Trezeguet leads Juve charge

The Italian and Spanish seasons got under way with comfortable wins for FC Internazionale Milano and Athletic Club Bilbao, although the weekend's biggest scorers were AS Nancy Lorraine, who put six past Stade Rennais FC in France.

Shevchenko saviour
Serie A defending champions Juventus FC made a winning start to the campaign, as David Trezeguet’s goal proved the difference against AC Siena. Inter were 3-0 winners against Treviso FC, thanks to an Adriano hat-trick, while AS Roma achieved the same result at Reggina Calcio with goals from Mancini, Daniele de Rossi and new signing Shabani Nonda. AC Milan had to come from a goal behind to salvage a point at recently-promoted Ascoli Calcio 1898, after Andriy Shevchenko cancelled out Mirko Cudni’s opener.

Alavés shutout
In Spain, Real Madrid CF gained maximum points from their opening fixture after Raúl González struck late on to give the UEFA Champions League hopefuls a 2-1 win at newcomers Cádiz CF. However, the same could not be said of Primera División title holders FC Barcelona, who were held to a goalless draw at Deportivo Alavés. Athletic claimed the biggest scoreline of the Spanish weekend as goals from Francisco Yeste, Fernando Llorente and Luis Prieto saw off Real Sociedad de Fútbol, while CA Osasuna edged out Villarreal CF by the odd goal in three courtesy of Bernardo Romeo’s decisive strike. At El Helmánito, Pablo Aimar’s effort was enough for Valencia CF to overcome Real Betis Balompié.

Chelsea soar
Chelsea FC maintained their perfect opening to the English Premier League season by ending Tottenham Hotspur FC’s unbeaten start with a 2-0 win, thanks to goals from summer signing Asier del Horno and Damien Duff. Manchester United FC gained the same scoreline at Newcastle United FC to keep their 100 per cent record intact, courtesy of Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooij goals, as did Charlton Athletic FC with a 3-0 victory at Middlesbrough FC. Manchester City FC moved up to second place after coming back from Lomano Lua-Lua’s goal to defeat Portsmouth FC 2-1, through Claudio Reyna and Andrew Cole.

Bayern march
The Bundesliga saw reigning champions FC Bayern München open up a two-point gap at the summit after nearest rivals Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV and Schalke 04 could only manage 1-1 draws against VfB Stuttgart, Hannover 96 and VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach respectively. Bayern were 3-0 winners against Hertha BSC Berlin, with their goals coming from Michael Ballack, Mehmet Scholl and Roy Makaay.

Lyon overtake
Ligue 1 witnessed the greatest winning margin this weekend after Nancy swept aside Rennes 6-0. Elie Kroupi hit a hat-trick, while Pablo Correa’s sides other goals came from Pape Diakahté, Sébastien Puygrenier and an Alain Rochat own goal, as Rennes slipped to 19th, one place above Olympique de Marseille who are still waiting for their first win after drawing 1-1 against AC Ajaccio. At the top, Olympique Lyonnais moved three points clear after FC Girondins de Bordeaux, RC Lens and Paris Saint-Germain FC all dropped points. Bordeaux drew 0-0 with winless RC Strasbourg, as did Lens with AS Monaco, while Mamadou Bagayoko scored the winning goal for OGC Nice to inflict a first league defeat of the season on PSG. Lyon moved to the peak after Mahamadou Diarra and Juninho Pernambucano helped them to a 2-0 win at AJ Auxerre.