Crazy Days

Well, what a stellar weekend of performances this proved to be!  Not all the action is over, but there's certainly been enough for two weekends' worth.  On a side note, I never claimed to have any sort of psychic abilities, so you'll have to forgive me for some of my misplaced expectations.  

Messi celebrates after a great goal

In Spain, Valencia started the weekend off by continuing their perfect record for the season by securing a 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon.  Roberto Soldado appeared in great form again as this season shapes up to be great for him.  Barcelona thoroughly gutted Osasuna in a thumping 8-0 win that saw a Messi hat trick and a brace from David Villa.  Their performance shows a lot of positive points, but at the same time I worry about their ability to perform against stronger teams after the two previous games.  At least Barcelona have a bit of breathing room after Real Madrid's shocking 0-1 defeat to Levante UD.  In the 40th minute, Khedira received a second yellow card for a reckless challenge and after some words with the referee, he was off for the game.

In Italy, unrest continued as neither of last year's top two found victory.  I already spoke about Inter's woes last time, but AC Milan have just as much on their plate.  After last week's poor tie, they struggled against Napoli and lost 1-3 thanks to a hat trick from Edison Cavani.  This also speaks well of Napoli as they share a joint lead at the top of the table with three other clubs.  Juventus also remained tied for first in the league after their comfortable 1-0 win over newly promoted Siena.  The performance wasn't as fast-paced as last week's but Siena could hardly create any chances at goal.  And Udinese delivered another strong performance as they won 2-0 over Fiorentina, proving that there is life without Sanchez.

Bayern München still lead the Bundesliga tables after their 2-0 win over Schalke '04 and prospects for this season look a lot better than last year's regrettable performance.  Last year's champions Borussia Dortmund were defeated 1-2 by Hannover '96 with all the action in the second half of this game.

And of course, the Premier League was full of drama this weekend.  Arsenal fell 3-4 to Blackburn Rovers in what was yet another disappointing performance for the Gunners.  Own goals by Arsenal's Alex Song and Laurent Koscielny gave away an easy win in the most embarrassing way possible.  Tottenham Hotspur took part in a 4-0 rout of Liverpool as Emmanuel Adebayor scored a brace to bury the Reds.  Manchester City sacrificed two points and only scraped by with a t 2-2 tie against Fulham as they show their human side.

Torres misses at an open goal

And (this time I was right) Manchester United continue their top of the table campaign as they defeated Chelsea 3-1 in a bizarre game.  Both sides sacrificed numerous free attempts at goal that left each a little bit embarrassed.  Ramires sent a shot at an open goal directly into United keeper David De Gea in the first half and Wayne Rooney missed an easy penalty for United when he slipped on the grass.  Rooney also missed an easy tap in in front of goal, but the most talked about point is definitely Fernando Torres.  Torres found his first goal of the season early in the second half, but later dropped an astoundingly easy shot, forfeiting all the hard work he did to create it.  The $50 million Chelsea striker still isn't quite back to form, but he certainly showed a bit of his old self this time.

As this week begins, there are games to look forward to in the Serie A and La Liga, as the two leagues attempt to catch up on schedule after the preseason strikes that delayed their start.