European Paper Review

Ronaldo dedicates goals to team-mates, Messi to his a newborn son; Germany cries crisis with despair for Borussia Mönchengladbach as teams pitch in for refugees; and the ‘art’ of Martial is celebrated in Norway.

‘Ronaldo recovers his great vice in front of goal’ wrote Spain’s El Pais after the poker player had scored five at Cornella against Espanyol in Real Madrid’s 6-0 win. The Portuguese forward went past Raul’s league goal record for Real Madrid. The legendary Spanish striker took 550 games to reach his 228 tally; Ronaldo has taken only 203 to score 230 and needed only 19 minutes to net his hat-trick, his 32nd for Madrid.

“The five are for you, too,” opined the cover of Monday’s Marca, suggesting that Ronaldo told his team mates that all the goals were for them in the dressing room.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are back at the top of the table as La Liga takes on a more familiar feel after Eibar, Atletico and Celta couldn’t maintain their 100% records. Barça were superb in their 2-1 win at Atletico, with Messi and Ronaldo scoring.

“A goal for Mateo,” headlined El Pais after Messi became a father to another boy. He celebrated his goal by sucking his thumb. One for the baby, indeed.

In Germany, Die Welt wrote that it has been “record weekend in the Bundesliga”. Hamburg got the ball rolling on Friday with a 3-0 hammering of Borussia Mönchengladbach, who are still without a point. “Gladbach plunged into the valley of despair” headlined Kicker, whilst the Rheinische Post said “the time for experimentation is over” following a “horrific” display.

Joining the hapless Gladbach in the “valley of despair” are VfB Stuttgart, also pointless following a 2-1 defeat at Hertha Berlin. As Die Welt pointed out, only Bayern Munich have registered more shots on goal than Stuttgart this season. As against Cologne (1-3) and Eintracht Frankfurt (1-4), the Swabians were again the better side but were undone at the back. Under-fire manager Alexander Zorniger however dismissed suggestions that his team are too offensive.

At the other end of the emotional spectrum are minnows Darmstadt whose “Bundesliga dream” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) shows no sign of ending as they extended their unbeaten run with their first Bundesliga victory in 33 years away at big-spending Bayer Leverkusen. Sportschau called it “the sensation of the weekend” whilst Süddeutsche Zeitung said, “Expense doesn’t always beat value”. High-profile Leverkusen signing Javier Hernandez made his Bundesliga debut but was unable to rescue his new club.

After a couple of fortuitous results against Wolfsburg (1-1) and Hamburg (2-1), 1. FC Köln’s luck finally ran out in Frankfurt on Saturday evening. The “bewildered, shocked and clueless Rheinländer” (Kicker) lost 6-2 to an Eintracht side inspired by returning captain Alexander Meier. “Fußballgott Maier!” chanted Frankfurt’s north stand, as last season’s Bundesliga top scorer hit a hat-trick.

Borussia Dortmund stayed top following a 4-2 victory away at Hannover – their ninth win in succession. Der Spiegel called them the “four-goal team” as Thomas Tuchel’s men achieved that total for the third time this season. Adnan Januzaj, on loan from Manchester United, made his Bundesliga debut and drew praise from Spiegel, who believe that Tuchel now has another genuine option in attack.

Bayern Munich remained on BVB’s heels thanks to a last minute Thomas Müller penalty described by Augsburg manager Markus Weinzierl as a “joke”. In a heated interview with Sky Bundesliga, Weinzierl said his team had been “hard done by” - but in rather more colourful language.

Off the pitch, Bundesliga clubs have been prominent in organising aid and financial assistance for refugees fleeing to Germany. Whilst Bayern Munich made international headlines with their €1m donation and provision of football training and German language courses for refugees, Die Welt listed the various charitable work of all top-flight sides.

In Ligue 1, an “inconsistent” (l’Équipe) PSG dropped their first points of the campaign in a 2-2 draw at home to Bordeaux thanks to two “incredible” errors from goalkeeper Kevin Trapp. Rennes took advantage of the Parisians’ slip to move to within a point of the champions following an “incisive” (l’Équipe) 2-0 derby win at rivals Nantes, who finished the match with nine men.

Whilst 20minutes.fr called Monaco’s 1-0 win away at Ajaccio “one to miss”, FranceFootball lauded St Étienne’s 2-1 win in Montpellier as “a hugely enjoyable and tense spectacle”. Particular praise was reserved for Nolan Roux, the former Lille forward who “carried the Stéphanois to victory” and up to 4th in the league.

Sunday evening saw Marseille record only their second victory of the season, “outclassing” a Bastia side who showed “little intent” (LePoint) to move up 11th and restore an air of stability following a dramatic summer and a difficult start. LePoint rightly added however that next week’s encounter with Lyon will provide a much better barometer of this “new Marseille”.

The debut goal of Frenchman Anthony Martial in Saturday’s game between Manchester United and Liverpool received prominent coverage around Europe. In Norway, the leading tabloid VG mocked up a picture of Martial celebrating in an antique frame fit for a masterpiece accompanied by the headline ‘mARTial!

In Italy, the Milan derby made the cover of Monday’s La Gazzetta dello Sport. Under a headline ‘Inter Full of Happiness’, it commented how Inter’s 1-0 win had maintained their 100% record and kept them back at the top of Serie A. ‘Milan is Inter’ added Marca of another game which received coverage well beyond its national borders.

Finally, sport and politics continue to mix, nowhere more than in Israel. Ultras of Maccabi Tel Aviv held up a flag saying ‘Refugees not Welcome’, while their left leaning city neighbours Hapoel showed solidarity with the refugees’ plight with a ‘Who isn’t a migrant here?’ flag. Both were featured across the Israeli media.