AC Milan’s attacking prowess was on show as they eased to a 4-1 victory over Torino to maintain their perfect start to the Serie A season.
Olivier Giroud and new signing Christian Pulisic were both on target in the opening win over Bologna and claimed three of the four goals again here.
USA international Pulisic grabbed the first in the 33rd minute from a pass by former Chelsea team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek to kick off what was a hectic end to the first half.
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Perr Schuurs levelled three minutes later from Torino’s first opportunity but Giroud converted his first penalty in the 43rd minute after a lengthy VAR check for handball.
And there was still time for Theo Hernandez to make it three before the break, while another VAR review resulted in Milan’s second penalty in the 65th minute, which was again converted by Giroud.
Hellas Verona joined Milan on six points with a 2-1 victory over Roma. They were two up at the break through Ondrej Duda and Cyril Ngonge and held on despite Houssem Aouar pulling one back shortly after half-time and Isak Hien’s red card.
Newly-promoted Frosinone claimed their first victory, defeating Atalanta 2-1, while a double from Andrea Colpani secured a 2-0 win for Monza against Empoli.
In the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund needed a Donyell Malen equaliser to secure a 1-1 draw with Bochum, who had taken an early lead through Kevin Stoger.
It has been a less than convincing start to the season for Dortmund after the disappointment of their title near-miss last term.
There are no such concerns for Union Berlin, who sit top of the table after a 4-1 victory over Darmstadt despite playing with 10 men for more than an hour following Brenden Aaronson’s dismissal.
Berlin were 1-0 up at the time through Robin Gosens and quickly conceded an equaliser but shrugged off the setback, with Gosens scoring again before goals from Kevin Behrens and Danilho Doekhi.
Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Freiburg also maintained their 100 per cent starts to the campaign.
Victor Boniface scored twice in Leverkusen’s convincing 3-0 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach while there was also a double from Jonas Wind as Wolfsburg came from behind to beat Koln 2-1.
Freiburg looked set to be held by Werder Bremen only for Maximilian Philipp to pop up in the sixth minute of stoppage time and earn a 1-0 win.
Newly-promoted Heidenheim were two goals up on Hoffenheim heading towards the final 10 minutes and seemed on course for a first win only for the visitors to score three times and clinch a 3-2 victory, with Andrej Kramaric grabbing the winner from the penalty spot.
LaLiga teams used Saturday’s matches to show their support for Jenni Hermoso and the Women’s World Cup winners in their dispute with the federation.
Captain Olga Carmona was in the stands at Sevilla, whose players wore T-shirts bearing the words “Se Acabo”, which translates as “It’s Over”, while Cadiz’s players carried a banner supporting Hermoso.
On the pitch, Sevilla remain without a point after a 2-1 defeat by Girona, who have started well, while Granada defeated Mallorca 3-2 and Kaiky Fernandes netted a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw between Cadiz and Almeria in a match that saw both teams finish with 10 men.
Paris St Germain claimed a belated first Ligue 1 victory of the season, defeating Lens 3-1. Kylian Mbappe began to put the summer’s bad blood behind him with two goals after Marco Asensio had opened the scoring.
Chancel Mbemba Mangulu and Ismaila Sarr were on target as Marseille made it seven points from their first three games with a 2-0 victory over Brest.
Harwood-Bellis 'didn't quite believe' first senior England call-up
Taylor Harwood-Bellis revealed he was in a state of disbelief when he was told about his first call-up to the England senior team last week.
Harwood-Bellis, along with Newcastle's Lewis Hall, received their maiden Three Lions call-ups in Lee Carsley's final squad as interim head coach.
The Southampton defender has impressed under Russell Martin this season, featuring in all of their Premier League fixtures so far this season.
Harwood-Bellis has won more aerial duels (13) for the Saints in the top-flight this term, with only Jan Bednarek (888) completing more passes than the 22-year-old (684).
He is also someone well known to the interim boss from his time in charge of England's Under-21's side, with his 21 appearances more than any other player during Carsley's tenure in the current Three Lions squad.
"Lee Carsley rang me in the morning and said, 'you'll be with us, with the seniors'. I didn't quite believe it at first," he told a press conference.
"My partner was next to me and I phoned my dad, who was very proud. He loves when I play for England, even the younger age groups.
"One of the first people to message me was Aaron Ramsdale. I was happy to see his name as he's one of my mates at the club."
Unfortunately for Harwood-Bellis, Ramsdale has since pulled out of the squad with a finger injury and has been replaced by Burnley's James Trafford.
England travel to Athens to take on Group B2 leaders Greece on Thursday before returning to Wembley three days later as they square off against the Republic of Ireland.
With a number of first-team regulars out through injury, Harwood-Bellis has the opportunity to become the first Saints player to represent England since Kyle Walker-Peters did so back in 2022.
The defender understood the potential ramifications of performing well for the Three Lions during this international break, with Thomas Tuchel taking over in the new year.
"It will be a big motivation for all of the lads, knowing that there's a new manager coming in and wanting to keep your spot," he said.
"That's something that especially the younger lads will be pushing towards.
"It's going to be difficult because of the quality and experience in some of the lads that aren't here is massive.
"It'll be difficult, but it'll be something that I'll focus on week in and week out for Southampton and if I get minutes here."
Chelsea quartet left at home as Bompastor rotates squad for Celtic clash
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has said that they will be without four key players ahead of their Champions League game away to Celtic on Wednesday.
Bompastor confirmed that Millie Bright, Mayra Ramirez, Sjoeke Nusken and Kadeisha Buchanan have not travelled to Scotland for their encounter at Celtic Park.
The Blues know a victory will seal their progression to the knockout stages, though have decided to rest a few of their key players during a hectic fixture schedule.
Their trip to Scotland will be the second of three matches inside seven days in all competitions for Bompastor's side and, as a result, she has decided to rotate her squad.
"The squad is in a good place and we have a good dynamic and we are full of confidence," she told a press conference
"We have been playing a lot of games and this week we play three games so it’s important to manage players as individuals.
“We have some players who didn’t travel for this game. Kadeisha Buchanan, Millie Bright, Sjoeke Nusken and Mayra Ramirez didn’t travel."
Chelsea come into the game with a 100% record in all competitions under Bompastor, including two wins from two against Real Madrid and Twente in the Champions League.
And they will be confident of maintaining their perfect run, having lost just one of their previous 20 group stage matches in the competition (W14 D5) and are unbeaten across their last 14 (W11 D3).
“As you know, Chelsea have a good squad with quality and a good team will start the game and be competitive because we want to finish first in this group," she said.
Their early-season form has them second in the Women's Super League and top of their Champions League group, at least three points ahead of any other team.
Despite resting players, Bompastor reassured people that it was Chelsea's ambition to fight on all fronts.
“The Champions League is important and we have ambition and we want to make sure we finish first in the group," she said.
“We have ambitions and if we want to go for all the competitions then you need to beat every team.
“It will start again in March and that’s when the really important games start, but right now we are focused on the group stage.”
Slegers maintains unbeaten Arsenal start with statement Juventus win
Renee Slegers claimed the biggest win of her time as Arsenal's interim head coach as they beat Juventus 4-0 in the Women's Champions League on Tuesday.
Since taking over from Jonas Eidevall, Slegers has led the Gunners to four wins from her five games at the helm, though their most recent result was their most impressive.
After seeing Alessia Russo and Emily Fox denied by smart stops from Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, the Gunners eventually made the breakthrough seven minutes from half-time.
A well-worked team move saw Caitlin Foord pick out Frida Maanum inside the box, with the Norwegian remaining calm and finishing into the far corner.
Fox again went close with an effort that crashed the crossbar, but Arsenal finally got their second when substitute Stina Blackstenius fired the ball home in the 75th minute.
Mariona Caldentey, another substitute made by Slegers, grabbed the Gunners' third before Foord sealed a statement win at the Stadio Comunale Vittorio Pozzo Lamarmora.
Heading into Tuesday's match, Arsenal were winless across their last three Champions League away matches (D1 L2), but were worthy winners in Italy this time around.
They accumulated an expected goals (xG) total of 2.5 from their 17 shots, compared to Juventus' 1.06 from their 12 attempts during the contest.
In the other early kick-off taking place on Tuesday, Barcelona romped to a comfortable 7-0 victory over St. Polten, helped by a flurry of goals at the end of the first half.
With the game level after half an hour, Ewa Pajor opened the scoring in the 32nd minute after turning home Ona Batlle's cross at Carina Schluter's front post.
Kika Nazareth then doubled Barca's advantage six minutes later before Pajor notched her second of the game after being picked out by Ballon d'Or Feminin winner Aitana Bonmati.
Keira Walsh then curled a wonderful effort into the far corner from the edge of the box as Claudia Pina concluded the 13-minute onslaught on the stroke of half-time.
Barca notched their sixth from the spot after Kamila Dubcova brought down Batlle, with Pina sending Schluter the wrong way, before Caroline Hansen completed the scoring to move her side onto six points in Group D.
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