Euro review - poor start for Rafa at Inter
It was matchday four in France and Holland, the second set of games took place in Germany and things got underway in Italy and Spain. These were the highlights...
Italy
Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti declared that the competition is "real" after AC Milan signed serial title-winner Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and the Rossoneri are in to [3.2] and top the table after a 4-0 win over Lecce. Last season's top two Inter ([2.34]) and Roma ([7.8]) endured goalless draws with expected strugglers Bologna and Cesena, while Juventus lost to Bari. The top-four tip of many, Genoa, produced one of the results of the weekend, winning 1-0 at Udinese.
Spain
The grumbles about Real Madrid's underwhelming pre-season grew a little louder after they started the season with a stalemate away at Real Mallorca. It gives [1.72] favourites Barcelona an early two-point lead over them after Pep Guardiola's side beat Racing Santander 3-0 in their opener. Atletico Madrid were the star performers though, following Super Cup success over Inter on Friday with a 4-0 victory over Sporting Gijon last night to lead La Liga. They're in to [48.0] in the title betting.
Germany
An incredible weekend ended with promoted Kaiserslautern atop the Bundesliga after a 2-0 triumph against [1.65] title favourites Bayern Munich. There are five 100 per cent records still intact, with Hoffenheim (who today signed Reading's Gylfi Sigurdsson), Mainz (who fought back from 3-0 down to win at Steve McClaren's Wolfsburg), Hamburg and Hannover also flying high. Standout score of the weekend though was Borussia Monchengladbach's 6-3 success away to Bayer Leverkusen.
France
It's incredibly rare to lead a league by four points after just four games, even more so when those table-toppers finished 14th the year before, but that's the position Toulouse are in after beating Nancy 2-0. Odds of [24.0] on them winning Ligue 1 suggest they're not expected to stay there. The big match between the last two champions Bordeaux ([7.6]) and Marseille ([3.95]) finished 1-1, while Lyon ([3.1]) lost 2-0 to Lorient on Yoann Gourcuff's debut.
Holland
Ajax ([2.14]) pushed past PSV ([2.82]) at the top of the Eredivisie after thrashing De Graafschap 5-0 in their own backyard, while the former leaders dropped their first points of the season drawing 2-2 with Den Haag. FC Twente ([8.2]) appear determined to mount a sterner defence of their title than AZ did last year and are two points behind the top two after thumping FC Utrecht 4-0.
Catch any games? Tell us what you made of the weekend's action below...
Published: 31 Aug 2010
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