La Liga
7 - 0 is always a good margin to win by but you would think that there is only so much Barcelona can take out of their hammering of lowly Levante in their La Liga opener.
But in truth there are some things that can be gleaned from the performance for the challenges ahead. Neymar made his debut in the second half with a few good touches and dribbles, Lionel Messi got a brace and was substituted before the end (unthinkable under previous coaches) and Cesc Fabregas excelled in a free role behind the Argentine.
Even though it was a glaring weakness in the squad, Barca called off a chase for a world class centre-back and judging from their performance yesterday, they have returned to the energetic high pressing game that was lacking under Tito Vilanova and the end of the Pep Guardiola regime. They also seem slightly more direct, although tiki taka is still the template. Post-match Xavi also spoke of a return to thorough tactical preparation.
Meanwhile Real Madrid struggled at home to Real Betis but a late header from new signing Isco settled a 2 - 1 scoreline.
Betis deserved to get something out of the game after taking the game to Real, playing a courageous high line and hitting the bar from a Nosa header from a corner.
Real struggled with set pieces and were also caught offside on numerous occasions due to the rustiness of Karim Benzema.
The Frenchman opened the scoring but still looks devoid of confidence despite the sale of Gonzalo Higuain.
Over the weekend there were also wins for teams with Champions League aspirations like Real Sociedad, Valencia and Athletic Bilbao.
And last night Atletico Madrid began where they left off at the end of last season, by winning their opening game away to Sevilla. One-time Liverpool target Diego Costa scored a brace but the game was lit up by Diego Perotti's barnstorming equaliser for Sevilla...
Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund are top of the Bundesliga after a 2 - 1 over Eintracht Braunschweig. All the goals came in the last 15 minutes as Dortmund struggled to break down the 1967 Bundesliga champions.
Bayern also made it two wins out of two on Friday night with a 1 - 0 away win at another Eintracht, Frankfurt in their case.
Pep Gaurdiola decided to play with an out-and-out striker and it paid off as Mario Mandzukic scored what proved to be the winner.
Ligue 1
PSG continue to flounder under Laurent Blanc. Last time out they could only manage a draw and they could not better that result at home to AC Ajaccio as they fell behind within the first 10 minutes.
New signing Edinson Cavani levelled late on, while PSG hit the woodwork more than once and forced incredible saves from Guilherme Ochoa. But there will be huge disappointment as the Parisians lose ground to Lyon, Marseille, Saint Etienne and Monaco who all made it two wins out of two.
But Cavani's finish was pretty good...
Over in the Netherlands, if you were up early enough you might have caught Ajax coming out on top in the country's main derby. However the 2 - 1 defeat means Rotterdam giants Feyenoord have lost all three games of the new season after finishing in the top three last year.
An interesting to note at the Amsterdam Arena was the lack of away fans. The Dutch FA have banned away supporters from these derbies in order to prevent trouble.
