Real Madrid’s early season woes disappeared with an emphatic 8-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna in the Spanish League on Saturday.
A goalless draw with Hamburg SV highlighted that Bayern has yet to find its best form this season, while Arsenal rebounded with a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa in England following a trio of domestic draws and a Champions League loss.
In Italy, Juventus went three points clear at the top after Carlos Tevez scored the winner at San Siro in a 1-0 win over AC Milan.
La Liga
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick, Gareth Bale and Javier Hernandez added braces and Real Madrid rolled past Deportivo La Coruna 8-2 to end its two-game losing skid.
After Madrid romped, defending champion Atletico Madrid slipped to a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo, while Granada rose into a provisional share of second place with Atletico after a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao.
Atletico and Granada are one point behind Barcelona before the leader visits Levante on Sunday.
Ronaldo scored his first two goals on either side of James Rodriguez’s superb long strike to decide the match before halftime, and send Madrid on its way to its biggest away goal total in league play.
Rodriguez then helped the Ballon d’Or holder score his eighth goal in as many matches across all competitions.
Premier League
Mesut Ozil answered his critics to lift Arsenal out of its slump, while Liverpool fell to a second successive Premier League loss.
Ozil, Arsenal’s record $70 million signing, ended an eight-match scoring drought stretching back into last season, and also set up Danny Welbeck’s first goal for the club in a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa. Defender Aly Cissokho turned a shot into his own net as Arsenal scored three goals in 192 seconds.
West Ham inflicted Liverpool’s third loss in five rounds, beating last season’s runner-up 3-1.
Serie A
Carlos Tevez scored his fourth goal in three matches and Juventus won 1-0 at AC Milan in the first high-profile matchup of the season.
In the 71st minute at the San Siro, Paul Pogba set up Tevez with only the goalkeeper to beat and the Argentine forward expertly chipped it in over Christian Abbiati.
The victory gave Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri a measure of revenge against the club that fired him in January.
With three wins from three matches, Juventus moved three points clear of Milan and Roma, which hosts Cagliari on Sunday.
Bundesliga
Hamburger SV held Bayern Munich to a 0-0 draw in Josef Zinnbauer's debut as coach, while Julian Draxler scored and got sent off on his 21st birthday for nine-man Schalke in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Schalke drew 2-2 with Eintracht Frankfurt, which also had a player sent off.
Also, promoted Paderborn was provisionally top of the table after defeating Hannover 2-0. Elias Kachunga broke the deadlock in the 71st, then Moritz Stoppelkamp sealed the result deep in injury time with an audacious goal from 83 meters for a Bundesliga record.
Mainz defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the late game, costing the visitors the chance to go top.
Ligue 1
Marseille striker Andre-Pierre Gignac scored twice in a 3-0 win over Rennes that provisionally lifted his club to the top of the French league.
Gignac, now the league’s top scorer with six goals, opened with a spectacular scissors-kick before doubling his team’s lead with a well-taken shot from the edge of the box.
Substitute Romain Alessandrini sealed Marseille’s win in added time with a superb free kick.
Marseille’s fourth straight league win put it level with Bordeaux but with a better goal difference after six rounds. Third-place Lille can overtake Marseille with a win against Montpellier on Sunday.
