Juventus took the Derby d’Italia bragging rights, Lionel Messi bagged his first goal, while Bayern Munich were stunned by Hoffenheim in an eventful weekend of league football. Here are the Winners and Losers. Bet on football here.
Winners
Hoffenheim
Sargis Adamyan scored a brace on his full Bundesliga debut as Hoffenheim stunned Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena for the first time ever. Bayern were heading into this game after a 7-2 win in the Champions League but failed to turn up. Following that loss, Niko Kovac’s men dropped to third on 14 points, two behind leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Gonzalo Higuaín and Juventus
Juventus moved to the top of Serie A with a fine 2-1 win over rivals Inter Milan in a cagey Derby d’Italia at the San Siro. The 236th Derby d’Italia between the league’s top two sides saw former Chelsea managers Maurizio Sarri and Antonio Conte lock horns for the first time since they took the reins in the summer. Goals from Paulo Dybala and Higuain sealed the win for the Bianconeri who leapfrogged Inter to move to the top of the table. Higuain has now scored three goals in eight appearances for Juventus this season and the winner against Inter showed how important he could be for Sarri.
Lionel Messi and Barcelona
Barcelona trounced Sevilla 4-0 at the Camp Nou to move up to second in LaLiga, two points behind arch-rivals Real Madrid. The hosts scored three goals in an eight-minute spell in the first half. Messi scored a fourth with a trademark free-kick on 78 minutes to put the icing on the cake. This was Messi’s first goal of the campaign after enduring a season hampered by a calf injury. There were big question marks over Ernesto Valverde and Barca when they lost to Granada two weeks ago but they’ve responded with four successive wins.
Losers
Bundesliga title contenders
As mentioned, it was a weekend to forget for Bayern Munich. Their loss to Hoffenheim meant they dropped to third place behind Mönchengladbach and Wolfsburg. Borussia Dortmund meanwhile twice squandered the lead and conceded a 90th-minute own goal from Manuel Akanji as their trip to Freiburg ended in a third consecutive league draw. Dortmund are now eighth on 12 points, four points off the top. RB Leipzig’s early season form has dissipated after failing to win their last two league games. Julian Nagelsmann’s side could only secure a 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen over the weekend leaving them fourth in the table.
Inter Milan & Napoli
Inter Milan suffered their first loss of the season going down 2-1 to defending champions Juventus at San Siro. The loss ended their perfect start to the season where they won six games in a row and have now dropped to second in Serie A. Napoli wasted another golden opportunity to close the gap with the leading pack with a disappointing 0-0 draw away to Torino on Sunday. The Partenopei have finished second in three of the last four seasons but the competition around them suggests finishing runners-up will be a huge task.
Atletico Madrid
A few weeks ago, Atletico looked like the team to beat in this season’s La Liga but successive draws have left them three points off the top. Diego Simeone’s side have still lost only once this season, but three draws, two at home, have left Los Rojiblancos already hoping to make up lost points in the title race.
Sylvinho and Olympique Lyon
Olympique Lyon’s winless run in Ligue 1 stretched to seven games after they lost 1-0 away to Saint-Etienne. This was their second consecutive game which has put coach Sylvinho under more pressure. The writing appears to be on the wall for Sylvinho after Lyon’s latest defeat. Will he get more time?