6 Things You May Have Missed From Around Europe This Weekend
Goals were the order of the weekend on the continent. While Liverpool vs Manchester United ended in stalemate, a pulsating Milan derby showed the Premier League how it's done.
Over in Spain, Valencia (enjoying themselves after a torrid few seasons) tested out Betis' scoreboard, while two of Germany's newest derbies did not disappoint either.
Here are six things you may have missed from around Europe this weekend.
6. Meunier Helps Cut the Dijon
Dressed in their infamous mustard-coloured kits Paris Saint-Germain faced their biggest scare of the season yet, as they almost slipped up in Dijon.
The relegation candidates pulled back what appeared to be a very late equaliser through Benjamin Jeannot in the 87th minute, before Kylian Mbappe found unlikely hero Thomas Meunier in stoppage time for the winner.
The blushes-saving Belgian right-back now has three in five in Ligue 1 this season and four in his last three for his country.
5. El Plástico
Amid the glamour and intrigue of Man Utd vs Liverpool and Inter vs AC Milan, one of Europe's odder derbies also took place.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Wolfsburg, or 'el Plástico' as it has pleasingly come to be known in (very) recent times, is the battle between two of the Bundesliga's financially stronger clubs - thanks to their backing by commercial giants Bayer pharmaceuticals and Volkswagen.
Commercial ownership continues to be a hot button topic in German football, but Leverkusen and Wolfsburg's drop from the top end of the table in recent seasons has seen the attention shift to another corporate club...with wings.
Sunday afternoon's El Plástico ended in an entertaining 2-2 draw, with Liverpool loanee Divock Origi among the scorers.
4. Dortmund Hit the Yellow Wall
Things got spicy in Dortmund, as RB Leipzig turned over Peter Bosz's early pace setters in a thrilling 2-3 victory at Signal Iduna Park.
It was Dortmund's first defeat of the 2017/18 Bundesliga season and amazingly their first at home since Robert Lewandowski netted in April 2015 (in Jurgen Klopp's final season in charge) to give Bayern Munich a 0-1 win.
This weekend, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave the hosts the best possible start after four minutes, but Dortmund found themselves 1-2 down at the break. Sokratis Papastathopoulos made things a whole load worse when he brought down Jean-Kevin Augustin in the box early in the second half, and the young French forward dispatched from the spot to make it 1-3.
Aubameyang's second of the game (and tenth of the season already) was not enough to stop Dortmund's 35-game home unbeaten run finally coming to an end.
3. Valencia Exploit the Loan Zone
Barcelona dropped points, while Real Madrid scraped past city rivals Getafe, as Cristiano Ronaldo (the real one, not the imposter) silenced his critics with a late winner.
However, the best entertainment in Spain this weekend was to be found in Seville as Marcelino's resurgent Valencia continue to impress.
Los Che went 4-0 up away at Real Betis, with Gonçalo Guedes scoring the pick of the goals. However, things then went truly batty with just 15 minutes to go, as Joel Campbell helped wrestle his side back into the tie, and the visitors clawed it back to 4-3 in the space of five minutes.
Rejuvenated West Ham flop Simone Zaza put the distance back between the teams for Valencia, before Andreas Perreira's last minute strike put it beyond all doubt at 3-6.
Loanees and castoffs stole the show during the thriller at the Benito Villamarín, with four Valencia goal scorers Geoffrey Kondogbia (Inter), Guedes (Paris Saint-Germain), Zaza (Juventus) and Perreira (Man Utd) all borrowed for the season.
2. Icardi Makes the Price of Admission Worthwhile
The Derby della Madonnina on Sunday evening took the highest gate receipts for a single match in the history of Italian football, smashing the previous record by over €1m.
Inter captain Mauro Icardi made sure the fans got their money's worth on the night by bagging the coolest of hat-tricks to claim a 3-2 victory and bragging rights for the Nerazzurri.
It may have been soft penalty to serve up a late win in San Siro, but Icardi more than deserved to be on the winning side. Holding his shirt aloft in the celebrations, it wasn't the first time the 24-year-old resembled a certain international compatriot on the night.
Antonio Candreva and new boy Matías Vecino also shone for Luciano Spalletti's side, while AC Milan looked a little lacking, with Fabio Borini's starting place looking increasingly bizarre after a summer of excess.
Inter meanwhile take on table-topping Napoli next week in a clash which just maybe could help define the most exciting Serie A season in a decade.
1. Weary Wizards
Fianlly, spare a thought for poor Benevento.
After a shock promotion via the playoffs from Serie B last season, their first-ever season in Italy's top flight is not going exactly to plan.
The team from the historic town in Campania is now the last remaining 'pointless' side in any of Europe's big five leagues, following Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha-inspired victory over reigning Premier League champions Chelsea.
The Wizards, as they are known, are in desperate need of some magic as they travel to Hellas Verona on Monday night.