We were there again last week, but now we are Really The Bundesliga returned this weekend – and with it the Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A and Ligue 1, which all returned last weekend – and it seems as though the German league will pick up right where it left off.

Bayer Leverkusen, last season’s surprise winner, is back in the race and has won in dramatic fashion from the start. In England, reigning champions Manchester City look more dangerous than ever. In Spain, it didn’t matter that Barcelona still missed a few transfer targets. And in Italy, Christian Pulisic reached a new milestone for the players of the US men’s national team.

The season has only just begun, but it’s not too early to pick favorites and losers, so here’s a look at what happened in Europe on Saturday.

The lead: Even without reinforcements, things are going well for Barcelona

There was so much focus on the Barcelona players not were available for Saturday’s 2-1 win against Athletic Club, so it was easy to forget which players they did have.

New signing Dani Olmo was left out of the squad at short notice and his LaLiga registration has not yet been processed, although Ilkay Gündogan’s return to Manchester City has freed up money on the payroll. Nico Williams, meanwhile, played for the other team when it looked at times like he would join Barça this summer after his success at the European Championships with Spain.

So no Olmo, Gündogan or Williams, but Barça could still field Lamine Yamal, perhaps the best young player in the game right now, and Robert Lewandowski, who has started the season in excellent goalscoring form.

It was Yamal who opened the scoring at the Olympic Stadium, tricking his international teammate Williams and firing the ball into the corner. Lewandowski scored the winning goal, his third in two games, after Oihan Sancet had equalised from the penalty spot.

After the opening win at Valencia last weekend, new coach Hansi Flick has stuck with a young team – three 17-year-olds are back in the starting line-up: Yamal, Pau Cubarsí and Marc Bernal – and the early signs under the German are encouraging. Barça look organised and are applying energetic pressure. Bernal was brilliant in midfield, left-back Alejandro Balde seems to be returning to his pre-injury form, Raphinha was everywhere and Pedri was impressive in the second half as he took control of the game.

Yamal, however, was the player the fans wanted to see. There are already an astonishing number of supporters inside and outside the stadium wearing shirts with his name on the back. He did not disappoint them, once again delivering a performance that belies his age.

But it was once again the experienced Lewandowski, who turned 36 this week, who secured the three points with his goal. The Polish striker hit the post twice and was denied once by a brilliant save from Álex Padilla before finally scoring the winner in the 75th minute.

Things may remain turbulent off the pitch – and Barça will now be quick to register Olmo, who watched his new teammates from the stands, for Tuesday’s away game at Rayo Vallecano – but on the pitch things have been going well under Flick so far. — Sam Marsden

Topics of discussion around the leagues on Saturday

Pulisic reaches milestone for USMNT with season-opening goal

Christian Pulisic’s first goal of the 2024-25 Serie A season won’t go down as a pretty one – it was more of a “right place at the right time” one – but it helped the American reach a milestone. Pulisic is now the first U.S. men’s national team player to score goals in 10 seasons in Europe’s top five leagues.

His goal came in the 66th minute, when his AC Milan was already surprisingly behind promoted team Parma. Rafael Leão played a flat pass in front of the goal and Pulisic, who was standing in the six-yard box, only had to redirect the ball.

Ultimately, Pulisic’s equaliser was not enough as substitute Matteo Cancellieri restored Parma’s lead 11 minutes later and Dennis Man scored his first goal in the 84th second of the game.

AC Milan has had a bumpy start to the season. Last weekend, the club drew at the start of the season. After two matchdays, it is in 16th place in the Serie A table. — Caitlin Murray

Man City is as dangerous as ever in dismantling Ipswich

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Man City shows they are still hungry after their win against Ipswich

Janusz Michallik believes Manchester City are more determined than ever to win their fifth consecutive Premier League title after their 4-1 win over Ipswich Town.

There was a moment during his weekly press conference on Friday when Pep Guardiola felt the need to remind everyone in the room that last season was “pretty good” for Manchester City.

While it wasn’t a repeat of the treble, a record fourth Premier League title in a row made the season a success nonetheless. One of the notable things about last season’s title was that it was achieved without Ilkay Gundogan, with both Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland out for long periods due to injuries. Challengers like Arsenal and Liverpool fear all three will be back this season.

Newly promoted Ipswich briefly took the lead at the Etihad Stadium but were then dismantled for the rest of the afternoon. The score was 3-1 at half-time – it could well have been five for City – and at the final whistle, Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna looked relieved that City had only scored one more goal as Haaland, who scored twice in four minutes in the first half, completed his tenth hat-trick in just over two years at the club.

The question that has been looming over City all summer is whether they are stronger than last season. Julián Álvarez is gone and will be missed, but Gündogan is back and De Bruyne and Haaland are fit as a fiddle. Haaland in particular has never looked better.

Add to that Savinho, one of Spain’s best players last season, who was fantastic on his home debut against Ipswich, and Guardiola seems to have all the ingredients for another shot at winning all the trophies possible. There’s a good chance this season will be even better than just pretty good. — Rob Dawson

Leverkusen opens Bundesliga season with last-minute win

The Bundesliga opened its season on Friday with a Rhineland derby, as reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen played away at Borussia Mönchengladbach.

While Gladbach have endured another disappointing season and are searching for a new identity, the same cannot be said of Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen side, who know exactly who they are. A week after their dramatic win over Stuttgart in the German Super Cup, Leverkusen showed their dominance on the opposition’s turf, controlling the ball and their opponents from the kick-off.

Granit Xhaka, Leverkusen’s ever-present midfield conductor, scored the first goal of the season from outside the box before Florian Wirtz added another goal before half-time. Gladbach were particularly dangerous offensively when striker Tim Kleindienst was found in the final third.

But defender Nico Elvedi scored the first goal for the hosts in the 59th minute. While Leverkusen remained relatively dominant in the second half, Gladbach managed to equalize five minutes before the end when Kleindienst was finally rewarded for his efforts. The former Heidenheim striker scored after an assist from Kevin Stöger, the other important reinforcement in Gladbach’s offense.

But Leverkusen wouldn’t be Leverkusen today if they hadn’t somehow found a way to pull one back in the last minute. Thanks to a controversial VAR decision in stoppage time, which found that Ko Itakura had fouled Amine Adli in the box, Leverkusen were awarded a penalty. And things got even more dramatic, as Wirtz’s first attempt was blocked by Jonas Omlin, but the German international took the rebound and eventually scored.

Leverkusen celebrated another dramatic victory, while Gladbach and the home crowd were furious at the final whistle. As impressive as Leverkusen’s mentality may be, given that they won several games at the last minute last season too, it is highly questionable whether Alonso’s players can continue to produce such victories. — Constantin Eckner

News of the day

• While Liverpool fans are still keen to see what new manager Arne Slot brings to the team, Jurgen Klopp likes what he sees. Klopp resigned at the end of last season and told ESPN he has been impressed so far. “It’s not important that I like it – you can see he’s a very good coach…” You can read Klopp’s full remarks here.

• Vinícius Júnior will stay at Real Madrid until the end of the season before considering a move to Saudi Arabia, reports ESPN. His contract includes a €1 billion release clause, which deep-pocketed Saudi Arabian clubs can easily afford.

• Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said he was “very disappointed” with Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday, adding that the blame does not lie with individual players but with the team as a whole.

And finally on Saturday …

Erik ten Hag blamed his players for Manchester United’s defeat to Brighton on Saturday, but it could be argued that the common denominator is, well, himself.

Man United conceded a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time to lose to Brighton. Since Ten Hag took over as manager in the 2022/23 season, United have conceded 12 goals in the 90th minute or later.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, this is the highest figure in the Premier League during this period, along with Tottenham and Crystal Palace. For a club that still considers itself one of the biggest and best clubs in the world, this is probably not the company Man United would like to stay in. — Murray