As far as the top five leagues are concerned, final weekend before the November international break was not without its dramas, twists and turns.

In England, Manchester City lost to Brighton to make a fourth consecutive defeats across all competitions, first time in Pep Guardiola's managerial career and first time at the club since the famous takeover.

Liverpool pounced on the opportunity and established a five-point gap-lead while Arsenal failed to seal a return to winning ways. Manchester United won big on Ruud van Nistelrooy farewell at the end of his interim reign.

In Spain, Barcelona realize how easy things can turn following the loss in Sociedad, which left six points between them and Real Madrid, who also has a game in hand — an impressive 4-0 win over Osasuna earlier marked their return to winning ways.

It's all tight there in Italy as just one point separate first from fifth after Napoli and Inter's stalemate. Sixth place Juventus is also just a point behind second place.

Bayern Munich earned a narrow win while PSG Paris Saint-Germain won big, and the results saw them both stretched their at the top of the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 summits respectively at their closest rivals failed to win.

This episode of the stars of the weekend produced big names in the Premier League and La Liga while a familiar name this season, again stepped up in the Bundesliga and in Italy and France are names you don't see coming, which further highlights the unpredictability of the beautiful game.

From the hat-trick heroes to those righting wrongs and the ones making a farewell memorable, we take a look at the stars of the weekend in each of Europe's top five leagues.

Standout performers in Europe top Five Leagues During the Weekend

Premier League: Bruno Fernandes

 

 

 

Bruno Fernandes had a sensational short spell under Ruud van Nistelrooy, and was concluded with a spectacular display on his 250th appearance in a Manchester United shirt.

The captain was again the star of the show in Old Trafford as Manchester United return to winning ways in the league with a 3-0 win over Leicester City.

Fernandes, who scored United's only league goal under Van Nistelrooy from the spot against Chelsea, opened the scoring a week later in the same end, with a curling strike from inside the box following an Amad Diallo backheel pass in the 17th minute.

It was fourth goal in as many games under the interim boss, three of which have been against The Foxes, following his brace in the 5-2 Carabao Cup win.

Fernandes, then passed the chance to grab his second, although it did count for United in the 38th-minute. The Portuguese failed to make a clean header with Noussair Mazraoui cross, but the ball ricochet off Victor Kristiansen and in for 2-0.

 

 

 

 

Fernandes capped off his player of the match display with an assist for Alejandro Garnacho's peach of a goal to make it 3-0 eight minutes from time and in the process produced his 100th goal involvements in the Premier League.

• 7 chances created
• 4 tackles won with a 100% completion rate
• 4 recoveries
• 7 passes into the final third
• 6 duels won

It took him 170 games to reach the milestone, with 57 goals and 43 assists, making him the second fastest to reach the milestone in the club's history, only behind his countryman Cristiano Ronaldo, 169 games.

La Liga: Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid

 

 

 

 

After humiliating back-to-back losses, Real Madrid needed to give their fans something to cheer before heading out for the international break and they did just that, as Vinicius Junior emerged as the star of the game with a hat-trick, his second in four games.

The Brazilian was at his best on Saturday afternoon, to ease the tense atmosphere around the club in recent weeks, which also made him a victim following the Ballon d'or shun.

Los Blancos had more reasons to get nervous in the opening half-hour, not for their performance, which improved significantly, but for the injuries to both Rodrygo and Eder Militao, which forced the duo off the pitch.

Vinicius Junior opened the scoring four minutes after the half-hour, his first La Liga goal since netting a second-half winner against Celta Vigo, just before the humbling against Barcelona.

The 24-year-old the got his second and Madrid's third of the day just after the hour mark on the counter. Following an Osasuna corner, Lunin picked the ball and sent a long throw to Vini, who beat his marker before rounding the goalkeeper for an easy tap in.

Eight minutes later, set up by Brahim Diaz, Vinicius completed his hat-trick and sealed a 4-0 Real Madrid win, which marked a return to winning ways and lift spirits at the club amidst the difficult period.

Apart from the goals, Vinicius Junior was up and running all game. He also did exceptionally well in other statistics that make a complete performance.

 

 

 

• 71 touches
• 7 dribbles
• 2 chances created
• 4 fouls won
• 12 duels won
• 3 recoveries
• 15 touches in opposition box

He has now scored eight La Liga goals this season, only behind Robert Lewandowski, and at the same time takes his goal involvements across all competitions to 17, in as many games.

Serie A: Moise Kean

Hat-trick hero Moise Kean is the star of the weekend in the Serie A as he continues to rejuvenate his career in Firenze with, who he's got flying high this season.

 

 

 

 

The former PSG man got the party started very early as he opened the scoring inside the opening four minutes from a Lucan Beltran through ball in the Artemio Franchi stadium on Sunday noon.

The visitors weren't behind for long as Suat Serder restored parity in the 18th minute. Kean got his second of the day with the hour mark approaching, poking home a Yacine Adli's corner to restore the lead.

He completed his hat-trick in the second minute of added time. As Verona committed players for a corner, De Gea got hold of the delivery and played it long to Kean.

The striker was not without company, but managed to hold onto the ball, moved into the box and create separation, before firing a low shot past the goalkeeper for his third.

With his hat-trick performance this weekend, he takes his tally of goals to eleven after 14 games across all competitions for Rafaelle Palladino's side, which is already more than he had in his final two seasons at Juventus, eight goals in 60 games.

Moreso, Moise Kean has now scored double digits of goals in a single campaign for the first time since his stint at PSG Paris four seasons ago in 2020-21.

 

 

 

 

His impressive performance sends Fiorentina to third on the log, level on points with second place Atalanta and one behind first place Napoli.

Bundesliga: Omar Marmoush

Omar Marmoush continues his fine form for Frankfurt with another impressive performance, which was highlighted by a goal and an assist, including the winner against Stuttgart on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

The Egyptian, who had already scored eleven and assisted six in nine Bundesliga games ahead of kick-off set up Hugo Ekitike for the opener on the stroke of half-time.

The French striker rise to head home a corner to break the deadlock against Frankfurt, who missed an early penalty to punish the visitors, through Ermedin Demirovic.

Marmoush then got on the scoresheet with a sensational free-kick to make it 3-0 two minutes after the hour mark, seven minutes after Nathaniel Brown had poked one home from close range to double their lead.

• 1 big chance created
• 4 recoveries
• 6 dribbles completed
• 11 touches in opposition box
• 5 fouls won
• 12 duels won

The host did score twice later in the game but Dino Toppmoller's side held on for the win, which takes them up to third on the log, just one point behind second place RB Leipzig.

Marmoush, instrumental again, was lively all through the game, and was able to take his goal involvements in the Bundesliga this term to 18, eleven goals and seven asissts.

 

 

 

He becomes the player with most free-kick goals in Europe this season with three across all competitions, while he is also the most productive player in top five leagues, with 24 goal involvements in 16 games.

Ligue 1 : Kang-In Lee

On his first start in three games, the South Korean attacking midfielder stepped up to help PSG Paris Saint-Germain establish a six-point gap-lead at the summit of the top-flight league in France courtesy of a 4-2 win in Angers.

 

 

 

Lee, who had not produced any attacking returns in previous four appearances replaced Ousmane Dembele in the starting XI, justified his selection by netting a brace in the opening 20 minutes of the game.

He fired home a cross from Marco Asensio, which took a slight touch off Zaire-Emery, who attempted to score but failed to make telling connection. The ball found Lee and he managed to get his effort over the line before a defender made the clearance, and the score read 1-0 to the visitors.

Three minutes later, the former Valencia man doubled his and PSG's lead, converting his shot following a cutback from Marco Asensio, who finally got a deserved assist.

After Marco Asensio got his second assist as Bradley Barcola made it 3-0 just after the half-hour, Lee helped the Frenchman complete his brace in the second minute of added time in first-half, sending a lovely cross into the penalty area, which was met by Barcola's header for 4-0.

• 79 touches
• 5 chances created
• 2 big chances created
• 3 accurate crosses
• 8 touches in opposition box

Despite considerably limited playtime due to competition, Lee has now scored six goals in eleven Ligue 1 games this season, all in just six starts.

It was his first time scoring a brace for PSG and now he has double his goal tally in the entirety of last season, three.

Player of the weekend

Vinicius Junior, with a hat-trick in an all-round performance is the ultimate player of the weekend in Europe top five leagues.

His performance, decisive during the game and the consequence got even better before the end of the weekend, after Barcelona lost away to Real Sociedad in San Sebastian.

Real Madrid are now six points behind their arch rivals and with a game in hand. Carlo Ancelotti will hope his team have found their bearing again, to build on the weekend's result.

 

 

 

Vinicius Junior will have a huge part to play if that will be the case for the defending champions, but for now, his performance during the weekend against Osasuna earned him the crown.