Away from all the drama of the English Premier League, there was much more football played all over the world, with some significant goals and stories emerging particularly from Europe as the Spanish and Italian Leagues got underway.
In Spain, Barcelona have taken off where they finished last season with an incredible 6-2 win against Real Betis. Luis Suarez grabbed his tenth hat-trick as a Barcelona player, while Messi was of course among the goals and the assists. Sevilla meanwhile managed to steal some of the headlines as they overcame Espanyol by an incredible six goals to four, while Gareth Bale scored a double after his Euro heroics with Wales.
Gonazalo Higuain got his Juventus career off to the dream start in Italy where he came onto the pitch just after the hour mark, and notched a debut goal just ten minutes later. AC Milan on the other hand relied on a hat-trick by front man Carlos Bacca and a 96th minute penalty save from their 17 year old keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to beat Torino 3-2.
A first half-hat trick from Lewandowski saw Bayern through to the next round of the German Cup, with Mats Hummels also getting his first goal for the club.
In America it was Gerrard v Lampard as LA Galaxy faced New York City. Lampard came out on top with a narrow 1-0 victory courtesy of David Villa. More star players on the pitch included Andrea Pirlo, Giovanni dos Santos and Ashley Cole among many others.
Further afield, only one man could clinch Olympic Gold for the Brazilian football team in Rio. Captain Neymar struck a sublime free kick in the match which ended 1-1, while his winning spot kick gave the home country a 5-4 penalty victory against Germany. The Barcelona star was reduced to tears as his side beat a country that humiliated them just two years ago in the exact same venue. This time however the Maracana and the whole of the country went wild with celebrations as Neymar and his men secured a brilliant gold medal.
