Liverpool weren't the only European team to lose their 100 percent record this weekend. Over in Italy, Napoli slipped to second in the Serie A table after being beaten 2-1 by a Christian Pulisici-inspired AC Milan at San Siro.
However, Bayern Munich maintained their flawless start to the defence of their Bundesliga crown by hammering Werder Bremen on Friday evening, with Harry Kane making more history in the process, while French titleholders Paris Saint-Germain returned to winning ways after losing their perfect record in Marseille last week by cruising past Auxerre at the Parc des Princes.
Of course, these weren't the only major talking points of the latest round of matches across the continent. Below, GOAL runs through the biggest winners and losers from this weekend's action in Europe's top leagues…
Getty Images SportWINNER: Julian Alvarez
Julian Alvarez certainly doesn't lack bottle. He didn't think twice about stepping up to the mark when Atletico Madrid were awarded a spot-kick early in the second half of Saturday's dramatic derby at the Metropolitano.
The last time he had taken a penalty against Real, his desperately unfortunate 'double-touch' had effectively cost Atletico a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. On this occasion, though, Alvarez kept his footing – and his cool – to put his side 3-2 ahead.
Twelve minutes later, Alvarez struck again – this time from a fantastic free-kick to make it five goals in two Liga games for a striker that had drawn a blank in his four previous outings.
"I had been getting chances," the Argentine pointed out after Atletic's stunning 5-2 triumph. "It would have been more worrying if I hadn't been, so I was relaxed. I just had to work on being more efficient, take the chances that came."
He certainly did that against both Real and Rayo Vallecano, resulting in Atletico doubling their points haul to climb to fourth in the table. Perhaps even more significantly, Alvarez's spectacular return to form also went a long way towards quelling speculation that he is unhappy at Atleti.
"I feel very looked after," he insisted on Saturday. "I just work every day to improve and help the team. The season is very long, still a lot to play for." However, the World Cup winner did also add: "I just think short-term, and no further."
Alvarez, then, remains a player well worth watching – for a variety of reasons.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportLOSER: Xabi Alonso
Diego Simeone was overcome with emotion after Atletico's derby demolition of Real Madrid. With less than 10 minutes to go in Wednesday's clash with Rayo Vallecano, the Rojiblancos were 2-1 down and in very real danger of extending their worst-ever start to a season under Simeone. However, after an Alvarez-inspired late comeback against Rayo, and a historic rout of Real, Simeone was shedding happy tears on Saturday night.
"I cried at the end because there were many emotions inside me," the notoriously aggressive Argentine admitted. "The season started in a very complicated fashion and there is a lot of effort from many people who are not seen, so this felt wonderful."
Inevitably, Xabi Alonso was experiencing very different emotions after he and his players suffered a humiliating derby drubbing.
"We are hurting, as are the fans," the former Bayer Leverkusen boss said. "It was a derby and it's a deserved defeat. It was a bad game. We didn’t start well, we didn't play well collectively, with and without the ball."
Alonso had, of course, won his first six Liga games as Real's new boss but there had been a nagging suspicion that the brilliance of Kylian Mbappe up front was papering over the cracks in Madrid's midfield and defence; the derby illustrated why.
The French forward drew los Blancos level with a characteristically clinical first-half finish but stormed down the tunnel at full-time, clearly and understandably frustrated with a dreadfully disjointed display from the visitors.
Restoring the fit-again but tactically ill-disciplined Jude Bellingham to the starting line-up was, in hindsight, a very premature decision – one that Alonso had to defend in his post-match press conference – while Madrid's obvious vulnerability in the air was belatedly and brutally exposed by Atleti.
Alonso was right to point out that Real remain in "a construction phase" – but it's clear that the project is not quite as far along as some pundits and supporters had initially claimed.
Getty Images SportWINNER: Harry Kane
There has been a lot of talk in recent days about Harry Kane returning to Tottenham Hotspur. However, while Thomas Frank publicly admitted that he "would like to see Kane back" in north London, he also predicted that the England captain would "probably stay at Bayern and continue performing well" – and it's difficult to disagree, on either count. Kane looks happy in Munich, because he's playing brilliantly in Munich.
As well as finally ending his trophy drought by firing Bayern to last season's Bundesliga title, Kane has also smashed a succession of goalscoring records. He broke another on Friday night – and it might just be his most impressive to date.
With his brace in the 4-0 win over Werder Bremen, Kane made it 100 goals for Bayern in just 104 appearances. No player across Europe's 'Big 5' leagues has become a centurion at a single club in fewer matches since 2000 – not even Cristiano or Erling Haaland (both of whom achieved the feat in 105 games, for Real Madrid and Manchester City, respectively).
"From a personal point of view, 100 goals for Bayern Munich, I'm extremely proud of that," Kane wrote on . "I'm privileged to play for this great club and to do it in record time, 104 games as well, is for sure something I'm proud of."
Even more encouragingly for Bayern, Kane insisted the idea of rejoining Spurs hadn't entered his mind. "I'm really happy here," he stated. "I have two years left on my contract. I'm enjoying every moment. [Returning to England] is not in my thought process.
"I'm enjoying it with the team, with the coach, and hopefully we continue to be successful." If Kane keeps scoring at this ridiculous rate, there's every chance they will be.
AFPLOSER: The Allegri haters
Massimiliano Allegri's 'the ends justifies the means' approach to football is not for everyone. Even at Juventus, where the mantra is 'winning is the only thing that counts', many supporters were glad to see the back of the coach after his dreadfully dull second spell in Turin. Consequently, some Milan fans were unsure about their club's decision to rehire Allegri during the summer. As the old Italian saying goes, 'Reheated soup is never good.'
However, 14 years after Allegri won a Scudetto with Milan, there's now talk of him repeating the feat – which is remarkable, really, given he oversaw an embarrassing loss at home to Cremonese on the opening weekend of the new Serie A season.
Since then, though, the Rossoneri have reeled off four successive wins, including a wonderfully spirited 2-1 victory over Napoli on Sunday night that saw Milan move ahead of the Italian champions on goal difference at the summit of the Serie A standings.
It's still very early days, of course, but credit where it's due, Milan were as good going forward during the first half of their fully-deserved victory over Antonio Conte's side as they were stubborn in the second – particularly after the dismissal of Pervis Estupinan.
So, while doubts remain over the true strength of Allegri's new side, it's well worth remembering that Milan don't have any European football to worry about this term, meaning talk of a title challenge maybe isn't that fanciful…
