Three former Red Devils coaches have now been fired in the space of a few days amid what was another wild week around the continent
It's still very early days across Europe's top leagues, but some very interesting narratives are already emerging in Spain, Italy, Germany, France – and all across the continent, in fact.
Napoli, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have all made flawless starts to their respective title defences, but Barcelona have allowed Real Madrid to steal an early march on them in La Liga – while Atletico Madrid are in an even worse predicament.
As usual, the latest round of action has provided us with plenty of talking points, so let's get straight into it with the biggest winners and losers from the weekend's games…
WINNER: Joao Neves
Joao Neves's hat-trick in Paris Saint-Germain's 6-3 win at Toulouse on Saturday may not have been technically 'perfect', but it did earn the Portuguese one of those very rare perfect 10 ratings from .
"It's not just the three goals," PSG coach Luis Enrique coach told his club's media channel, "but the way he scored them." Indeed, the first two were over-head kicks scored after teeing the ball up for himself with his chest – which is just ridiculous – while his third was a thunderous strike from outside the area.
Given Luis Enrique believes that finishing is something Neves needs to improve, the Benfica product was unsurprisingly feeling pretty pleased with himself after matching his Ligue 1 tally for the entire 2024-25 season just three games into the current campaign.
"Over-head kicks are something I practice in training," he revealed, "and it paid off tonight!"
If Neves adds regular goals to his already outstanding game, it really won't be long before the 20-year-old is regarded as the finest central midfielder in world football – because he wasn't far off as it was.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportLOSER: Ex-Man Utd managers
A matter of hours after Besiktas failed to qualify for the Conference League proper, having already been dumped out of the Europa League, the Turkish outfit sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after just eight months in charge. The following morning, another Super Lig side, Fenerbahce, announced that they had parted company with Jose Mourinho – just two days after their Champions League elimination by Benfica in Lisbon.
Remarkably, the last three permanent Manchester United managers are now out of work, with Erik ten Hag having been dismissed by Bayer Leverkusen on Monday. The Dutchman only officially took over from Xabi Alonso on July 1 but he's paid the price for the 2023-24 double winners' disastrous start to the new Bundesliga season.
After opening with a 2-1 loss at home to Hoffenheim, Leverkusen were held to a 3-3 draw at Werder Bremen on Saturday – despite twice holding a two-goal lead while Werder played the final quarter of the match with just 10 men.
Ten Hag pointed to the fact that there has been an awful lot of upheaval at the Bay Arena over the summer (which is undeniably true) and that his revamped team would need time to gel. He also claimed that some of his players were not in good physical condition. However, the writing was on the wall for Ten Hag as soon as captain Robert Andrich publicly revealed that the squad simply wasn't united and that many of his team-mates "are concerned only with themselves" – which obviously reflected horribly on the coach.
There were also reports that some Leverkusen directors had been left less than impressed with the former Ajax coach's communication skills and motivational powers, making Ten Hag's embarrassingly early exit almost inevitable.
AFPLOSER: Diego Simeone
Just like Ten Hag, Diego Simeone makes our list of losers for the second time this season. Of course, unlike Ten Hag, Simeone has an enormous amount of credit in the bank at Atletico Madrid. However, it's very telling that the Argentine is already calling for "time and patience" after watching his team draw 1-1 at Alaves on Saturday.
The result means that Atleti are still waiting for their first win of the season and, with just two points on the board after three rounds, they currently sit 17th in the Liga standings – which is nowhere near good enough for a club that has spent approximately €180m on new players in each of the past two summer transfer windows.
What's particularly worrying is that the Rojiblancos' performances have been as disappointing as the results and, as Simeone matter-of-factly pointed out, "It's difficult to win while playing badly."
The two-time Liga winner is adamant that his team will come good, but the home game against Villarreal immediately after the international break – which comes four days before a Champions League trip to Anfield – is already looking like a must-win game for Atleti, who were meant to mount a sustained title challenge this season.
"I trust the guys who have come in," Simeone insisted. "We're going to keep working, and with hard work, we'll start picking up points." That needs to happen sooner rather than later. Otherwise Simeone will find himself facing some seriously awkward questions about his future.
Getty Images SportWINNER: Cremonese
Four teams in Serie A boast 100 percent winning records. Incredibly, Cremonese are one of them.
The Grigiorossi were in the second tier last season and only came up through the play-offs – but new coach David Nicola masterminded a magnificent opening weekend win over AC Milan at San Siro that came courtesy of a stunning scissors-kick from Federico Bonazzoli.
Then, on Friday, Cremonese went top of the table (for 24 hours) after beating fellow newcomers Sassuolo 3-2 with a 93rd-minute penalty from Manuel De Luca.
"In Milan, we didn't expect to take home all three points," Nicola admitted to . "We achieved more than expected. But, tonight, I asked the team to be competitive and we produced a lot, so I think the victory was fair and deserved. We're not yet at our best physically, but I saw the right attitude, and it's a win that makes us happy. We're a team under construction, and we need to improve in everything, but we're only at the beginning."
It certainly feels like the start of something special, given Cremonese are also on the verge of signing Leicester City legend Jamie Vardy. For a club that's never won a major honour and is probably still best known for producing Gianluca Vialli, these really are crazy days.
