Two of Europe’s big names, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain picked up their first league wins of the season, while Manchester United needed two goals in the last four minutes to win at Sunderland. Elsewhere Bayern Munich flexed their muscles in Germany, thrashing Stuttgart 6-1.
Here is a recap of the action across Europe this weekend.
England
Robin Van Persie showed why Man United spent £24 million on buying the 290year-old striker as his hat-trick gave Manchester United a come from behind 3-2 win at Southampton in Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1,000th league game at the club. Elsewhere, Arsenal picked up their first victory of the season, winning 2-0 at Liverpool while Champions Manchester City beat QPR 3-1. The Andre Villas-Boas era at Tottenham Hotspur is not getting of to a good start as Spurs, who have yet to win this season, were booed of the pitch after drawing 1-1 with Norwich
Spain
Barcelona is the only team in Spain to have picked up maximum points after a bullet from Adriano gave them a 1-0 victory at home to Valencia. Barca are five points ahead of Real Madrid who picked up their first league win of the season by beating Granada 3-0. Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao climbed off the bottom of the table after running out 2-0 winners at home to Real Valladolid. Following a goalless opening half, Artiz Aduriz and Markel Susaeta scored in the space of six minutes to hand Bilbao their first victory of the season.
Italy
Three teams boast two victories from their first two Serie A fixtures including champions Juventus, who made light work of ten-man Udinese to seal a 4-1 away success with Sebastian Giovinco scoring twice. Also on six points are Napoli, who beat Fiorentina 2-1 in Naples, and Lazio, 3-0 victors at home to Palermo. It was a mixed weekend for the Milan clubs as AC Milan beat Bologna 3-1 for their first league win of the season, while Inter were convincingly beaten 3-1 at home to Roma.
Germany
Bayern Munich are beginning to look like the team to beat in the Bundesliga this season after thrashing Stuttgart 6-1, in a game that Stuttgart actually led at one point. The result left Bayern as one of only two sides still possessing a perfect record alongside Eintracht Frankfurt, who swept aside Hoffenheim 4-0. Champions Borussia Dortmund are two points back after being held 1-1 at Nürnberg.
France
Paris Saint-Germain have finally won a game this season, beating Lille 2-1 thanks to two goals from Zlatan Ibrahimović, his opener coming with just 27 seconds gone. Marseille consolidated their lead at the top of the table with a 3-1 win over Stade Rennes to seal their fourth straight win to start the season. Two points behind Marseille are Lyon who thrashed Valenciennes 3-2.
