European competitions returned this week, with eight Spanish teams in action. All four clubs in the Champions League did well, Atlético in particular celebrating their return to Europe with a 0-3 win at PSV Eindhoven, thanks in large part to two goals from Agüero. Barcelona beat Sporting Lisbon 3-1, with an Eto'o penalty and a goal from Xavi, and Van Nistelrooy scored for Real Madrid in a 2-0 win over BATE Borisov. Perhaps the best performance of the lot though was Villarreal's 0-0 draw at Manchester United.

Three wins out of four for Spanish sides in the UEFA Cup as well, with Valencia's Morientes surprisingly making his first appearance in the competition after hundreds of games in the Champions League. It only took him a few minutes to open his account though. Sevilla and Racing also won, and the only disappointment was Deportivo's surprise defeat in Norway.

Agüero, Xavi, Eto'o and Van Nistelrooy also scored in the league this weekend, and there were braces for Atlético's Sinama-Pongolle and Barcelona's Messi as the two teams clocked up big wins against Recreativo and the other Sporting, this time from Gijón. Negredo got his third in as many games, and Mata also scored Valencia's only goal against Osasuna as the Chés moved to the top of the table. Oh, and we have decided to give Bilic his hat-trick from last weekend, as all the leading sports papers confirmed that it was he and not Diego Castro who got their first. Who are we to argue? (22.09.08)