Last update 13 January, 2014 by Julio Muñoz
The second weekend of European football brought the arrival of the Premier League and truly extraordinary performances from some of the best strikers of the moment. Also interesting matches that we review as always in our weekly review of the best of the weekend.
1- Real Madrid cuts. In the league, Real Madrid cut Barcelona and Atlético two points after taking advantage of their goalless draw and winning 0-1 at Espanyol with Pepe's goal. Blaugranas and colchoneros end the first round with 50 points, something that had only happened twice before, always with Barça as the protagonist. Athletic won 6-1 Almeria and is positioned as a clear candidate for the Champions, place where it seems that Valencia will not be, which fell 2-1 against Celta and he is getting further away from Europe.
2- Manchester City, leader. In the absence of Arsenal playing against Aston Villa, City is the new leader after their victory 0-2 before the Newcastle. Great match and goal by Negredo and worrying injury to Nasri's knee that could end up keeping him out of the World Cup. Victory and goal for Chelsea and Torres, also from Liverpool (3-5 against Stoke with a brace from Luis Suárez), Tottenham y Manchester United.
3- Eleventh victory for Juventus. In Italy, eleventh win for Juventus on their visit to Cagliari. 1-4 and another double for Fernando Llorente, pointing to world cup. They also comfortably beat Roma (4-0 to Genoa) and the Naples (0-3 to Hellas Verona). Highlight the defeat of AC Milan at Sassuolo with an exceptional Domenico Berardi, author of the four goals of the locals.
4- Without the operational Bundesliga yet, the big match of the day was lived in Portugal where the Benfica crowned winter champion to win 2-0 Porto in the country's great derby. A victory that leaves him with a two point advantage over his neighbor Sporting and three over the “dragons”. Especially emotional was the minute of silence in memory of Eusébio, sadly deceased at 71 years last week.
5- And we finished with France, where PSG increased the lead over Monaco to five points by taking advantage of the Monegasques' stumble at Montpeller's home (1-1) and beat bottom team Ajaccio at home by 1-2 in what was the beginning of the second round.