Usual suspects dominate Europe
After only just entering October with no more than seven games played, each of Europe’s top four leagues — English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A — have seen their fair share of major local derbies and enticing storylines.
In such games, the most exciting players tend to stand out and in each of the above four leagues, at least one player dominates the headlines.
EPL
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho bemoaned the lack of a competent centre forward to lead his attack last season. Enter Spanish International Diego Costa, and the forward has netted nine goals in 7 appearances including a hat-trick for the current Premier League leaders. It is no secret that the former Atletico Madrid striker has taken to English football like a duck to water.
Signed for a British record transfer fee, Angel Di Maria is instantly repaying the faith shown in him by Manchester United’s manager Louis van Gaal. The Argentine winger, who has scored tree goals and completed three assists in his five starts, looks like the player required to lead Man U back into Champions League.
La Liga
Following a summer of thriftful spending by the club’s operators, Real Madrid was greeted with the worst possible start to the league losing two of their first three matches. But Cristiano Ronaldo has been in blazing form to lift Real into fourth. Despite starting the season with fitness issues, Ronaldo has scored 13 goals whilst netting three hat-tricks in his last four games. With his tally being highest in all of Europe’s top leagues, Real’s rivals should beware.
Serie A
Last season’s Scudetto winners Juventus has been unstoppable in the league thus far, remaining unbeaten after six matches and defeating closest rivals AS Roma in their previous game. Central to Juve’s success is Argentine forward Carlos Tevez’s red hot form in front of goal. The former Manchester City captain has scored six of his team’s 13 goals and seems determined to earn a recall to his country’s national team.
Bundesliga
Bayern Munich are once again showing their muscle to dominate the German Bundesliga, currently on a perfect home record while drawing only two matches away. Bayern’s World Cup hero Mario Goetze and Polish striker Robert Lewandowski have both been linking up well to become their club’s top scorers, helping to maintain their club’s stranglehold. However, neither currently leads the league’s scoring chart.
Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo, right, celebrates his third goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)