Maurizio Sarri’s scathing criticism of his Chelsea team following their defeat to Arsenal was the major news to emerge from the weekend’s football action in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.
The Blues succumbed 0-2 away to the Gunners on Saturday evening, with Alexandre Lacazette and Lauent Koscielny scoring the goals to see their side close to within three points of the top four.
“I have to say, I’m extremely angry. Very angry indeed,” said Sarri after the match.
“This defeat was due to our mentality, more than anything else. This is something I can’t accept. This group of players are extremely difficult to motivate.”
He added: “This is not a team that is going to be well known for its battling qualities but we need to become a team that is capable of adapting, possibly suffering for 10 or 15 minutes then playing our own football.
“You can find yourself in difficulties from time to time, but we need to react to those difficulties a lot better than we did today.”
Elsewhere in England, Liverpool saw Mohammed Salah reached the 50-goal mark in the Premier League in their thrilling 4-3 win over Crystal Palace; Manchester City responded in the title race with an easy win away to Huddersfield Town; and Manchester United claimed a sixth straight league win by defeating Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 to join Arsenal and Chelsea in the race for the final Champions League berth.
In Serie A, Napoli is closed to within six points of leaders Juventus with a 2-1 home win over 10-man Lazio at Stadio San Paolo on Sunday evening.
Goals from Jose Callejon and Arkadiusz Milik secured victory for the Neapolitans, while Lazio had their hopes of comeback stunted by a red card for Francesco Acerbi.
However, Juve can restore the lead to nine points if they win at home to Chievo tonight.
Elsewhere in Italy, Internazionale’s hopes of chasing down the top two were hit by a goalless draw at home to Sassuolo; Atalanta continue to impress with a 5-0 away win at Frosinone (featuring four goals from Daniel Zapata) and Ivory Coast’s legend Gervinho netted for Parma in their 2-1 win at Udinese.
In La Liga, the only major movement near the top of the log saw Real Madrid slip into third place after their 2-0 home win over Sevilla on Saturday.
Los Blancos had to work hard for the three points, with their goals from Casemiro and Luka Modric only arriving in the 78th and 90th minutes respectively.
Atletico Madrid kept up the pressure on Barcelona with a 3-0 win at Huesca, but the league leaders responded with a 3-1 home win over Leganes on Sunday night in which Ousmane Dembele scored the opening goal and gave a fine performance.
SERIE A RESULTS & FIXTURES, JANUARY 19-21
Saturday, January 19
Roma 3-2 Torino
Udinese 1-2 Parma
Internazionale 0-0 Sassuolo
Sunday, January 20
Frosinone 0-5 Atalanta
SPAL 1-1 Bologna
Fiorentina 3-3 Sampdoria
Cagliari 2-2 Empoli
Napoli 2-1 Lazio
Monday, January 21
20:00: Juventus v Chievo
22:00: Genoa v Milan
LA LIGA RESULTS & FIXTURES, JANUARY 18-21
Friday, January 18
Getafe 4-0 Deportivo Alaves
Saturday, January 19
Real Madrid 2-0 Sevilla
Huesca 0-3 Atletico Madrid
Celta de Vigo 1-2 Valencia
Sunday, January 20
Real Betis 3-2 Girona
Villarreal 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Levante 2-0 Real Valladolid
Rayo Vallecano 2-2 Real Sociedad
Barcelona 3-1 Leganes
Monday, January 21
22:00: Eibar v Espanyol
PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS & FIXTURES, JANUARY 19-20
Saturday, January 19
Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-3 Leicester City
Bournemouth 2-0 West Ham United
Liverpool 4-3 Crystal Palace
Manchester United 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Newcastle United 3-0 Cardiff City
Southampton 2-1 Everton
Watford 0-0 Burnley
Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea
Sunday, January 20
Huddersfield Town 0-3 Manchester City
Fulham 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
