Sandwiched in between the two giants is Levante, one of the teams with the smallest budget in the division, who beat former leaders Real Betis 1-0 away. Atletico Madrid and Sevilla drew 0-0 at the Vicente Calderon and Athletic Bilbao won the Basque derby 2-1 at Real Sociedad thanks to a brace from Fernando Llorente.
A superb goal from Julio Baptista had moved Malaga temporarily top of the league after they beat Getafe 3-2, Villarreal were held by Real Zaragoza 2-2 and Sergio Canales won the match for Valencia at home to Granada.
In Italy, Juventus moved top of the league with a 2-0 win over AC Milan. Claudio Marchisio was the hero with two goals late on for the Old Lady, who under Antonio Conte look to be getting back towards a position to fight for top honours again. Milan find themselves in 15th after their worst start for years, whilst Inter Milan are stuck in 17th place after a 3-0 home loss to Napoli, who move up to third.
Udinese remain second after a 2-0 win at home to Bologna, while Palermo and Cagliari are up at the top too after 2-0 wins against Siena and Lecce respectively. Lazio beat Fiorentina 2-1.
In France, Paris St. Germain won the top of the table clash with Lyon 2-0, with Javier Pastore opening the scoring with a superb strike. Cristophe Jella tapped home the second late on. Montpellier’s 2-2 draw at Bordeaux means they end the weekend in second spot, and Lille got back to winning ways with a 2-0 win at home to Rennes. Toulouse stay fourth despite a 3-0 loss at Sochaux, whilst Lorient continue to fly high after a 2-0 win at home to Valenciennes.
In the Premier League, Manchester United remain top but they had to work hard to overcome Norwich 2-0. Manchester City won 4-0 at Blackburn to keep up the pressure, whilst Chelsea crushed Bolton 5-1 to leave their hosts bottom of the pile. Tottenham won the North London derby 2-1 after a wonder strike from Kyle Naughton and Fulham crushed QPR 6-0.
Newcastle also keep up their excellent start with a 2-1 win at Wolves, but Aston Villa’s luck continues after a fortuitous win over Wigan. Stoke also came crashing to earth with a 2-0 defeat to a vastly superior Swansea.
In Germany, Bayern Munich were held 0-0 at Hoffenheim whilst second place Werder Bremen lost 3-2 at Hannover. Borussia Moenchengladbach went down to a 1-0 defeat to Freiburg, and Schalke claimed a 2-1 win at Hamburg. Stuttgart won 2-0 win at Kaiserslautern and Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways with a 4-0 win over Augsburg. Bayer Leverkusen claimed a 3-1 win at home to Wolfsburg.
Fenerbahce won the top of the table clash with Istanbul BB 4-2 to go top in Turkey, and in Portugal Benfica and Porto continue to dominate with 4-1 and 3-0 wins over Pacos Ferreira and Academica respectively.
In Holland champions Ajax lost 1-0 at Gronigen, whilst AZ Alkmaar won 3-1 at VVV Venlo to stretch their lead at the top to four points ahead of PSV, who beat NEC 2-0. Twente could only draw 2-2 at home to Excelsior.
A 1-0 win at Panionos meant AEK Athens leapt to the top of the table, with Olympiakos beating PAOK Salonika 2-1 to join them on nine points.
Across the Atlantic in the MLS, Portland Timbers ruined Vancouver Whitecaps opening of their new ground with a 1-0 win, whilst Chivas USA drew 1-1 with Philadelphia Union. LA Galaxy extend their lead in the western conference with a 2-1 win against Real Salt Lake, with David Beckham setting up another goal for his side in their win. New York Red Bulls could only draw 1-1 with Toronto thanks to a late equaliser from Thierry Henry to remain in contention for an Eastern League play off place.
In Brazil, there was a thrilling 2-2 draw between the top two as Vasco de Gama remain two points clear of Corinthians. Corinthians’ city rivals Sao Paulo lost 2-1 at home to Flamengo, and Botafogo could not take advantage as they lost 2-0 at Atletico Goainense.
In Argentina, Boca Juniors increased their lead at the top to five points with a narrow 1-0 win over Tigre. Newly promoted Rafaela kept up an impressive start with a 2-1 win at home to Lanus, with Racing keeping touch despite a 1-1 draw with Independiente.
