European Round-Up: Tevez On Song For Juventus While Barcelona Reign Supreme

France

Radamel Falcao was shown up by fellow striker Emmanuel Riviere at the weekend with the star scoring a hattrick as Monaco flexed their muscles in a 4-1 win over Montpellier. The win takes the big spenders to second in the table but Lyon could prove to be big competition in their title hopes having defeated Sochaux 3-1 on the Friday night to assert their own place at the top of the league. For Paris Saint Germain the weekend's outcome was not so celebratory with the side clocking up a draw for the second week in a row. Edinson Cavani was able to equalise after an early goal from AC Ajacccio's Benoit Pedretti, but it wasn't enough for PSG to get past their opposition.

Much talk surrounded the possibility of Falcao leaving Monaco for Real Madrid after Spanish paper Marca reported that he had already had problems with Monaco's owner just months after making the move from Atletico Madrid. Those reports have since been denied by the player.

Italy

With the Serie A season starting next weekend, it was all about the Supercoppa Italiana as Juventus thrashed Lazio 4-0 with their newly revamped forward line. Paul Pogba, Giorgio Chiellini and Stephan Lichtsteiner all got their names on the score sheet, but the fruits of head coach Antonio Conte's transfer work this summer came into play when Carlos Tevez scored on his first competitive game for the club to seal a 4-0 victory. The Old Lady have been given a timely boost as they look to defend the Scudetto and get their 2013/14 season off to a bang.

Meanwhile, the league suffered more controversy regarding racist fans with Lazio punished for their chants during the match. The Roman side's next match will be played with part of the stadium closed when they face Udinese next weekend.

Spain

In La Liga Barcelona once again showed their absolute dominance and why even Real Madrid should be fearful of the refreshed side, mauling Levante 7-0 on Sunday with six different goal scorers getting on the board. Madrid weren't so convincing, with the side waiting until the 86th minute to score the winner through Isco in a 2-1 defeat of Real Betis.

Wins for Atletico Madrid, Granada, Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad completed the weekend while Real Vallecano and Villarreal's victories on Monday night capped off a fairly predictable opening round of games.

With reports suggesting that Gareth Bale could be a Madrid player by the end of the week, the Spanish giants will certainly receive a welcomed boost from the winger if the deal goes through as they prepare for a trip to Granada.

Germany

Both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich posted wins in the first weekend of the Bundesliga, with the former defeating Braunschweig 2-1 and the latter winning 1-0 over Frankfurt.

Big wins for Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim came at the expense of Schalke and Hamburg, with Wolfsburg's newcomer Luiz Gustavo settling well into his new position at the club and Hamburg once again showing just how unpredictable they can be.

Schalke have a lot of uphill work to do to prove they are in the mix for the Bundesliga title after their heavy 4-0 loss, with Julian Draxler one of the few standout stars for the side on the day.