Best Players in Each of Europe’s Top Five Leagues During the Weekend
Europe’s top five leagues delivered another round of unforgettable performances over the weekend, with individual brilliance taking center stage from England to France.
We take a look at players who stepped up to define the outcomes of crucial fixtures and cement their status as the standout performers of gameweek action in each of Europe top five leagues.
Best Players in Each of Europe’s Top Five Leagues During the Weekend
English Premier League | Antonin Stach of Leeds United
The German midfielder finally opened his goal account for Leeds United following his move from Bundesliga club Hoffenheim in the summer by scoring a spectacular free-kick winner at Molineux.
Eight minutes after Dominic Calvert-Lewin restored parity for the hosts, Stach stepped up and buried a 25-yard free-kick to complete the comeback at 2-1, becoming only the second player to score from a direct free-kick in the competition this season.
He added an assist by setting up Noah Okafor just before halftime to help Leeds United establish a cushion and seal a 3-1 win, making them the first Premier League newcomers to secure an away win this season.
Stach finished ahead of Ryan Gravenberch and Alex Iwobi as our Premier League player of the weekend in a gameweek where only a few players truly stood out.
Spanish LaLiga | Ferran Torres of Barcelona
Ferran Torres bagged a brace during the weekend in LaLiga to help Barcelona to a 3-0 home win over Getafe, taking his goal tally in the league this season to four, second only to Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé, who has five.
The Spanish international opened the scoring with a one-time finish from Dani Olmo’s back-heel assist 15 minutes into proceedings, a goal that took his goal involvement for Barcelona to 67, equalling his tally for all his other teams combined, including the national team.
He completed his brace four minutes after the half-hour mark, making an intelligent run to beat the offside trap and leaving himself with only the goalkeeper to beat. He fired into the bottom-left corner to give the hosts a cushion.
Torres, the only player to score a LaLiga brace during the weekend, is our player of the gameweek, beating Valencia’s Baptiste Santamaria, Mallorca goalkeeper Leon Roman, and teammate Dani Olmo to the nomination.
Italian Serie A | Christian Pulisic of AC Milan
In just 63 minutes played, Christian Pulisic helped AC Milan complete the job as they stormed to a 3-0 win away in Udinese thanks to his two goals and one assist.
The American, who had never scored in this fixture, opened the scoring in the 39th minute, assisted Youssef Fofana in the Italian Serie A | Christian Pulisic of AC Milanfirst minute of the second half to make it 2-0, and made it three straight games where he has registered an assist against Udinese.
Pulisic made it 3-0 seven minutes before the hour mark, firing home a powerful shot from Adrien Rabiot’s assist for his fourth goal of the season, and sending Milan to nine points, with three wins in their last three Serie A games.
By scoring twice, Christian Pulisic takes his goal tally for clubs in Europe top five leagues to 59, overtaking Clint Dempsey, 57 as the highest scoring American for clubs in top five division in the continent.
The former Chelsea and Dortmund winger, who has found his joy again in Milan, continues to play a pivotal role for the Rossoneri, and he is our Serie A player of the gameweek ahead of Andrea Belotti of Cagliari and Como’s Nico Paz.
German Bundesliga | Oliver Burke of Union Berlin
In a thrilling match that needed a potential winner to dig deep, Oliver Burke delivered for Union Berlin as his hat-trick helped them to their first away win, as well as becoming the first-ever Scottish player to score a Bundesliga hat-trick.
Before kickoff, the Scottish striker had not scored for the club following his loan move from Werder Bremen in the summer, but he produced a sensational performance that saw the club extend their unbeaten run against Frankfurt to four consecutive games.
Burke scored his first to make it 2-0 in the 32nd minute, then followed it up with two early second-half goals to make it 4-1 in a match that eventually ended 4-3, with the hosts pulling two late goals, including one after his withdrawal.
The 28-year-old beat Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, who also bagged a hat-trick but scored twice from the penalty spot, as well as teammate Andrej Ilic, who assisted all three of his goals, to the Bundesliga player of the weekend nomination.
French Ligue 1 | Ludovic Ajorque of Brest
The French striker was at his best on Saturday evening to help Brest secure their first win of the season with a 4-1 thrashing of Nice, ending a run of three consecutive defeats
.Ajorque scored the opening goal and assisted three others to blow away the visitors in a fixture where Brest had neither scored nor won in their previous four meetings, losing three, including a 6-0 loss in May.
A performance that saw him open his account for both goals and assists this season moves Brest out of the relegation zone, while also placing him third for goal contributions in Ligue 1 this season, just one behind the most.
Ludovic Ajorque is our Ligue 1 player of the weekend, ahead of Auxerre goalkeeper Donovan Leon, who made several crucial saves, including a penalty stop, to help his side to a 1-0 win over Toulouse.
Ultimate Player of the Weekend
With a hand in four goals, Ludovic Ajorque of Brest in Ligue 1 is our ultimate player of the weekend.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
