Serie A
This was the weekend when the title race in Italy took its first twist of the season. Some people may have expected the wheels to come off for AS Roma at some point after eight consecutive wins had left them top.
On Friday night, it looked like their luck was turning when icon and Roman deity Francesco Totti and the reinvigorated Gervinho had to limp off against title rivals Napoli.
But whatever manager Rudi Garcia seems to be putting into the River Tiber seems to be working as the Giallorossi scored twice against Rafa Benitez' Neapolitans to go five points clear at the top.
Daniele De Rossi's clearance off the line in the first half was a key episode, but the goal of the game was Miralem Pjanic's free-kick just before half-time, a moment which swung the game in Roma's favour and as Newstalk news reporter and fervent Roma fan Richard Chambers says, there'll be "Pjanic on the streets of Rome" as true involvement in the title race becomes increasingly more likely...
But the action did not stop in Rome. Fiorentina v Juventus was arguably the most exciting game in Europe this weekend.
Fiorentina had not beaten Juventus at home since 1998 and even though La Viola have been impressive under Vincenzo Montella for the last two years, you would have fancied Juve to do the business, although Antonio Conte's side surely had one eye on the crucial Champions League tie against Real Madrid.
When Juventus scored twice to go 2 - 0 up late in the first half, I was sorely tempted to watch another match as the result seemed inevitable despite the Viola's good passing. But good thing I stuck around for one of the best comebacks you will see.
First ex-Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi scored a penalty to reduce the arrears. That was in the 66th minute. By the 76th minute, it looked as if Juve would hang on grimly when this happened...
Rossi scored from an angle and distance from which keeper Gianluigi Buffon is rarely beaten.
Juve were stunned and as the Bianconeri swayed on the canvas, Fiorentina hit the reigning champions on the break to score two more in the next four minutes to win the game. It was a personal triumph for Rossi who netted a hat-trick to put him top of the Serie A scoring charts with eight goals and proved that he is still a top class player after a torrid two years of serious knee injuries.
Meanwhile, AC Milan's 1 - 0 win over Udinese was not quite as exciting but Valter Birsa's goal was enough to lift the Rossoneri to the lofty heights of...8th.
Bundesliga
It's ironic that Bayer Leverkusen striker Stefan Kießeling was the man who scored a controversial "ghost goal" on Friday as he seems to be fairly invisible for Germany manager Jogi Low who has not called him up in three years.
That's despite the fact that he was the Bundesliga top scorer last season and already has six goals in nine games this season.
Admittedly one of those goals should not have stood. Third-placed Leverkusen were leading 1 - 0 in the second half against 1899 Hoffenheim when a Stefan Kiesseling shot hit the net...the side-netting to be precise.
Unfortunately for Hoffenheim there was a hole in the side-netting. And even more incredibly, referee Felix Brych awarded the goal...
Leverkusen won 2 - 1 to keep pace behind Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund who both won this weekend.
But the result might not stand as Hoffenheim have lodged a complaint and want the game replayed.
There is a precedent. In 1994, Bayern Munich scored a goal in similar fashion against Nurnberg but were forced into a replay which they won by an even greater margin than the original game.
Ligue 1
PSG took a clear lead at the top of Ligue 1 with a 4 - 0 win over Bastia. Fair enough, it was not an unexpected result but check out this typically audacious goal by Zlatan Ibrahimovic which set the Parisians on their way...
Monaco are two points behind PSG after drawing 2 - 2 with Sochaux.
La Liga
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid both dropped points for the first time this season but still remain first and second in the table.
Barca were held to a 0 - 0 draw with lowly Osasuna and looked a little stale after the international break, while Atletico lost 1 - 0 at Espanyol on Saturday night.
Those results allowed Real Madrid to close to within three points of Barcelona ahead of next week's El Clasico.
Again, Madrid were not impressive but beat Malaga 2 - 0 with Gareth Bale winning a penalty for the final goal.
Meanwhile Manchester United's opponents in the Champions League, Real Sociedad, beat Valencia 2 - 1 away.
Having watched the game, the goals came somewhat against the run of play. However that being said, Valencia were poor despite recent good results.
Sociedad's opener came from Antoine Griezmann who beat the offside trap just before half-time and Ruben Pardo's long-range striker made it 2 - 0 before Los Che's late consolation.
