Talking points from European football
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Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain v Nantes - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 9, 2023 Paris St Germain's Randal Kolo Muani celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
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Talking points from the weekend in European football leagues:
FRANCE
WELCOME RETURNS FOR PSG AHEAD OF CRUCIAL DORTMUND CLASH
Paris St Germain maintained their four-point lead over Nice at the top of Ligue 1 with a 2-1 win over Nantes on Saturday, and the game also brought some surprising good news on the injury front.
Marquinhos and 17-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery returned to action, in perfect time ahead of Wednesday's crunch Champions League game at Borussia Dortmund.
Brazilian defender Marquinhos started and played 60 minutes of Saturday's game, while Zaire-Emery came on as a substitute after he was expected to miss the rest of 2023 through an ankle injury sustained while scoring on his France debut.
Group F of the Champions League is delicately poised going into the final round of games. Dortmund are top on 10 points and already through to the knockout stages, PSG are second on seven points and need a win in Germany to guarantee qualification.
GERMANY
BAYERN DEBACLE
A day after Bayern Munich's shock 5-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt, club bosses were still trying to discover what went catastrophically wrong in their first league defeat of the season.
"We travelled with high expectations to Frankfurt and we delivered a really bad performance and the frustration is big," said Bayern sports director Christoph Freund on Sunday.
"There is no real explanation for this. We are still searching for one."
Bayern have lost three times this season; once in the German Super Cup to RB Leipzig, once against lower-tier club Saarbruecken in the German Cup last month and now in the Bundesliga to drop four points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen with a game in hand.
ITALY
ROMA FACE TOUGH FIXTURES AMID GROWING LIST OF ABSENTEES
AS Roma's draw with Fiorentina on Sunday came at a cost for Jose Mourinho's side, who are now set to face a challenging set of fixtures without some key players.
Romelu Lukaku and Nicola Zalewski received red cards, while Paulo Dybala limped off and his replacement Sardar Azmoun also left the pitch due to a suspected injury.
Chris Smalling, Marash Kumbulla, and Tammy Abraham are long-term absentees due to injuries, creating a problem for manager Mourinho.
After concluding the Europa League group stage against Moldova's Sheriff on Thursday, they will play Bologna, Napoli, and Juventus before the new year. REUTERS
