European Football Roundup - September 1st: New season, same old Messi

Common sight: Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring a goal at the Mestalla

Lionel Messi scored his first hat-trick of the season to guide Barcelona to a 3-2 away win against Valencia. Things looked comfortable for the Catalans when Messi scored his third goal of the game in the 41st minute to put Barcelona into a 3-0 lead. But just before the stroke of half-time, Helder Postiga scored twice to make things nervy for the visitors at the break. It was an open game in the second half, with Messi failing to add to his tally after having a couple of his efforts denied by Valencia keeper Diego Alves.

In Madrid, Isco scored twice and Cristiano Ronaldo opened his account for the season as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu. Luka Modric had a massive influence on the game, and was rightly named the man of the match for a stupendous performance in midfield. Ibai Gomez scored the consolation goal for Athletic.

New signing Henrik Mkhitaryan scored twice for Borussia Dortmund, to seal a nervy 2-1 for last season’s Champions League runners-up at Eintracht Frankfurt.

AC Milan recovered from their shock defeat at the hands of Hellas Verona last week, to overcome Cagliari 3-1 and register their first win of the league season. Mario Balotelli was influential and scored in the 62th minute, to add to goals from Robinho and Philippe Mexes in the first half.

Falcao scored again in a 2-1 win at Marseille to guide Monaco to the top of the French Ligue 1. Monaco are now a point ahead of Marseille and St Etienne, and two points ahead of defending champions Paris Saint-Germain after four games.

Spanish La Liga:

Real Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
Espanyol 0-0 Real Betis
Real Sociedad 1-2 Atletico Madrid
Sevilla 2-2 Malaga
Valencia 2-3 Barcelona

German Bundesliga:

VfB Stuttgart 6-2 TSG Hoffenheim
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Bor Dortmund

Italian Serie A:

Roma 3-0 Verona
AC Milan 3-1 Cagliari
Atalanta 2-0 Torino
Bologna 2-2 Sampdoria
Catania 0-3 Inter Milan
Genoa 2-5 Fiorentina
Sassuolo 1-4 Livorno
Udinese 3-1 Parma

French Ligue 1:

St Etienne 2-1 Bordeaux
Nice 2-2 Montpellier
Marseille 1-2 Monaco