It never gets more competitive than when players play for the final time before heading to their respective countries for international engagement. Talk about the eagerness to make a good impression, so as to convince your national team coach for minutes to play.

There is also the part of departing on a high, as things could get a little handy for the club's manager, when some players get to impress with their country, while some didn't even get to play at all.

A lot was at stake during the weekend, both individually and collectively, and in the midst of it, there were a lot of individuals who stand out above peers.

From the saucy Saka to the mesmerizing Marmoush and the dazzling Davitashvili, we here are the players who stole the show in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 during the weekend.

Bukayo Saka — English Premier League 

The 23-year-old Arsenal stand-in captain is our player of the week in the most prophesied league in the world. After his run of assists since the start of the season came to an end against Leicester City, Southampton represented a chance to start again and he didn't disappoint.

Bukayo Saka was the star in the Emirates Stadium as he was involved in all three goals that saw the host come from a goal down to beat Southampton, who had been on a run of three games without losing to Mikel Arteta's side.

The moment Cameron Archer opened the scoring, it was certain Arsenal will need an inspiration from somewhere to topple their undying spirit.

Bukayo Saka provided it and three minutes after going behind, he provided the assist for the leveler for Kai Havertz to score, and equal the record of Robin van Persie, of scoring in seven consecutive games in the Emirates.

Saka also assisted the second goal to Gabriel Martinelli as Arsenal took the lead for the first time on the day. He then scored a third to put the result beyond doubt to help the Arsenal continue their unbeaten start to the season.

In addition, Bukayo Saka created four big chances and made seven key passes, the most of any player in the weekend in the competition.

With three goal contributions, he is the player of the week in the Premier League, and is the highest rated with a 9.9 out of 10 as per SofaScore.

Robert Lewandowski — Spanish La Liga

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski was at his clinical best on Sunday afternoon as Barcelona took apart Alaves away from home to restore their three-point gap lead at the top of the league summit.

The goal came in very early and after he opened the scoring in the seventh minute, he has completed a hat-trick 25 minutes later and it was already game over from there-on as Barcelona won the match 3-0. 

On a weekend where the goals didn't really flow in Spain's top-flight league, three goals from Robert Lewandowski meant he outscored all the other 19 teams in the league, and in no game was more goals scored than his three.

The Pole takes his goal tally in the competition this season to ten, moving level with Erling Haaland of Manchester City of the English Premier League in the race for the European golden shoe.

The former Bayern Munich striker has now been directly involved in 90 Barcelona goals since his £42 million move in the summer of 2022, with 71 goals and 19 assists in 106 games.

Robert Lewandowski was rated 9.8 out of 10 by SofaScore for his impact on the game, only Bukayo Saka had better in top five leagues.

Matteo Retegui — Italian Serie A

Hat-trick hero Matteo Retegui is the Player of the week in the Italian top-flight, managing to beat Marcus Thuram, the Inter forward who also bagged a hat-trick during the weekend.

26-year-old Retegui headed into the weekend on a run of four games without a goal involvement, which is a concern for his status in Italian national team ahead of the UEFA Nations League fixtures in October.

His poor run of form, which also saw him miss a penalty against Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League made him lost his place in the starting XI, and he was only a substitute in his previous two appearances heading into the weekend.
 

Fortunately for him, he earned the trust of Gian Piero Gasperini to lead the attack. He opened the scoring from an Ademola assist in the 24th minute and completed his brace five minutes after the restart.

His day got even better as midfielder Ederson coverted from his pass to register an assist. He then completed his hat-trick from the spot 16 minutes from time before being taken off for the final eight minutes.

It was a remarkable performance from Retegui, who became the first player to be directly involved in four goals in a single Serie A fixture this season.

The Italian received a rating of 9.8 out of 10 from SofaScore, the highest in the division in Gameweek seven.

Omar Marmoush — German Bundesliga 

This, so far has been another unusual season in the german top-flight. Each of the teams has dropped at least four points while Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten run was ended in their own backyard by RB Leipzig, who struggled to beat Bochum 1-0 the weekend before and would go on a run of three winless after.

An individual who is taking advantage of the moment is Omar Marmoush. The Frankfurt attacker has been a wow since the start of the season, and in recent weeks, he appears to be taking it to a whole new level.
 

The Egyptian was at it again during the weekend against Bayern Munich as he contributed two goals and one assist to help Frankfurt earn a point from losing position.

Marmoush, 25, scored to restore parity after Kim had given Bayern the lead inside the opening 20 minutes. He then set-up Hugo Ekitike five minutes after the half-hour mark to give Frankfurt the lead.

Unfortunately, the Bavarians would equalize and retake the lead. Omar Marmoush then converted a 94th minute penalty to even the score at 3-3, and the spoils shared in the Deutsche Bank Park.

Marmoush has now been directly involved in more Bundesliga goals this season than anyone, eight goals and four assists, while no player also has more of both goals and assists than him in the top five leagues.

His 12 goal involvements also takes him level with Robert ,as the joint mosr so far this season. He received a rating of 9.0 out of 10 from SofaScore, the highest in the Bundesliga during the weekend. 

Zuriko Davitashvili — French Ligue 1

One of the least names you'd have thought will be in the headlines for this season but the 23-year-old Georgian striker had a weekend to remember as his hat-trick led Saint Etienne to their second win of the season.

Davitashvili had not score a goal since completing a six million euros move from FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the summer, although he did assisted the lone winner over Lille and has another assist in the draw with Nantes last time out.

The party started early for the former Arsenal Tula striker as he opened the scoring in the 15th minute from a Leo Petrot assist. His next will come nine minutes after the restart, and this time, it was Malian striker Ibrahima Sissoko with the assist.

Davitashvili had a big chance to complete his hat-trick in the 74th minute but failed to convert as his effort came off the woodwork, leading to an attack for an Auxerre goal, scored by Canadian striker Thelonius Bair for 2-1.

The Georgian striker however made amends by scoring the final goal of the game, completed his hat-trick and killed off any hopes of the visitors' comeback four minutes from the end of normal time to seal a 3-1 win.

He got a rating of 9.4 out of 10 from SofaScore, the highest and miles ahead of anyone in the French top-flight in the weekend.

There were several other impressive stars in these leagues and others during the weekend but these are the brightest stars, and deserving of the player of the week crown in their respective leagues.