The final weekend of action across Europe’s top-five leagues before the international break did not disappoint, with a host of inspired individual displays.
From Walter Benitez helping Patrick Vieira to his first win as OGC Nice boss, to Lionel Messi reaching another landmark figure in La Liga, there were plenty of brilliant performances.
That meant it wasn’t easy to pick our latest European Team of the Week, but here are the 11 players who made the cut this time around…
GK: Walter Benitez (OGC Nice)
Patrick Vieira’s Nice recorded their first win of the Ligue 1 campaign away at Lyon, with huge credit owed to goalkeeper Benitez for his display. The 25-year-old was worked constantly by the hosts, making nine saves in total. Having denied Memphis Depay on two occasions, Benitez did superbly well to preserve his clean sheet, and the win, with a fine double stop to keep out Ferland Mendy and Nabil Fekir.
RB: Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid)
Carvajal is enjoying his football under Julen Lopetegui at Real Madrid. The right-back has made an impressive start to the season and continued that against Leganes. The 26-year-old set up Gareth Bale’s opener superbly, while offering a constant threat going forward as he recorded four key passes. Defensively, Carvajal made two tackles and two interceptions as Madrid maintained their perfect start.
CB: Gustavo Cabral (Celta Vigo)
A terrific result for Celta Vigo as they beat Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid at home. It could have been any one of Cabral, Facundo Roncaglia and Nestor Araujo, as the trio did superbly well to nullify Atletico’s attacking threat, but Cabral just edged his team-mates. The 32-year-old made three tackles, four interceptions and nine clearances to help seal a clean sheet and the three points.
CB: Craig Cathcart (Watford)
Watford’s fine start to the season continues, with Cathcart playing a pivotal role in the success against Tottenham. The 29-year-old was excellent defensively, making two tackles, two interceptions, ten clearances and blocking one shot, before he headed home the winning goal at the other end. His partnership with Christian Kabasele has been a key reason for Watford’s early form.
LB: Jerome Roussillon (Wolfsburg)
Barcelona’s Jordi Alba can feel hard done by, but Roussillon’s display for Wolfsburg in their 3-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen sees him take the final spot in defence. The left-back excelled, helping his side come from behind to win. Roussillon had already stopped a certain goal with a last-ditch tackle in the opening minutes, before providing a teasing cross that was headed home by Wout Weghorst to make it 2-1.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Southampton)
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg celebrates after adding a second for Southampton at Crystal Palace.
Redemption for Hojbjerg after his red card in the defeat to Leicester a week previous. The Danish midfielder was superb for Southampton in the victory at Crystal Palace. The 23-year-old was influential, making 26 more passes than any other team-mate, and also working hard defensively to thwart the hosts. His efforts were rewarded late on, as he raced clear to round Wayne Hennessey and seal the 2-0 win.
CM: Ondrej Duda (Hertha Berlin)
A superb midfield display from Ondrej Duda, as he helped Hertha Berlin make it two wins from two to start the season, with victory at Schalke. The 23-year-old opened the scoring with a well-taken strike, before netting his second in stoppage time with a terrific free-kick. The midfielder also played his part defensively, making four tackles, one interception and two clearances in the away success.
CM: Ibrahim Sangare (Toulouse)
20-year-old Sangare delivered a performance of the highest quality to help ten-man Toulouse to a 2-1 win at Guingamp. After netting his side’s second to give them a two-goal lead, he was at his best defensively following Jean-Clair Todibo’s 26th-minute red card. Sangare made six tackles, five clearances and blocked two shots as he covered admirably for his team-mate’s early red card.
ST: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
It was another fine display from Barcelona’s main man. Messi reached 151 La Liga assists in the 8-2 win against Huesca, setting up both Ivan Rakitic and Jordi Alba with clever passes. Messi had earlier equalised after the visitors had taken a shock lead, and then made it 6-2 with another smart finish. The fact he chose to give Luis Suarez the ball to make it eight from the penalty spot, rather than grab a hat-trick himself, spoke volumes.
ST: Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)
Romelu Lukaku scored twice in Manchester United’s win at Burnley.
After his miss against Tottenham Hotspur last week, this was a hugely important display from Lukaku, as his braced helped Jose Mourinho’s men get back to winning ways. The Belgian headed home from Alexis Sanchez’s cross to give United the lead, before smashing in a second as the ball broke kindly to him in the area. Lukaku’s link-up play with his team-mates, in particular Alexis Sanchez, was impressive throughout.
ST: Gregoire Defrel (Sampdoria)
Napoli’s winning start to the Serie A season came to an emphatic end, with Defrel on hand to net twice for Sampdoria in a 3-0 home success. The forward’s first was a stunning strike as he broke the deadlock on the counter attack, smashing home from 20 yards on the half-volley, while his second of the night came courtesy of a deflection off a defender. Defrel was a menace for Sampdoria throughout against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
