defeat at Liverpool followed by draws against Rayo Vallecano and Elche. The victory over Olympiacos wasn't particularly convincing, but sometimes you get that type of game away from home in the Champions League. The most important thing is that you come away unscathed and that's what they did.
There's always a lot of noise at Real Madrid because of the size of the club. It's heightened at the moment with a sticky spell of form and what's going on with Vinícius in the background, but the bigger picture looks pretty good. A couple of improved performances and everything calms down again.