Another game week concludes in European football, bringing about its fair share of elation and disappointment across the global fanbase. While all the top leagues across the continent dished out exciting football, Liverpool’s clash with Manchester City takes the cake for being the most talked about match of the week with its amalgamation of tactics, individual brilliance and end-to-end action.
German and French football threw surprises as Bayern Munich lost its first match of the season and Paris Saint-Germain’s star-studded line-up succumbed to a 2-0 defeat against Rennes, the first of its season.
Premier League
It was Liverpool's home match against Manchester City that was tipped to be the game of the week and the two clubs didn’t disappoint. Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola displayed the best of their tactical aptitude as fans enjoyed a vibrant display of end-to-end attacking football.
Sadio Mane opened the scoring for the Reds, only for his strike to be cancelled out by Phil Foden. It was Liverpool’s second goal by Mohammed Salah, which stole the headlines as the Egyptian used his deft footwork to dribble away from a couple of City defenders, turned rings around Ayermic Laporte and finished at Ederson’s far-post to give Liverpool a 2-1 lead. It would have been an undisputed fairy tale if that was the winning goal, but Kevin De Bruyne played spoilsport as he scored an 81-minute equaliser.
Manchester United showed worrying signs of maintaining consistency under the guidance of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as it finished with a 1-1 draw against Everton, a result which did not go down well considering the vast array of talents at the disposal of the Manchester club.
The newly-promoted Brentford continues to shine under coach Thomas Frank as it defeated David Moyes’ West Ham 2-1 to maintain a respectable seventh position in the table.
Brighton and Hove Albion proved to be a difficult customer for the visiting Arsenal team as Mikel Arteta’s boys, fresh from their thrashing of North London rival, Tottenham Hotspur, could not find a way past Graham Potter’s compact backline, which resulted in a goalless draw.
For European champion, Chelsea, two late goals helped the side return to winning ways in a 3-1 victory against Southampton, whose job became more difficult after its goalscorer, James Ward-Prowse, was shown a red card in the 77th minute.
After matchday 7, Chelsea sits at the top of the table with 16 points, followed by Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
LaLiga
Luis Suarez added to the woes of his former club, Barcelona, as he scored a goal and provided an assist to Thomas Lemar to help Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona 2-0.
It wasn’t a good week for Barcelona’s bitter rival, Real Madrid, as it lost 2-1 to Espanyol after an uninspiring performance, but maintained its position at the top of the table on goal difference as Atletico Madrid equalled the Los Blancos’ points tally after beating Barcelona.
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LaLiga also sprang another surprise as Granada clinched a shock 1-0 win against Sevilla, which dominated all the stats departments but could not find a way past the resolute Granada defence.
After matchday 8, Real is on top with 17 points, followed by Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad and Sevilla. Barcelona languishes at the ninth position.
Bundesliga
If not for Liverpool’s brilliant match against Man City, Bayern Munich’s 2-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt would have surely been the talking point of the week.
When Leon Goretzka scored for the Bavarians in the 29th minute, it seemed like Munich would capitalise on that and run away with the match as it does on most occasions. However, Frankfurt had other ideas as Martin Hinteregger and Filip Kostic’s goals handed Bayern its first loss of the season.
Borussia Dortmund, despite dominating the match and finishing with an astounding 71% possession, could only scrape a 2-1 win against Augsburg while last season runner-up RB Leipzig thrashed VfL Bochum 3-0.
After matchday 7 in the Bundesliga, Bayern heads the points table with 16 points, followed by Bayer Leverkusen also with 16 but behind Munich on goal difference. The third and fourth place is occupied by Dortmund and SC Freiburg, which has started the season brilliantly and is yet to lose a game in the league.
Serie A
Manuel Locatelli saved the blushes for Juventus as his only goal at the 68th-minute was enough for the club to win the Turin derby against Torino.
Champion Inter Milan staged a brilliant comeback as it defeated Sassuolo 2-1 courtesy of goals by Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez. Milan and Atalanta played out a thriller, which ended 3-2 in Milan’s favour. After Davide Calabria, Sandro Tonali and Rafael Leao made it 3-0 for Milan, it seemed like an easy finish for the Rossoneri but Duvan Zapata and Mario Pasalic scored two late goals to cause tension among the Milan ranks but Gian Piero Gasperini’s men could not do enough to prevent a loss.
Jose Mourinho’s Roma enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 victory against Empoli as Lorenzo Pellegrini and Henrikh Mkhitaryan found the net.
Table topper Napoli did enough to manage a 2-1 victory against Fiorentina.
After matchday 7, Napoli is on top with 21 points, followed by AC Milan, Inter Milan and Roma.
Ligue 1
Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe started for Paris Saint-Germain in its match against Rennes but their collective brilliance could not earn PSG a victory as it suffered a shock 2-0 loss against the home team, thus handing coach Mauricio Pochettino his first loss of the season.
READ | PSG suffers shock league defeat to Rennes with Messi missing the target again
Champion Lille won 2-0 against Marseille but with already three losses in the season, it sits at eighth.
After matchday 9, PSG sits top of the table with 24 points despite its loss. It is followed by Lens, Nice and Angers.
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