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It was another enthralling weekend of football across Europe, as various clubs resumed hostilities in their quest to fulfill their season objectives.
There were routine victories for some clubs, while others suffered setbacks. Manchester United posted a statement victory in their 1-0 win over Tottenham away at Wembley to continue their revival under Solksjaer and send their statement of intent, while Arsenal suffered a 1-0 loss to West Ham.
It was also business as usual for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in LaLiga, while Real Madrid returned to winning ways with a narrow 2-1 victory over Real Betis away at the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
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There were some records also set and broken over the weekend in Europe, as players etched their names into the history books. In this piece, we take a look at three records which were posted this weekend.
#3 First player to reach 400 LaLiga goals
Throughout his long and illustrious career, Lionel Messi has made a habit of breaking and resetting records, with it almost a foregone conclusion that every goal he scores, assist he gives or dribble he completes adds another page to his burgeoning collection of football records.
The Argentine maestro was once more at it over the weekend, scoring the second goal in the 3-0 victory over Eibar at the Camp Nou which made him the first player in history to score 400 La Liga goals.
A cursory look at Messi's incredible scoring stat shows that the Argentine has averages an incredible 0.92 goals per game in his illustrious Barca career, as his 400 goals came in just 435 Primera division matches.
The strike makes him only the second player to net 400 goals in Europe's top five leagues after eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo did so earlier in the season, although it is pertinent to note that Messi did so in 63 matches than it took Ronaldo to achieve the feat.
Incredibly, Messi's first league goal for Barcelona came way back in 2005 against Albacete as a skinny 17-year-old and since then, the icon has gone on to score 83 braces and 31 hat-tricks.
With Messi having committed to a new long-term contract, his record is set to stand for a very long time, seeing as the nearest active challenger to him is Athletic Bilbao legend Aritz Aduriz, who currently stands on 157 goals for the Basque side.
#2 Most saves in a single Premier League match this season
Manchester United are very much a team reborn, having parted ways with Jose Mourinho, replacing the Portuguese with former icon Ole Gunnar Solksjaer.
The Norwegian has brought a new lease of life, overseeing a total transformation in the outlook, bringing in a positive atmosphere, which has cast aside the gloom and doom associated with the 'Mou' era.
This new period has seemingly brought out the best of hitherto castigated players such as Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial among other, as the Red Devils have won six matches on the bounce, returning the exciting swashbuckling style which has been associated with United against the backdrop of dour pragmatic style which characterized Jose's tenure.
The Premier League match day 22 clash away to Tottenham at Wembley represented the biggest test of Solksjaer's United tenure till date, as with all due respect to his previous opponents, they are not exactly the kinds of opponents who are expected to give prime United a scare.
It was a test which The Red Devils passed with flying colors, as not only did they win the match, but they did so convincingly, with most of their players discharging their duties with flying colors with de Gea the pick of the bunch.
The Spanish shot-stopper was at his imperious best, repeatedly thwarting the likes of Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Toby Alderweireld to hand United the precious victory.
The 28-year-old made a total of 11 saves in the match which was the most managed by any keeper this Premier League season and helped United move level on points with Arsenal in the battle for a top four finish.
#1 Mane the record breaker
Having made a previous mistake in not signing him while he was coach of Borussia Dortmund, Jurgen Klopp was not about to make lightning strike twice as he sanctioned the purchase of the Senegalese forward for a total of £34m which made him the most expensive African footballer in history at the time.
To say that the 26-year-old has repaid back that faith would be merely stating the obvious, as he has been instrumental to the progress made by Liverpool under the stewardship of Klopp.
In his debut season, Mane managed 13 goals in all competitions, before exploding in the just concluded season, as he was part of the triumvirate alongside Salah and Firmino which fired the Reds to an unlikely UCL final run, contributing 20 goals in all competitions (10 in the UCL including in the final against Madrid) to help send a statement of intent from the Merseyside outfit.
So far this campaign, Mane has continued from where he left off, scoring eight goals from 20 Premier League matches to help Liverpool sit top of the EPL standings.
In the Premier League match against Brighton, the Senegalese made his 100th appearance for Liverpool in all competitions, putting him on an illustrious list which contains all time greats such as John Barnes, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres and Jamie Carragher.
