Weekend Wrap: Potter Pays the Price, Madrid, Barca Pick Up Heavy Wins and Five Big Talking Points

• Another packed schedule across Europe unfurled with the return of club football after the international break
• A potential title decider in Germany, in addition to huge games in England, Italy, and France, spiced up things
• Sports Brief takes a look at the five big takeaways from the weekend round of football matches in Europe

The just-ended weekend marked the return of club football across Europe's top five leagues following the FIFA international break.

While the Premier League saw a record number of managers sacked, the French top flight and the Italian league witnessed shocking defeats for their respective leaders.

Elsewhere, in Spain and Germany, the traditional European heavyweights in Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich chalked up emphatic wins.

Sports Brief takes a look at some of the headlines making the rounds from the weekend in football.

Rodri slams Scotland for 'rubbish' tactics after Spain suffers shocking Euro defeat

Football

Graham Potter pays the price

Certainly the biggest talking point over the weekend was Graham Potter's sacking at Chelsea, seven months into his role at Stamford Bridge, per Sky Sports.

The English tactician joined the bandwagon of coaches to be shown the door in what has been an absolutely ruthless experience for managers in the Premier League.

Potter paid the price for a string of poor displays, with the shock home defeat against Aston Villa breaking the camel's back.

He won a paltry seven games out of his 22 Premier League matches in charge of the Blues.

Messi flops as PSG falls

In France, Paris Saint-Germain are yet to overcome their round-of-16 Champions League exit.

The Parisians fell to yet another home defeat against Olympique Lyon, bringing their total losses in 2023 to five.

Two of PSG's direct sources of goals, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, were kept at bay by a resolute Lyon defence, GOAL reports.

Barcelona to face Chelsea in Women's Champions League semi finals

Football

The duo fed on crumbs as they mustered a combined one shot on target, as Les Parisians continue to reel in their Champions League disappointment.

Real Madrid, Barcelona win big

The big boys in La Liga came to the party, cruising to landslide victories.

The Catalan giants began the onslaught on Saturday when they trounced Elche 4-0, with Robert Lewandowski finding his scoring boots by notching a brace.

Real Madrid duly responded to the challenge by whipping Real Valladolid six-nil. Karim Benzema scored a near-impossible overhead kick to cap off a perfect outing.

The results for both sides set up what will be an interesting Copa del Rey semi-final reverse tie at Camp Nou.

Tuchel restores Bayern's Bundesliga swagger

Thomas Tuchel is back!

The 49-year-old returned to the dugout for the first time since his sacking by Chelsea back in September 2022.

Touted as one of the finest football brains in the modern game, Tuchel masterminded a comfortable 4-2 win over his former side, Borussia Dortmund.

Five unmissable matches this weekend including Bayern vs Dortmund Bundesliga blockbuster

Football

Tuchel's Bayern played with some unerring swag that had gone missing under Julian Nagelsmann, with Thomas Muller rolling back the hands of time to deliver a masterclass.

Osimhen missed in Napoli defeat

Bound to end a 33-year wait for the Serie A title, Napoli suffered an unexpected heavy pounding at the hands of AC Milan.

The Partenopei had conceded just nine goals at home all season, but Milan breached their defence on four occasions in just 90 minutes.

Nobody at the Stadio Diego Maradona envisaged the embarrassing defeat but on the flip side, it speaks volumes about the importance of Victor Osimhen.

With 21 goals in 23 games, the Serie A top scorer missed the tie through a thigh injury.