Records were smashed across Europe’s top leagues this weekend as some of football’s biggest names etched their place in the history books. Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah led the charge, reaching new Premier League heights in his team’s emphatic victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
Salah’s Premier League Domination
In a wild 6-3 win over Spurs, Salah became the first player in Premier League history to record double-digit goals and assists before Christmas. The Egyptian speedster tormented the Tottenham defense all afternoon, directly contributing to four of Liverpool’s six goals.
Salah’s brace took his league tally to 15 goals, while his pair of assists boosted his total to 11 for the season. No player had ever reached the 10 goal and 10 assist mark prior to Christmas Day in the Premier League era.
Salah’s numbers are just staggering. He’s operating on a completely different level to every other attacker in the league right now.
– Rio Ferdinand, former Manchester United defender
The scintillating performance also saw Salah overtake a Premier League legend in the record books:
- Salah now has six Premier League campaigns with both 10+ goals and 10+ assists, surpassing Wayne Rooney’s five.
The win, which featured the most goals in a Premier League match this season, ensured Liverpool will sit top of the table on Christmas Day. It’s a familiar position for the Reds, who have now been league leaders on December 25th a record 21 times, going on to win the title in 11 of those campaigns.
Contrasting Fortunes In Manchester
While Liverpool celebrated, the two Manchester clubs endured a sobering weekend. Manchester United suffered a third home defeat by three or more goals this season, a new unwanted club record in the Premier League.
The loss consigned the Red Devils to the bottom half of the table on Christmas Day for the first time ever in the Premier League era. The last time United found themselves in the wrong half of the standings on December 25th was way back in 1989.
Meanwhile, defending champions Manchester City fell to Aston Villa, stretching their worrying away form to eight games without a win in all competitions, the club’s worst such run in over a decade.
The storm that Sporting CP coach Ruben Amorim warned about has well and truly hit Manchester United now. Both the red and blue halves of the city are in the midst of a crisis.
– Rob Dawson, ESPN correspondent
Mbappe Off The Mark For Madrid
In Spain, Kylian Mbappe finally announced his arrival at Real Madrid, netting his first brace for Los Blancos in their resounding win over Sevilla. It was the first time the French phenom scored and assisted in consecutive games for his new club.
Mbappe wasn’t the only one setting records in LaLiga though. Atletico Madrid’s Alexander Sorloth overtook Lionel Messi with his fifth career 90th-minute winner, the most in the competition’s history.
Sorloth’s dramatic goal handed Barcelona a shock home defeat, their third in a row in the league. Atletico have now won 12 straight matches in all competitions, scoring 33 goals and conceding just 8 in that dominant stretch.
| Most 90th-Minute Winners in LaLiga History |
| 1. Alexander Sorloth (5) |
| 2. Lionel Messi (4) |
| 3. David Villa (3) |
La Madridista Connection
Real Madrid’s annihilation of Sevilla was inspired by an unlikely source – Federico Valverde. The Uruguayan midfielder, usually more renowned for his tenacious play than his goalscoring exploits, lashed in two spectacular long-range strikes.
Valverde now leads the way for goals scored from outside the penalty area across Europe’s top five leagues:
- Federico Valverde (Real Madrid) – 5 goals from outside the box
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) – 4 goals from outside the box
- James Maddison (Tottenham) – 4 goals from outside the box
With both Valverde and Vinicius Junior supplying the ammunition from deep, Mbappe could be primed to take his game to even greater heights in the famous white shirt.
Wrapping Up
As the busy festive period rolls on, the likes of Salah, Mbappe and Sorloth have already made it a Christmas to remember with their record-breaking feats. The Premier League’s top scorer will hope to keep the Reds flying high, while Atletico’s last-gasp specialist will aim to gun down more rivals in the dying moments.
But perhaps the most intriguing storyline to track will be whether Mbappe, under the tutelage of Karim Benzema and with Valverde’s supply line from midfield, can fire Real Madrid back to the summit of Spanish and European football. If this weekend is anything to go by, the Frenchman’s Los Blancos legacy could soon start to take shape.
