Analysis of the matchday in Europe's major leagues. Vinicius Junior shines with a brace for Real Madrid, cementing his position as one of the biggest winners. He reviews his performance, Barça's crisis, and Bayern's dominance.
Is Bayern Munich the strongest team in Europe right now? They're certainly not far from it. The Germans maintained their impeccable start to the 2025-26 season with a 3-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt over the weekend. As expected, Harry Kane scored again, and the prolific striker maintained his record-breaking start to the campaign.
In Italy, defending champions Napoli returned to winning ways after last week’s defeat at San Siro, reclaiming top spot in Serie A from a resurgent Massimiliano Allegri’s AC Milan, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Juventus, partly due to a missed penalty by Christian Pulisic. In France, Roberto De Zerbi’s thrilling Marseille moved to within a point of Paris Saint-Germain, suggesting we could be in for a title race this season. Meanwhile, Real Madrid are back at the top of La Liga thanks to a hard-fought win over Villarreal and Barcelona’s shock defeat in Seville. The big weekend game in Portugal between Jose Mourinho’s Benfica and his former club Porto ended in a predictable 0-0 draw.
Below, GOAL looks back at the biggest winners and losers from the final day of action across Europe's top leagues.
WINNER: Vinicius Junior
Vinicius junior He had a frustrated reaction after not winning the 2024 Ballon d'Or and vowed to win this year's award. He didn't even come close, as the Brazilian finished 16th after a lackluster campaign. However, Vinicius junior has made an excellent start to the new LaLiga season, and his brace in Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Villarreal means he now has nine direct goal involvements in eight games. The performance of Vinicius junior This season contrasts markedly with the previous one.
“I like it when I see him smile and enjoy himself,” Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso told the club’s official website. “He came close to scoring a hat trick and rounding off his performance.” Alonso also highlighted his strong performance against Levante on September 23, calling him “a very important player for the team and the club for his ability to create imbalances.” Alonso’s form Vinicius junior is one of the keys to Madrid's leadership.
LOSER: Barcelona
Pedri claimed before last week's Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain that Barcelona were the best team in Europe. It wasn't true then and it certainly isn't true now. The Blaugranas are a wonderfully entertaining side, but mainly because they are almost as vulnerable defensively as they are outstanding offensively.
After being beaten 2-1 at home by a depleted PSG on Wednesday night, Barça were thrashed 4-1 on Sunday afternoon by Sevilla in La Liga, a defeat that saw the Catalans displaced at the top of the table by their hated rivals Real Madrid. Robert Lewandowski missed a second-half penalty at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan that would have leveled the game, but midfielder Pedri admitted: “We shouldn’t blame the defeat on that alone. Throughout the whole game, we weren’t good enough.” Flick’s high-risk tactics are now under serious scrutiny in Catalonia.
WINNER: Ange-Yoan Bonny
Marcus Thuram has been outstanding for Inter this season, but his injury absence for Sunday's Serie A clash against Cremonese looked like a problem for Christian Chivu. However, Ange-Yoan Bonny did an absolutely sensational job replacing Thuram.
In addition to scoring his first goal for Inter since his summer move from Parma, the 21-year-old striker also bagged a hat trick, making new coach Chivu look like a genius for bringing him over from Parma. “The 'mister' gives me confidence every day,” said Bonny after the Nerazzurri's 4-1 victory.
WINNER: Igor Paixao
It was surprising that none of Europe’s richest clubs made a move for Igor Paixao over the summer, after he was the best player in the Netherlands last season with Feyenoord. Credit goes to Marseille for paying a club-record €35 million for him. After an injury-hit start to his season, Paixao scored twice in a 4-0 Champions League thrashing of Ajax and opened the scoring in a 3-0 win at Metz on Saturday. “I try to keep Paixao playing all the time,” said coach Roberto De Zerbi, “he’s getting back to the level we know he’s capable of.”
LOSER: Bayern's Bundesliga rivals
Bayern Munich have played 10 games in all competitions this season and won every one. “We’re still asking ourselves,” said goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, “what more we can do to improve.” Bayern paid a lot of money for Luis Díaz, and the former Liverpool winger is proving to be an excellent investment, with five goals and four assists in the Bundesliga, all for Harry Kane. The English striker is back on the scoresheet, making it 11 goals in six matches, a record tally. The team now has a four-point lead, having scored 25 goals and conceded just three.
WINNER: Rasmus Hojlund
Rasmus Hojlund flopped at Manchester United, but there was a feeling Antonio Conte could revive the Dane – and so far so good. After scoring twice in Napoli’s Champions League victory, Hojlund gave the Italian champions the Serie A lead with a 75th-minute strike in a 2-1 win over Genoa. As a result, Hojlund now has as many goals in six games for Napoli as he managed in the entire 2024-25 Premier League season for United (four).
