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There was plenty of drama across Europe this weekend, with a late winner in El Clásico, a perfect start coming to an end, and a milestone goal in the Bundesliga. Here, we'll run you through the key results from the weekend.
Mbappé ends Barcelona's perfect start in El Clásico
Real Madrid blew the La Liga title race wide open on Sunday with a hard-fought win over Barcelona. The game finished 2-1 in a contest that was hard fought by both sides. A brace from Kylian Mbappé was enough to secure the victory, however, not before Barcelona had put up a fight. Hansi Flick's side went into the game six points clear, bidding to become the first team in Europe's top five leagues to start a season with ten straight wins, and Anthony Gordon caused plenty of problems early on. But José Mourinho's men were happy to sit deep and hit Barcelona's high line on the break, and they went ahead four minutes before half-time in fortunate fashion, when Yan Diomande's low cross caused panic and Gerard Martín's clearance cannoned off Mbappé and into the net. Mbappé also hit the post from an offside position before the break, while Diomande dragged a shot just wide after breaking clear of the Barcelona defence. Barcelona came out swinging after the restart, though Jude Bellingham wasted a promising Madrid counter-attack early on, and they got their reward just after the hour, when Raphinha's deflected effort from Pedri's pass levelled the scores. With the game heading for a draw, Madrid broke at speed and Mbappé swept home Eduardo Camavinga's cutback in the 87th minute for his 100th goal for the club, making it two league Clásico braces, more than Cristiano Ronaldo or Karim Benzema managed. Despite being without the suspended Vinícius Júnior and Thibaut Courtois, who was ruled out with flu on the morning of the game, Mourinho's side cut the gap at the top to three points, with Atlético Madrid sitting in between. It was their first win at the Camp Nou since 2021, and Mourinho was quick to point out that his side are playing for the title, not just bragging rights.
Gnabry hits a century as Bayern return to the top
Bayern Munich reclaimed top spot in the Bundesliga on Sunday after a 3-1 win over Freiburg. Playing without head coach Vincent Kompany, who was absent after collapsing in training earlier in the week, the champions had assistant Aaron Danks in the dugout. The game was paused inside the first two minutes when red smoke from a flare drifted across the pitch, but Bayern took the lead on 16 minutes through an unlikely source. Dayot Upamecano blocked Niklas Beste's shot, carried the ball forward and exchanged passes with Michael Olise before finishing past Freiburg goalkeeper Mio Backhaus. Serge Gnabry added a second three minutes before the break, playing a one-two with Nathaniel Brown and slipping the ball through Backhaus' legs for his 100th Bundesliga goal on his first league start of the season. Bayern struggled to put the game to bed after the restart, with Harry Kane heading wide from a good chance, and they were made to pay ten minutes from time when Tom Bischof turned Vincenzo Grifo's low cross into his own net. Freiburg threw everything forward, but Jonas Urbig made a crucial late save, and deep into stoppage time, moments after Sacha Boey had a goal ruled out for offside, Olise rolled into an empty net after Backhaus failed to clear outside his area. The result hands Freiburg their first home defeat of the season after they had won all three of their previous league games at the Europa-Park Stadion, though they stay third, and extends Bayern's unbeaten start to 12 games in all competitions. It also moves them ahead of Borussia Dortmund on goal difference, with the two sides level on 17 points before next weekend's Klassiker in Munich.
