A great start for Spanish sides in the Champions League proper, with all three clocking up convincing victories. On Tuesday Barcelona beat Panathinaikos 5-1, with Messi scoring two and then missing a penalty, and David Villa getting his first European goal for his new club. Pedro and Dani Alves also opened their accounts for the season later on. Meanwhile Valencia won 0-4 at debutants Bursaspor, with new boys Tino Costa, Aduríz and Soldado all scoring and Pablo also getting his name on the scoresheet. And the following day Real Madrid won 2-0 against Ajax with Higuaín scoring the second and forcing Anita to turn his header in to his own net earlier on to complete La Liga's 100% record. Not so good though the following day in the Europa League, with Atlético, Sevilla and Villarreal all losing without scoring a single goal between them. Only Getafe got off to a winning start, coming from behind to beat Odense 2-1 with strikes from Arizmendi and Pedro Ríos.

Messi scored again at the weekend as Barça beat Atlético 1-2, although he paid the price, suffering a bad tackle late on which will keep him out for a couple of weeks or so. Nilmar moves up to second in our chart after scoring both goals in Villarreal's 1-2 win at Levante, a result which was repeated as well in Alicante where Valencia won at Hércules to end the weekend at the top of the table. Mata and Pablo were the goalscorers for the Ches, with Trézéguet getting his first goal in La Liga from the penalty spot. The same scoreline in San Sebastian, where hosts Real Sociedad lost 1-2 to Real Madrid. Di María opened the scoring for Mourinho's side, and after Tamudo equalised, Cristiano Ronaldo got the winner with a free kick. However he was eventually denied his first goal of the season as the referee notched it up to to Pepe as the ball hit him on the back on it's way in to goal. On Saturday as well Spanish striker Llorente scored his third in as many games as Athletic came back to draw 2-2 at Sporting, and in the Monday night match Deportivo and Getafe drew 2-2, Guardado getting both for the locals from the penalty spot, and Arizmendi saving a point for the visitors in the end. (21.09.10)