The fourth weekend of league competition is now in the history books, and we saw some great football around the continent between Friday evening and Sunday night, with some fine results and vintage displays on show as some sides really managed to stamp their authority over their opponents and, in some cases, sent out a statement of intent to their league rivals too. There were one or two results that fans of the respective clubs will have been delighted with too, so with that quick summary done let’s get right down into reviewing the action.
In France, champions Paris Saint-Germain were one of the aforementioned clubs to show just what they can do with a sizzling 5-0 thumping of St. Etienne – star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic hit a superb hat-trick to take his points tally for the season so far to 100, with five goals from his first three appearances. He sits just behind team-mate Salvatore Sirigu in both club stakes and league-wide totals, with the keeper having earned himself 110. They sit third and fourth respectively out of the whole league, just behind Lille pair Simon Kjaer and Vincent Enyeama, who have 110 and 115 respectively, pitting them right at the top of the Ligue 1 overall table thus far. Lille, however, did not have quite as much fun as PSG this weekend, with their 1-1 draw at last season’s runners-up Monaco representing the first goal they have leaked all season, but as this was their second draw from four – coupled with two wins – they sit fourth in the Ligue 1 table proper at this stage, so it has really been a fantastic start for them.
Monaco, however, were without striker Radamel Falcao, and at the time of writing the Colombian looks to be on the verge of completing a season-long loan move to English outfit Man Utd. The Red Devils had another lackluster showing on Saturday, and could only manage a goalless draw with Premier League newboys Burnley. While this is great news for any fantasy manager who happens to have any of United’s defensive players in their squad, it means new Reds boss Louis van Gaal is still seeking his first competitive win in English football. Their city rivals Man City, the current champions, fell to a surprising 1-0 defeat at home to Stoke, managed by former City player and manager Mark Hughes. Potters striker Mame Biram Diouf scored the decisive goal, and gets himself up to the 15 point mark. City’s title rivals – and another of Hughes’ former clubs – Chelsea recorded an emphatic 6-3 win at Everton, with Diego Costa striking very early and very late (1 min and 90 mins respectively) to bag another brace for his new club and take himself up to 70 points – a bit of a bargain considering his €8.50m asking price in the game! Debuting Everton striker Samuel Eto’o managed to mark his first Toffees appearance with a headed goal against his old club too.
Over in Germany, the Bundesliga watched the unusual spectacle on Sunday of two games without a single goal – so Sunday was very definitely a good one for any fantasy managers with goalkeepers or defenders from 1. FSV Mainz 05, Hannover 96, Sport-Club Freiburg or Borussia Mönchengladbach. In contrast, not a single game on Saturday’s round of fixtures ended goalless, and indeed every game featured at least two goals. The biggest result saw Bayer Leverkusen triumph at home against Hertha Berlin 4-2, with Leverkusen defender Tin Jedvaj scoring an own goal to put the guests in front before making amends in the second half by scoring the equaliser. Champions Bayern Munich could only manage a 1-1 draw at FC Schalke 04, with defender Benedikt Höwedes getting himself up to 10 points by putting Schalke in front before new signing Robert Lewandowski scored to take his tally to 30. 1. FC Köln goalkeeper Timo Horn presently sits at the top of the Bundesliga fantasy points charts with 80, as he saw his side take a 2-0 win and three points from the home of VfB Stuttgart.
In La Liga action, Real Sociedad were able to claim arguably one of the biggest scalps of the weekend as they saw off the visit of Real Madrid by way of a 4-2 scoreline. Sergio Ramos (35 points) and Gareth Bale (30 points) gave the Galacticos a 2-0 lead before a fantastic recovery saw goals from Iñigo Martínez (15 points), David Zurutuza (two goals, 45 points) and former Arsenal striker Carlos Vela (20 points). The defeat sees Real sit 10th after the second game of the Spanish season, but right up at the top, with two wins from the first two games are Barcelona. Last season’s runners-up haven’t conceded a goal yet which bodes well for the inclusion of their players at the back, while they have scored four, meaning it’s a pretty win-win situation for any managers that have plumped for any Barca regulars in their side. They took a 1-0 win from Villareal, with the single striker being scored by teenager Sandro Ramirez, who got his name onto the scoresheet for the first time as a Barcelona player, taking his points total to 20 so far.
We finish off our round-up in Italy, with Serie A finally getting underway with its first round of fixtures this weekend. This means that a present the Italian totals are likely to be far lower, and it was a disastrous debut for Inter Milan defender Nemanja Vidic, who joined from Man Utd in the summer. He may have 15 points, which doesn’t seem too bad after just one game, but he conceded a penalty before being red carded. As far as on-field debuts go, this was far from the best. The penalty he conceded was not converted, however, as Inter played out a 0-0 draw at Torino. Neighbours AC Milan had a better time of things, notching up a 3-1 win over Lazio thanks to goals from Keisuke Honda, former Inter midfielder Sulley Muntari and Jérémy Menez, who now all sit on 20 points each. The solitary striker from Lazio came in the form of an own goal by Milan defender Alex.
We now have our full fix of fixtures from all five nations, so things will surely be getting busy from here on out. With some players surely expected to raise their early season performances (and, of course, fantasy points totals) there will certainly be many a twist and turn in the coming months, and as usual there will almost definitely be one or two surprises in the top player lists moving forward. For this week, however, Lille stopper Vincent Enyeama remains on the top of the pile with 115 points.
