Top 10 Performances from Around the World for Weekend of April 3-5
Club football got back on track this weekend after an international break, and there were a number of impressive goals, results and games around the top leagues.
We've analysed the quality of opposition, quality of displays, scoreline and other factors to rank the best team performances from Friday through Sunday night, taking in Europe's biggest leagues and some of the lesser-travelled top flights, too.
Here are our top 10 performances of the weekend, unsurprisingly featuring Real Madrid's 9-1 thumping of Granada—but where do they come, and who else joined them?
10. PAS Giannina
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We start up in the Greek Super League, where table-topping champions elect Olympiacos (pictured) suffered a shock defeat at fifth-placed PAS Giannina—just their fourth loss of the season.
The Ioannina club took a two-goal first-half lead through Brana Ilic and Michalis Manias before running out 3-1 winners despite going down to 10 men late in the match. PAS Giannina became the first domestic team besides Panathinaikos to beat Olympiacos in 2015.
With a third consecutive win, they stay in fifth and closed the gap to fourth.
9. Bayer Leverkusen
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To the Bundesliga now, and the first of two sides from Germany's top flight—we'll also give a quick mention to Bayern Munich, who picked up a win in a big game, beating Borussia Dortmund 1-0 at the Westfalenstadion.
It is Bayer Leverkusen who take ninth place after thumping Hamburger SV 4-0 at home thanks to a brace apiece from Stefan Kiessling and Gonzalo Castro.
Bayer have a stranglehold on a top-four place now, creating an eight-point gap down to Schalke in fifth after a fifth straight win in the BuLi.
8. PSV Eindhoven
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In the Netherlands, the Eredivisie title will soon be heading back to Eindhoven after PSV racked up their 24th win in 29 league games, smashing Twente by a 5-0 scoreline on the road.
All the stars got in on the act: Memphis Depay grabbed a late brace to add to goals from Luuk de Jong, Jeffrey Bruma and Georginio Wijnaldum.
A 10-point lead over Ajax with five games to go will surely be enough to take the side to silverware soon.
7. Zenit St. Petersburg
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Zenit St. Petersburg have been in a title struggle in Russia against last season's Premier League winners, CSKA Moscow, and faced them Sunday in a game that could have blown the title race wide open.
Instead, Hulk inspired the Saint Petersburg outfit to a 2-1 victory with a brace of goals—opening up an eight-point gap between Zenit and CSKA.
Andre Villas-Boas' side have certainly been the best and most consistent team in the league this term, with this victory underlining their superiority and ability to win when it matters most.
6. Queens Park Rangers
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Relegation battles take our focus now. In the Premier League in England, Queens Park Rangers picked up an unexpected three points when they beat West Bromwich Albion by a 4-1 scoreline.
The win was all the more surprising as it was only QPR's second away victory all season. Rangers were on a five-game losing streak heading into the fixture, while West Brom had pulled away from the drop zone into 14th.
Eduardo Vargas, Charlie Austin, Bobby Zamora and Joey Barton all found the back of the net as Rangers closed the gap to safety to three points, though they remained 19th.
5. Levante
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Into La Liga in Spain, where the big game at the bottom saw Almeria drop into the relegation zone and Levante climb out, as the away side triumphed 4-1 on Saturday.
David Barral was Levante's hero, thumping in a hat-trick to ensure his side's chances of survival received another boost, as they not only beat a rival but also put a three-point buffer between themselves and the relegation zone. They climbed to 14th as a result of the win.
The battle at the bottom of La Liga continues to be fiercely contested, and any two of six teams could join Cordoba, who look doomed, in going down—but Levante's strikeforce should see them stay up once more.
4. Fiorentina
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In Serie A, our focus drifts back toward the top end of the division—and Fiorentina picked up a win that was as impressive as it was important.
They beat Sampdoria 2-0 on Saturday, seeing off their rivals for a Champions League place thanks to goals from Alessandro Diamanti and Mohamed Salah. The victory made it just one defeat in 19 in all competitions for La Viola.
They rose to fourth in the table, leapfrogging Saturday's opponents, and they are six points behind Lazio but in a good position to challenge over the final weeks.
3. Borussia Monchengladbach
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Back to the Bundesliga in Germany now, where Borussia Monchengladbach held onto third place after grabbing a big win at Hoffenheim.
The home team went ahead early on, but by the interval, BMG were ahead and clear, with their potent strikeforce seeing them in front. Patrick Herrmann netted a brace, while Raffael and Max Kruse each scored a goal apiece.
With Schalke drawing, Gladbach opened up a huge 10-point gap to fifth, meaning they'll almost certainly have Champions League football to look forward to next season.
2. Arsenal
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In the Premier League, Arsenal not only saw off a top-four rival but also boosted their own title credentials, beating Liverpool 4-1 on Saturday.
Three goals in the final eight minutes of the first half took a match from on a knife edge to comfortable. The Gunners had been the better team, but chances had gone begging at both ends. Olivier Giroud wrapped up the win with a fine strike late on once Liverpool had pulled a goal back and been reduced to 10 men.
The result moved Arsenal up to second place, with Manchester City not playing until Monday night.
1. Real Madrid
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The most ridiculous of scorelines and impressive victory of the weekend came in Spain courtesy of Real Madrid.
Against mediocre opposition it might have been, but the ruthless and relentless play Real's front players displayed against Granada would have overwhelmed far better sides. As it was, they clocked up a massive 9-1 scoreline to briefly close the gap at the top of La Liga.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored five and could have added at least another two or three to that total had he taken some fairly straightforward second-half chances. Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema also got on the scoresheet. Real stay in second, but come out atop of our pile of top performances this weekend.
