6 Things You May Have Missed From Around Europe This Weekend
Derbies, wonderkids, controversial decisions and plenty of red cards across the continent this weekend, as things got messier and more heated than Brexit.
Here are six things you may have missed from around Europe...
6. Derby della Scala
One of Italy's oldest cities, Verona, has provided one of Serie A's newest derbies - with the first time Chievo and Hellas met in Serie A back in 2001.
While both teams sat in the top four for the initial top flight Derby della Scala, this season Chievo and newly-promoted Hellas Verona will surely settle for mid-table obscurity.
After taking an early lead at the shared Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Hellas Verona fell to two Roberto Inglese strikes in the space of seven minutes, while a red card (one of five in Serie A on Sunday) left them in a difficult position at half time.
Giampaolo Pazzini - scorer of the first ever goal at the new Wembley - equalised against the odds in the second period, before 38-year-old Chievo legend Sergio Pellissier netted his first of the season to give the bragging rights to the 'home' side.
5. Pretty Guedes
Unbeaten Valencia are sitting pretty in second place in La Liga, four points off Barcelona and one clear of Real Madrid, thanks to an impressive 4-0 win over Sevilla at the weekend.
20-year-old Portuguese starlet Gonçalo Guedes is stealing all the headlines in Spain's third city. The winger netted twice, and bagged another assist in the demolition of Sevilla and is fast becoming the most exciting Portuguese attacking star since one Cristiano Ronaldo.
Back-to-back man of the match awards in La Liga were more or less confirmed for Guedes before half time at the Mestalla, when he rocketed away from two defenders on the halfway line, sent another to the shops with a fake on the edge of the area and blasted into the top corner with the ease of Dejan Lovren mistiming a header.
Where did this prodigy come from, I hear you cry? He was jettisoned on loan by Paris Saint-Germain for the season, as a certain Brazilian arrived...
4. Who Are Ya?
Over in Ligue 1, one of the most-anticipated fixtures of the season took place as Marseille hosted PSG.
Le Classique, which needs no excuse for feistiness, was given added bite when full back Dani Alves claimed before the game that he couldn't name a single Marseille player.
Presumably, the Brazilian had his memory jogged 16 minutes in at the Stade Velodrome, when Alves' former international teammate Luis Gustavo put the hosts ahead.
Neymar then stole the show, as Guedes' ouster for Les Parisiens equalised before getting himself sent off after lashing out at Lucas Ocampos for one too many naughty fouls.
With the visitors 2-1 down and seconds to go, Edinson Cavani - not normally Neymar's best friend - might just have got himself in the €220m man's good books with a very late equaliser.
3. Wrong Kind of Drama
Neymar wasn't the only high-profile dismissal on the continent this weekend, as Leonardo Bonucci helped confound Vincenzo Montella's misery during a 0-0 draw with Genoa.
Winless in their last four Serie A fixtures, AC Milan - despite spending €200m over the summer - now sit 12 points off the top and (more importantly) nine points off their club target of a Champions League spot.
Bonucci was dismissed for elbowing Aleandro Rosi in the face midway through the first half. The game was stopped as the officials consulted the video assistant referee (VAR) and dished out the first dismissal using the technology in Serie A history.
Montella may have blamed the referees for making the spectacle 'televisual', but his side's football is failing to bring the drama at the moment.
2. Crossing the Line
Barcelona kept up their unbeaten start to the season at home to struggling Malaga.
The visitors have a surprisingly strong record against Barça in recent years, largely thanks to the heroics of Carlos Kameni in goal. The Cameroonian veteran - who kept back-to-back shutouts against La Blaugrana last season - moved to Turkey last summer and Malaga missed his big game form (and luck) on Saturday.
Gerard Deulofeu scored after just two minutes to give the hosts the perfect start against their former bogey team. However, replays showed that Lucas Digne, who provided the cross for the former Everton man's finish, had carried the ball out of play before the assist.
Andres Iniesta added an increasingly rare goal in the second half, while bottom-placed Malaga need their luck to change, fast.
1. Reason to Celebrate for Tolisso
Bayern's record-signing Corentin Tolisso netted the only goal of the game as Jupp Heynckes continued his strong start back as head coach.
It's three wins from three for Heynckes thanks to the former Lyon midfielder's goal and man of the match performance, as Bayern overcame struggling Hamburg in their furthest Bundesliga away day.
Tolisso rolled out the ‘trumpet’ celebration, popularised by former teammate Alexandre Lacazette, after poking home from close range and was congratulated online by the Arsenal front man, who doesn't seem to mind people copying his moves.