Kylian Mbappe is motoring for Real Madrid - but Erik ten Hag is already in big trouble at Bayer Leverkusen: Winners and losers from Europe's biggest leagues

Xabi Alonso said Kylian Mbappe "looks good" after Sunday's 3-0 win over Real Oviedo - and he meant that in every sense. The Blancos boss revealed that the forward lost four kilos while laid low by a nasty bout of gastroenteritis during the Club World Cup, but is now back in peak physical condition.

However, Alonso also feels that Mbappe is now perfectly in tune with what he wants from the Frenchman as the focal point of Madrid's attack.

"When we manage to maintain [the right] distances between the forwards, with everyone closer together, we find each other [more easily]," the Spaniard explained. "Kylian did very well today, and the other day too [against Osasuna]. We’re still looking at what to correct, but the feeling is good."

No arguments there, with Mbappe having already scored three times in two Liga outings. Even at this early stage, it would take a brave man to bet against the 26-year-old winning a second consecutive European Golden Shoe.

New era at AC Milan, same old rotten results. However, even by the Rossoneri's rapidly declining standards, Saturday's shock 2-1 loss at home to newly-promoted Cremonese was particularly depressing.

In fairness to Milan, they dominated possession and had 24 shots on goal at San Siro - but it's clear that they still have serious issues all over the field. Another ineffective display from Santiago Gimenez showed why the club's directors are frantically trying to bring in a new forward before the close of the transfer window, while the arrival of a 39-year-old Luka Modric has rather predictably done nothing to make up for the loss of the incredibly influential Tijjani Reijnders.

Returning coach Massimiliano Allegri was obviously meant to immediately shore up the backline, given his notoriously pragmatic approach to football, but he was left disgusted by his defenders' inability to "sense danger".

"We need to improve," the former Juventus boss told DAZN Italia, "because we cannot afford to concede two goals in every game. Fortunately, it is only the first round and we have time to work on these details."

And he's right, of course. Milan should benefit from Allegri having a week to prepare for most games, given the absence of European football, but that also means there will be no excuse for a repeat of last season's embarrassing eighth-placed finish in Serie A.

Make no mistake about it: the Rossoneri need reinforcements - and preferably before Friday's trip to Lecce, which is already looking like a must-win game for Allegri.

Harry Kane says Bayern Munich have made a "perfect start" to their Bundesliga campaign - and it's impossible to disagree.

For starters, the Bavarians were brilliant in Friday's 6-0 demolition of RB Leipzig at the Allianz Arena. Michael Olise scored twice, Luis Diaz made it two goals in two competitive games after his winner in the DFL-Super Cup the previous weekend, while the ever-reliable Kane netted a 14-minute hat-trick.

However, Bayern would have also taken a significant amount of satisfaction out of the fact that the teams touted as their main title rivals, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund, both dropped points during the opening weekend.

According to reports in Germany, all is not well behind the scenes at Bayern, with sporting director Max Eberl apparently under pressure to strengthen the squad after letting so many players leave during the summer transfer window. It’s fair to say, though, that Vincent Kompany is currently making the absolute most of the several world-class players he still has at his disposal, so no matter what happens between now and deadline day, Bayern at least look very well-placed to win a second-consecutive Bundesliga.

With a little more depth, they should re-emerge as serious Champions League challengers, too.

Erik ten Hag talked up the start of an exciting new era at Bayer Leverkusen ahead of Saturday's Bundesliga opener against Hoffenheim - and it started quite promisingly, with new signing Jarell Quansah heading the Dutchman's team into the lead after just six minutes.

However, Leverkusen created very little thereafter and ended up slumping to a dismal 2-1 defeat in front of fans still coming to terms with the loss of so many key contributors to the historic 2023-24 domestic double, including Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Frimpong and, perhaps most importantly of all, coach Xabi Alonso.

"Clearly, I’m disappointed," Ten Hag told reporters. "It was a game of few opportunities and Hoffenheim were more effective. We did not get into the final third of the pitch often enough. We have a lot of work ahead of us, which is not unexpected."

Ten Hag certainly has a point when he says that Leverkusen are going to need time to gel, after a summer of so many comings and goings at the BayArena. However, he could really do with a more positive performance - and result - in Saturday's meeting with Werder Bremen, given some supporters already had their doubts over whether the much-maligned former Manchester United boss was really the right man to lead the Leverkusen overhaul.

This summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup did not go well for Jesse Marsch, whose Canada side were dumped out at the quarter-final stage by Guatemala. However, the impressive performances of a couple of Canucks over the weekend will have given the American coach plenty of cause for optimism ahead of next year's World Cup.

In Spain, Tajon Buchanan scored three times as Villarreal hammered Girona 5-0 at El Madigral. In doing so, the versatile right winger became the second Canadian to score a hat-trick in one of Europe's 'Big Five' leagues. The first was Jonathan David, for Lille, and while the striker is no longer playing Ligue 1, he's now shining in Serie A instead.

On Sunday, David made his competitive debut for Juventus after his free transfer to Turin during the summer and marked his first appearance for his new club with a neat, near-post finish that broke the deadlock for the Bianconeri in their 2-0 win over Parma.

"David has great movement in the penalty area, which is a rare talent," coach Igor Tudor told DAZN - and there's no doubt that Marsch will have been just as encouraged by the 25-year-old's all-round display.

Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold are now acutely aware of just how difficult it's going to be for them to become first-team regulars at Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively.

In fairness to Rashford, he had a fair idea what he was getting into when he joined the Blaugrana, who possess arguably the best attack in world football. So, the on-loan Manchester United forward knows full well that securing a permanent move to Catalunya hinges upon him making the most of every single opportunity that comes his way. Unfortunately, he failed to do that on Saturday.

Despite starting on the left wing against Levante, Rashford was hauled off at half-time with his team 2-0 down. The Englishman was by no means the only Barca player performing poorly at the time - he actually completed all 40 of his attempted passes and created a couple of chances - but his goal threat was almost non-existent (0.03 xG).

Barca also looked far more like their usual selves after Raphinha was restored to his usual role on the left-hand side following the introduction of attacking midfielder Dani Olmo in place of Rashford. The Blaugrana drew level thanks to second-half strikes from Pedri and Ferran Torres - who has shown why Hansi Flick considers him a better replacement for the injured Robert Lewandowski than Rashford with two goals in two games - before Levante defender Unai Elgezabal put through his own net in injury time.

Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, was only brought on in the 87th minute of Real Madrid's 3-0 win at Oviedo the following night. The former Liverpool right-back wasn't the only high-profile player benched for the game at the Estadio Carlos Tartiere, as coach Xabi Alonso also left Vinicius Jr out of his starting line-up. However, whereas the Brazilian came on midway through the second half and reminded everyone of his quality with a goal and an assist, Alexander-Arnold touched the ball just once during his time on the field.

The major difference between the two superstar subs, though, is Vinicius' status as a starter remains beyond dispute at Santiago Bernabeu. Alexander-Arnold, on the other hand, still has to prove that he's actually a better option at right-back than the fit-again Davi Carvajal - and it feels like a lot of people overlooked that fact when the England international signed for Madrid.

Indeed, one could easily argue that Alexander-Arnold has an even tougher task than Rashford this season: The latter just needs to show that he can be a useful back-up at Barca; the former has put himself under pressure to perform at a Ballon d'Or-winning level and he's competing for a starting spot with the man that finished fourth in last year's voting!

It's amazing what one win can do to change the atmosphere at a club.

Marseille were once again plunged into a state of complete chaos after last week's 1-0 loss at Rennes, which sparked a dressing-room dust-up between Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe that coach Roberto De Zerbi compared to a brawl "in an English pub". Consequently, the Italian backed the club's decision to put both players on the transfer list and Rowe has already joined Serie A side Bologna.

Rabiot is still at the Stade Velodrome, however, and now it seems that he might actually be welcomed back into the squad, with De Zerbi extending an olive branch to the France international after the 5-2 rout of Paris FC on Saturday that lifted the spirits of everyone connected to the club.

"Even if he made a mistake," De Zerbi said, "there's a chance to fix things."

It remains to be seen whether president Pablo Longoria will reverse his decision to sell Rabiot, given the strength of the language he used to describe the altercation, while the midfielder reportedly remains upset at the way in which he has been treated. Still, the impressive win over Paris FC, which featured a double from veteran striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, has at least restored some optimism - if not order - at the Velodrome. Consequently, one of last week's losers are one of this week's winners.