European Football Roundup: Real Madrid come from behind to beat Girona, Ronaldo wins on Juve home bow

Elsewhere Bayern Munich kicked off their Bundesliga campaign with a 3-1 victory over Hoffenheim.

With European football finally in full flow, it has been a nerve-wracking experience right from the start, especially with the kickoff of the Bundesliga. The top five leagues of Europe have finally begun. Now, all we need to wait for is the UEFA Champions League, whose draw will take place on 30th August 2018.

In this article, we at Khel Now will take you through a weekly roundup of the top leagues in Italy, Spain, France, and Germany (for the Premier League roundup click here).

Serie A

To our utter dismay, Cristiano Ronaldo has not scored yet, although he did play an important role in Juventus' 2-0 victory over Lazio in Turin. Playing against Lazio has always been a tough task for any Serie A club. The Rome-based outfit narrowly missed out on a Champions League spot last season and are hungry for a better finish this time around.

Bosnian midfield stalwart Miralem Pjanic notched up a goal in the 30th minute via an exquisite volley from outside the box, which even the former Real Madrid player would have been envious of. Then in the 75th minute, a Joao Cancelo cross found the five-time Ballon d'Or winner in the box, who deflected it towards Mario Mandzukic, who found the back of the net aplomb. The Portuguese star had some impressive attempts on goal, but Lady Luck had some other plans.

Serie A Gameweek 2 results

Meanwhile, at the Stadio San Paolo, Napoli came back from two goals down to trump AC Milan via an 80th minute Dries Mertens winner. Although, the scoreline read 3-2, it was a terrific game between two teams managed by a master and his disciple (Ciucciarelli coach Carlo Ancelotti had managed Rossoneri manager Gennaro Gattuso during his time with Milan). Inter Milan were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Torino, although Ivan Perisic scored a stunner to open the floodgates in a four-goal thriller.

In the other matches, Parma lost to SPAL 1-0, Fiorentina thrashed Chievo Verona 6-1, Cagliari, Sassuolo, Roma, Atlanta, Frosinone, and Bologna drew in their respective fixtures. Also, Udinese beat Sampdoria and Empoli lost to Genoa.

La Liga

Spain's top tier's had rather straightforward proceedings with expected results. Playing their second fixture, Barcelona earned a hard-fought victory against Real Valladolid, via a Ousmane Dembele goal. The defending champions looked lost at the Estadio José Zorrilla, primarily due to the poor pitch conditions.

Lionel Messi had a few wayward attempts and so did the rest of the Catalan attack. The French winger lost the ball quite a lot of times, but made amends with a second half winner. Atletico Madrid registered their first win of the campaign with a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano; courtesy of a 63rd-minute goal by Antoine Griezmann. 

La Liga Gameweek 2 results

Meanwhile, European champions Real Madrid came back from behind heroically to beat Girona away from home. Karim Benzema scored a brace, Sergio Ramos and Gareth Bale got a goal apiece. It is worth noting that the Bernabeu outfit converted two penalties successfully. In the other fixtures, Getafe, Espanyol, and Celta Vigo also recorded wins over their opponents. Sevilla and Villareal played out a goalless draw and Athletic Bilbao drew with Huesca after a four-goal fixture.

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Bundesliga

Bayern Munich kicked-off their Bundesliga campaign with a 3-1 trouncing of Hoffenheim. Thomas Muller put his disappointing FIFA World Cup campaign behind him and scored in the 23rd minute, followed by Robert Lewandowski (82nd minute), and Arjen Robben (90th minute). Adam Szalai scored what turned out to be a consolation goal after the interval. The result was what new manager Niko Kovac would have wanted and he will be hoping to win the league for a record 29th time.

Bundesliga Gameweek 1 results

Heavyweights Borussia Dortmund also came back from behind to beat RB Leipzig 4-1 at home. Jean-Kevin Augustin scored an early goal in the first minute at Signal Iduna Park. Midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud equalized in the 21st minute, followed by a Marcel Sabitzer own-goal in the 40th minute. Axel Witsel scored on his Bundesliga debut to increase the lead before halftime and Marco Reus wrapped up the proceedings during stoppage time. In other fixtures, Wolfsburg, Hertha Berlin, Augsburg, Eintracht Frankfurt, Monchengladbach, and Mainz all recorded victories over their opponents.

Ligue 1

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Giants PSG had to do it the hard way in a 3-1 victory over Angers. Edinson Cavani opened the scoring in the 12th minute, followed by a Thomas Mangani equaliser in the 21st minute. In the second half, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar added to their fellow attack partner's tally. In total, the defending champions took 13 shots (five on target) compared to their opponents 11 attempts (six on target).

Monaco lost to Bordeaux at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, 2-1. Francois Kamano scored two goals for the home side. Meanwhile, Pietro Pellegri scored the solitary goal for the away side. In other fixtures, Lyon registered an impressive win over Strasbourg. Toulouse, Amiens, Dijon and Lille also notched up victories. Marseille had a shock draw against Rennes.