With the frenzy of cup competitions behind us, the onus was on league football to regain importance with the top five European leagues getting into the business end of the competition. Many surprising results occurred in the Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A as the teams at the summit of the table in all these leagues still not being able to "run away with the title". Next week will see the return of footballing action from the Bundesliga with the German first division also shaping up as a three-way race to the title crown.
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With so much happening around Europe, it is difficult to soak in all of it at once. So we bring you some of the most memorable moments from last week:
#1 Pep Guardiola schooled by Everton's teenagers
It was expected that the Spaniard would take the league by storm with his famed tactics and his philosophy which had yielded him success throughout his career and made him one of the best managers of this century. But with every passing gameweek, it is emerging that Guardiola is not being able to withstand the storm that is the Premier League. The venue this week was Goodison Park where the Toffees absolutely tore apart Guardiola's men to hand the manager his biggest loss in his esteemed managerial career.
Two youngsters who impressed in Everton's rout of Manchester City were mere teenagers, which made the defeat even more bitter to swallow.
Firstly it was Tom Davies, the 18-year-old darling of the academy who had excelled in every age group for them since joining at Finch Farm aged 11. He is said to be the brightest talent to emerge out of Everton's academy in recent years.
The other one was Ademola Lookman who joined this month for a deal worth £11 million from Charlton Athletic. The youngster from Waterloo is rated highly by Ronald Koeman and his goal against City showed why the manager paid such a huge sum for the 19-year-old.
#2 Sevilla end Real Madrid's sensational unbeaten streak
Real Madrid played Sevilla twice in a gap of four days at the same stadium with just the competition changing from the Copa Del Rey to La Liga. But Sevilla played with the same fervour as ever.
Whilst their efforts came up a bit short in the Copa del Rey, where they surrendered a 3-1 lead to finish the game 3-3, the Andalusians were in no mood to let things be in their latest encounter. A Stevan Jovetic winner from 25 yards out blew the title race wide open with Sevilla being just one point behind Real and level on points with FC Barcelona.
Sergio Ramos scored an unfortunate own goal to level the matters at the Ramon Sanchez Piszjuan stadium with the crowd booing their former player and the current Real captain whenever he touched the ball. The stadium erupted as soon as Ramos nodded the ball in his own set which reflected the amount of hate that the Andalusians still have for Ramos.
#3 Juventus' shock loss makes Serie A title race intriguing
Juventus suffered an upset in an away game at the hands of Fiorentina with the scoreline reading 2-1 to the hosts. Stadio Artemio Franchi witnessed a memorable victory over the reigning Italian champions as the home side took a 2-0 lead after scoring on either side of halftime. Nikola Kalinic and Federico Chiesa scored for the home side while Gonzalo Higuain managed to halve the deficit for the Old Lady but could not inspire his side to a share of the spoils.
AS Roma, who are second on the league table are now just one point behind Juventus, albeit having played one game more. Napoli, meanwhile, overcame Pescara's challenge with a 3-1 win as talisman Marek Hamsik got on the scoresheet which sees him move just two goals behind the tally of 115 goals achieved by the great Diego Maradona at Naples.
#4 AS Monaco's win over Marseille sees a shift at the top of the pile in Ligue 1
Pundits had predicted a tough night for Monaco as they travelled to face Marseille who are a force to reckon with at home. Coming into this game, Rudi Garcia's Marseille had conceded just one goal in their last eight home games. But Monaco had other ideas as they dismantled a strong Marseille unit to thrash them 4-1 thanks to a brace from Bernardo Silva.
Thomas Lemar and Radamel Falcao were the other scorers as Monaco took all three points to go to the top of the Ligue 1 table with Nice dropping points after a 0-0 draw against a struggling Metz side.
Paris Saint-Germain are third on the table three points behind these two teams with Monaco and Nice separated by goal difference. Leonardo Jardim's men are the favourites this season to reclaim their lost glory with his free-flowing side already scoring 60 league goals in 20 games.
#5 Premier League pays tribute to former Watford and England manager, Graham Taylor
A minute's applause was observed in all the games in the England's finest league as the footballing world paid their tributes to Watford's best ever manager Graham Taylor. Taylor transformed the Hornets from a backwater club to a side that finished third in the first division and FA Cup runners-up. He was the England manager for three years and was also a respected BBC pundit after he left management.
The chants of "We love you, Graham Taylor" and "there's only one Graham Taylor" echoed at Vicarage Road on Saturday as Watford played out a 0-0 draw against Middleborough. Watford fans were out in full support for their once great leader as the chants and the tifo made clear how much Taylor meant to the club and its fans.
