The European club season is starting to get into full swing, and the first major weekend produced several performances worthy of a spot in our Team of the Week.
Barcelona opened its La Liga title defense by putting five past Elche. Hull City celebrated its return to the Premier League by stunning Manchester United. Brentford dismantled Tottenham. Bayern beat Borussia Dortmund to lift the German Supercup. Then Roma closed the weekend by producing perhaps the most impressive attacking performance of the bunch.
The Best XI lines up in a 4-2-1-3, with Roma’s Donyell Malen earning honors as the Player of the Week after his hat trick against Fiorentina.
Player of the Week: Donyell Malen, Roma
There isn’t much debate about this one.
Malen scored a hat trick as Roma opened its Serie A campaign with a 4-0 demolition of Fiorentina, finishing three different opportunities created by Dybala.
The first required the most individual work, as Malen controlled Dybala’s pass, moved past Dodô and finished. He attacked the space behind Fiorentina again for the second and then completed the hat trick by arriving in exactly the right place for Dybala’s cutback after Roma won the ball high up the field.
The finishing was excellent, but what stood out was how naturally Malen’s movement complemented Dybala.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s teams have traditionally been at their best when the attackers are given the freedom to interchange rather than remain confined to rigid positions. Against Fiorentina, Dybala continually moved toward the ball while Malen attacked the spaces his movement opened.
Fiorentina never solved it.
One game should not turn Roma into Serie A favorites, but this looked less like a striker catching fire for 35 minutes and more like an attacking partnership that opponents are going to have to design a plan specifically to stop.
For the opening weekend, nobody did.
Goalkeeper: Konstantinos Tzolakis, Hull City
There were more glamorous names in action this weekend, but few teams will be happier with their goalkeeper than newly promoted Hull.
Tzolakis helped turn Hull’s first Premier League match in nine years into a 2-0 upset of Manchester United. United had most of the ball and eventually generated plenty of chances, but Tzolakis remained composed behind Hull’s deep defense. His best moment came when Bryan Mbeumo caught a volley cleanly and Tzolakis reacted quickly to push it away with one hand. He was also confident coming off his line to deal with crosses as United became increasingly desperate in the second half.
Hull will spend plenty of time defending this season. If Tzolakis can reproduce this kind of performance, they may be considerably more difficult to send back down than many expected.
Left Back: Xavi Espart, Barcelona
Barcelona’s starting lineup against Elche was missing several familiar names after the World Cup disrupted its preseason, which opened the door for 19-year-old Xavi Espart.
He took advantage.
The La Masia product started at left back despite having also played in midfield and on the opposite flank during his development. Espart looked comfortable in possession, defended aggressively and showed why Hansi Flick has been willing to keep him around the first team. His ball recovery on the left helped start the sequence that ended with Raphinha winning Barcelona’s opening penalty.
It is still very early to declare another Barcelona academy breakthrough, but Espart’s versatility is going to make it difficult to send him away.
Center Back: Gleison Bremer, Juventus
Juventus was not especially convincing in its 1-0 win over newly promoted Frosinone, but Bremer supplied the most important moment.
The Brazilian center back had already nearly scored from a Douglas Luiz cross before finally breaking through in the 22nd minute, getting onto another set piece and powering a header into the net. Juventus failed to turn its early pressure into the comfortable win it probably should have produced, making Bremer’s goal and defensive work increasingly important as Frosinone threatened late.
For Luciano Spalletti, it was not a particularly convincing start to the new season, but three points and a clean sheet will do for now, and Bremer was the biggest reason Juventus got both.
Center Back: Semi Ajayi, Hull City
Tzolakis wasn’t the only Hull player who earned his way into this team.
Ajayi gave Hull the lead against Manchester United by reacting quickest after Senne Lammens stopped Oli McBurnie’s effort from a corner, smashing the rebound into the net. More importantly, he then helped make that lead hold up.
United tried using Matheus Cunha as a roaming false nine but never consistently pulled Hull’s three center backs out of position. Ajayi was particularly good dealing with the movement around him and attacking balls into the box. The BBC gave him its highest rating among the Hull starters, calling him “a rock at the back.”
Scoring against Manchester United on the opening day of Hull’s return to the Premier League is one way to reintroduce yourself to the division.
Right Back: Michael Kayode, Brentford
Brentford’s 3-0 win over Tottenham was one of the more eye-catching results of the Premier League weekend, and Kayode contributed at both ends.
The Italian right back consistently provided width and another runner outside Brentford’s midfield, twice getting into dangerous heading positions before finally getting his reward early in the second half. Nathan Collins headed a corner back across goal, Mamadou Sangaré’s shot was saved, and Kayode followed the play to knock in the rebound for Brentford’s third.
Tottenham spent an enormous amount of money over the summer. For one afternoon at least, Brentford looked like the team that actually knew how all its pieces were supposed to fit together.
Central Midfield: Pedri, Barcelona
Pedri did not even start Barcelona’s 5-0 win over Elche.
He still made enough of an impact to make the team.
Barcelona had already taken the lead when Gavi’s injury forced Pedri into the game before halftime, but the midfield had been much less controlled than the final score might suggest. Pedri changed that. His ability to receive under pressure, turn away from the first defender and immediately find the next pass helped Barcelona settle into the game rather than simply trade attacks with Elche. Spanish coverage specifically credited his introduction with giving Barcelona greater control.
There were players around Europe with better statistical performances. There were not many who so clearly changed the texture of a match simply by entering it.
Central Midfield: Mamadou Sangaré, Brentford
Sangaré could eventually make his transfer fee look like a bargain if his Premier League debut is any indication.
The new Brentford midfielder was everywhere against Tottenham. He won the ball, kept possession moving and repeatedly appeared farther forward than Spurs seemed prepared to handle.
His best action came on Brentford’s opening goal. Sangaré pushed into an advanced position, combined with Dango Ouattara and pulled the ball perfectly into the path of Keane Lewis-Potter for the finish. Later, his powerful shot following a corner forced a save that Kayode converted on the rebound. He also finished with two tackles, two interceptions and two clearances.
It was the type of midfield performance that makes a team look faster because the ball keeps arriving in the right place before the defense can reset.
Attacking Midfield: Paulo Dybala, Roma
Malen gets the Player of the Week award, but he may need to split the match ball with Dybala.
Roma destroyed Fiorentina 4-0 in its Serie A opener, with Dybala assisting all three of Malen’s goals. The first was the best example of what made the partnership so difficult to defend. Dybala carried the ball directly into the Fiorentina back line, drew multiple defenders toward him and slipped Malen through. The second came after Dybala received a long ball in space and immediately released Malen again. On the third, he reached the end line and rolled the ball across an exposed defense for the easiest finish of Malen’s night.
There are few players in Europe better than a healthy Dybala at recognizing a forward’s movement a half-second before the defense does. Keeping him healthy has always been the catch.
Forward: Michael Olise, Bayern Munich
Bayern and Borussia Dortmund technically haven’t started their Bundesliga seasons yet, but a Supercup Klassiker is close enough for inclusion here.
Olise was the most dangerous attacker on the field as Bayern beat Dortmund 2-1 at Signal Iduna Park. He created the opener by finding new signing Nathaniel Brown, then added Bayern’s second himself just before halftime.
The impressive part is that it wasn’t even an especially clean Bayern performance. Dortmund made the game ugly at times and repeatedly tried to disrupt Olise physically, but he still produced the two decisive attacking actions.
That has become the expectation with him. Even when the overall performance is merely good, Olise tends to manufacture something that decides the game.
Forward: Raphinha, Barcelona
Barcelona entered the season with one obvious question: who exactly was going to play through the middle after losing its traditional strikers?
For at least one game, the answer was Raphinha.
Flick used his new captain centrally against Elche, and Raphinha responded with two goals and an assist in the 5-0 win. He drew and converted the early penalty, created Karim Adeyemi’s first Barcelona goal just before halftime and then added his second after Anthony Gordon entered in the second half.
Raphinha obviously isn’t going to reproduce the physical presence of a conventional No. 9. What he can do is make Barcelona much less predictable. He drifts away from the center backs, presses aggressively and creates space for Fermín López, Lamine Yamal and the wingers to attack.
Against Elche, that was considerably more than enough.
Forward: Cole Palmer, Chelsea
After an injury-disrupted season, Cole Palmer opened the new campaign looking much more like the player Chelsea has come to rely upon.
Palmer needed only 31 seconds to create Chelsea’s first goal against Fulham, sliding João Pedro behind the defense for the fastest opening-round goal in Premier League history. Early in the second half the roles reversed, with Pedro setting up Palmer for Chelsea’s third in a 3-2 win.
Chelsea was hardly flawless. Fulham created enough problems to expose some familiar defensive concerns, and the match became far more uncomfortable than Xabi Alonso would have wanted.
But Palmer again provided the quality that separated the teams. Chelsea has spent heavily building the roster around him. He remains the player most capable of turning all that talent into actual goals.