European review: Alexandre Pato fires AC Milan top as Jose Mourinho stumbles
On Saturday evening, AC Milan confirmed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be joining the club on a one-year loan deal from Barcelona. But on the evidence of Sunday’s 4-0 win over Leece, they may not need him.
That’s because 20-year-old Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato was in devastating form for the Rossoneri, scoring two wonderful goals to send his side to the top of the league. The perfect start for new manager Massimiliano Allegri, who will be thanking former Brazil manager Dunga’s poor decision not to take Pato to South Africa this summer.
Sampdoria, Chievo and big-spenders Genoa also got off to a winning start; as did Parma, who were inspired by diminutive debutant Sebastian Giovinco, on loan from Juventus.
Meanwhile, over in Spain, all eyes were on Barcelona and rivals Real Madrid as they played their first league matches since the Spanish national team’s triumphant World Cup campaign.
Despite signing David Villa in the summer, it was that man again – the world’s best player, Lionel Messi – who inspired Pep Guardiola’s team against Racing Santander.
The Argentinian genius scored just three minutes into the new campaign with a clinical chipped-finish and proved a constant menace. Midfielder Andres Iniesta also got himself on the scoresheet, as did Villa, naturally. A 3-0 victory was a fair result, and it was then up to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid to produce the required response.
Cristiano Ronaldo was clearly relishing wearing Real’s No. 7 shirt for the first time – following Raul’s departure over the summer – and was determined to make an impact. However, the Portuguese superstar and his teammates failed to break Mallorca’s stern defence. Mourinho threw on Mesut Özil, Karim Benzema and Sami Khedira in the second half; but Mallorca stood firm, frustrated their opponents, and held on for a valuable point.
Advantage Barcelona, then, but it’s Sevilla who currently top the Primera Liga table. A brace from right-back Abdoulay Konko, plus further goals from Renato and Alvaro Negredo sealed a 4-1 win over Levante and fired them above Barça.
Elsewhere, in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich fell to a shock 2-0 defeat against newly-promoted Kaiserslautern, who now find themselves top of the league. Two goals in the space of a minute from Ivo Ilicevic and Srdan Lakic condemned Bayern to their first league defeat of the season.
As for Wolfsburg, Steve McClaren’s side had taken a seemingly unassailable 3-0 lead against Mainz on Saturday afternoon, only to conceded four goals and lose the match. The former England manager was stunned at his side’s second-half capitulation, but it will go down as a remarkable comeback by their opponents.
And finally, in France, the eagerly-anticipated clash between Bordeaux and Marseille was expected to be cagey and so it proved. The two sides played out a 1-1 draw at the Stade Chaban-Delmas, and both find themselves on four points from as many matches.
Toulouse currently top the Ligue 1 table after their fourth consecutive victory; while Lyon lost their second match of the season against Lorient.
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