Who Is Hot and Who Is Not in World Football After Weekend of Oct. 17-19?
As domestic football returned over the weekend after the most recent international break, a host of big performances and results around Europe and beyond captured the attention of everyone involved—and as usual, that means there were individual displays, both good and bad.
We've rounded up the best and worst to bring you our regular Hot or Not feature, this time with a focus on Europe's main leagues and big names.
We'll begin with a four-goal hero from the weekend. As always, feel free to leave your own suggestions.
Hot: Sergio Aguero
1 of 8
Manchester City's first-choice striker, Sergio Aguero, is one of the best in his position in the world, no question.
The only issue with him has only ever related to his fitness, but as he showed at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, there is very little that any defence can do to keep him quiet when he is fit and firing, even in close matches.
He was the big difference as Manchester City beat Spurs 4-1, netting all four of City's goals and showing the sort of work rate, sharpness around the box and unerring finishing that have made him one of the game's best strikers.
Not: Sunderland AFC
2 of 8
"Defending like a pub side." —Nick Szczepanik, The Independent
"Comedy...farce...bungled...bewildered." —Paul Doyle, The Guardian
"Ludicrous." —Rob Burnett, the Mirror
"Absolutely shocking...a shambles." —Phil Thompson, via Sky Sports
Go read some of the post-match reports on Sunderland's performance after their 8-0 battering at the hands of Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday. Vito Mannone and Santiago Vergini were probably chief among the culprits, but nobody from the club left St. Mary's with any credit at all.
Hot: Philipp Lahm
3 of 8
Bayern Munich waltzed to a 6-0 drubbing of bottom-of-the-table Werder Bremen at the weekend in the Bundesliga, with our pick from that game being a close call between Mario Gotze and our eventual chosen player, Philipp Lahm.
The World Cup-winning captain from Brazil 2014 performed excellently in midfield, dictating play, striding forward to link the attack when possible and being a real threat in the final third, both with his through passes and his own shooting. In a rare occurrence, he scored two of Bayern's six.
Boss Pep Guardiola said at the post-match press conference: "I expected him to get a hat-trick," per Goal.com.
Not: Anybody Tasked with Defending in QPR vs. Liverpool
4 of 8
In a game that saw five second-half goals, two own goals, a large number of defensive mistakes and a crazy injury time—which saw the points go back and forth—none of the defenders on show made a case for their continued inclusion in their respective sides.
Richard Dunne and Steven Caulker—the latter in the fourth minute of injury time—both netted own goals, while every one of the Reds' back four were culpable for QPR's first equaliser. Liverpool looked all over the place in the first half, with a few close calls involving the woodwork and a number of goal-line clearances required throughout.
Liverpool won the game 3-2, largely thanks to that brace of own goals.
Hot: Adam Maher
5 of 8
PSV Eindhoven's Adam Maher maintained his recent goalscoring form with a brace against AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie on Saturday.
Maher's two efforts helped his team to a 3-0 win, which means PSV remain top, four points clear of their nearest challengers.
His goals were rather different to each other: a scrappy, falling finish off a rebound for one, and a winding, slaloming dribble for the other, which left four defenders chasing his shadow before he drilled left-footed shot that left the 'keeper standing.
Not: Jurgen Klopp
6 of 8
It is time to face up to the fact that things are not well at Borussia Dortmund.
The Bundesliga side, runners-up last year, are 14th in the 18-team league and lost their third match in succession, their fifth from eight games overall, against Koln at the weekend.
Jurgen Klopp retains faith that his talented team will turn things around but stated his players are playing "pointless" football, making too many mistakes and need to sort things out fast, per BBC Sport.
Hot: Xavi
7 of 8
Club captain of Barcelona, Xavi Hernandez might only be set to play a bit-part role this season, flitting in and out of the side to provide some respite for Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic.
At the weekend against Eibar, however, he was impressive once again, and he was as adept and concise as ever with his passing. He was also the man to make the eventual breakthrough against stubborn opposition, breaking the lines with an unexpected run though the penalty area and keeping his composure to open the scoring.
He might not be first choice in midfield any more, but having Xavi to call on off the bench is hardly a bad thing for Barca to enjoy.
Hot: Keisuke Honda
8 of 8
As ever, we finish up with an extra-hot option, which this week comes from Serie A and gives a nod of the head to the improvement of Japanese midfielder Keisuke Honda of AC Milan.
The attacker has been playing on the right side of the front three of late, and his improved productivity in the final third is a result of that, but he was a good outlet for Milan throughout their win over Verona at the weekend and notched two goals to boot.
Both his strikes owed much to his ability to use space well and anticipate (or provide the chance for) through passes, with composed, technically impressive finishes key on both occasions as Milan moved up to fourth in the table.
