Los Blancos reap rewards of the Mourinho effect

Following Villareal and Valencia’s recent forays into the top two, hopeful fans in Spain could be forgiven for wondering if this would be the year when the two superpowers of La Liga finally received credible threats to their dominance. Alas, following last weekend’s results, the upper echelons of Spanish football once more make for decidedly familiar viewing.

Barcelona appear to have cast off the worries that plagued an unsettled start, their 3-1 victory at the Nou Camp over Villareal taking them to five league wins in succession. Inspired by Lionel Messi, the Argentine’s brace propelling him to a staggering 10 goals in just 9 games, the reigning champions easily disposed of Juan Carlos Garrido’s side, surely leaving the men in yellow with little more to aim for this season than finishing as ‘the best of the rest’.

It is not Barca, however, who lead the way. Real Madrid’s appointment of Jose Mourinho in the summer looks more masterful with each passing game; unbowed by his club’s recent fascination with so-called Galacticos, ‘the Special One’ has built a side finally capable of keeping the back door shut. Another assured clean sheet away at Sporting Gijon was supplemented by a late Gonzalo Higuan strike, keeping Los Blancos unbeaten and a point ahead of their closest rivals.

For the last five seasons running, the side that has come out on top in their two head-to-head battles of that year has gone on to win the league; with El Clàsico under two weeks away, Mourinho’s first taste of the biggest game in Spanish football will go a long way to deciding where this year’s title ends up.

Elsewhere in La Liga: Valencia reacted well to last week’s 2-0 setback at Sevilla, inflicting the same score upon Getafe; Sevilla themselves continued their good form with a last-gasp winner at Zaragoza, leaping into fifth; whilst Atlético bounced back from defeat in the Madrid derby with an impressive 3-0 trouncing of Osasuna, Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero both amongst the goals.

Further down the table, Zaragoza’s late defeat leaves them rooted to the bottom with just one win all season, whilst 1-0 defeats for both Almeria and Levante leave each inside the bottom three. Hovering precariously outside are Sporting and Malaga. But, truth be told, thus far it is too tight to determine any clear picks for relegation – a mere 9 points separate the bottom side and Bilbao in eighth. Unsurprisingly given the gulf in class in La Liga, the same margin sets apart leaders Real from Valencia in fourth.

Meanwhile, on the Italian Peninsula, this week’s Milanese derby did little to help the considerable weight bearing down of Rafa Benitez’s shoulders. Though following in the footsteps of Jose Mourinho is an unenviable task, Benitez has been largely uninspiring. This weekend was no different with Zlatan Ibrahimovic giving AC an early lead and, despite Ignazio Abate’s red card on the hour mark, Massimiliano Allegri’s Rossoneri held out for victory.

The win kept Milan atop of Serie A, whilst Lazio remain second following an impressive 2-0 victory at home to third-placed Napoli. Benitez’s Inter now lie fifth, behind Juventus on goal difference; how demoralising it must all be for fans after last year’s exhilarating treble success.

Juvé themselves had to make do this week with a 1-1 draw at home to Roma, Vincenzo Iaquinta’s opener cancelled out by a Francesco Totti penalty deep into first-half stoppage time. Meanwhile the most comprehensive result of the week came at Udinese, where Francesco Guidolin’s men thumped Lecce 4-0.

Bari remain rooted to the bottom after a 0-1 defeat at home to Parma, whilst Cesena, Brescia and Cagliari lie just two points ahead, the latter staying out of the bottom three on goal difference. In mid-table, Sampdoria and Chievo did little to change perceptions that this season’s Serie A is the most boring in years, playing out a 0-0 draw, whilst Genoa and Fiorentina notched important 1-0 victories over Cagliari and Cesena respectively.

In Germany, leaders Borussia Dortmund’s imperious away form continued with a magnificent 4-0 victory at Hannover 96, before recording a 2-0 victory at home to Hamburg; Jürgen Klopp’s side boast a 100% record on the road, and sit an impressive 7 points clear of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen after just 12 games. Leverkusen scraped to a 1-0 victory away at St. Pauli, leapfrogging Mainz, whose indifferent home form was laid bare with a 0-1 defeat to the aforementioned Hannover.

The biggest shock in the Bundesliga thus far remains Bayern Munich, who currently lie outside the European places in sixth. Under the stead of Louis van Gaal, the men from Bavaria have yet to record successive league victories this season. However, their 3-0 win over Nuremburg at the Allianz Arena takes them to five games unbeaten, and, fans hope, a resurgence towards the top of the table.

Cologne’s decision to sack Croatian supremo Zvonimir Soldo last month seems to have had little impact as they were demolished 4-0 at home to Monchengladbach; incidentally this took the side nicknamed ‘the Foals’ above Cologne and relegated their opponents to the bottom of the table. Schalke, second last year, find themselves in sixteenth and the relegation play-off place; last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Steve McClaren’s Wolfsburg hardly aids their torrid start to the season.

In Holland, Ajax lost ground after a 0-2 defeat away at AZ Alkmaar, whilst PSV Eindhoven’s 4-2 win at home Excelsior put them top following FC Twente’s defeat at NAC. Ligue 1′s unfamiliar look continues with Brest leading the way, Lille and Montpellier lie joint second whilst a so-far poor Lyon defeated Nice to move up to eighth. Elsewhere, in Portugal and Denmark, the dominance of Porto and FC Copenhagen respectively shows no sign of abating; Porto lead second-placed Guimaraes after 11 games by a massive 10 points, whilst the Danish champions remain unbeaten and comprehensively out of their competitors’ reach.