The Frenchman is fit and firing again for Los Blancos, while the former Manchester United boss has made a poor start to his new job
With Germany and Italy having belatedly joined the party this weekend, play has now resumed in all of Europe's biggest leagues after the summer break.
In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich have made an ominously impressive start to their title defence, while Napoli kicked-off their bid to claim back-to-back Scudetti for the first time in their history with a 2-0 victory at Sassuolo featuring a goal from new signing Kevin De Bruyne.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid and Barcelona are both two from two in Spain – just like French champions Paris Saint-Germain, who won 1-0 for the second weekend in a row.
Below, GOAL runs through all of the big winners and losers from the latest round of action across the continent…
Getty Images SportWINNER: Kylian Mbappe
Xabi Alonso said Kylian Mbappe "looks good" after Sunday's 3-0 win over Real Oviedo – and he meant that in every sense. The Blancos boss revealed that the forward lost four kilos while laid low by a nasty bout of gastroenteritis during the Club World Cup, but is now back in peak physical condition.
However, Alonso also feels that Mbappe is now perfectly in tune with what he wants from the Frenchman as the focal point of Madrid's attack.
"When we manage to maintain [the right] distances between the forwards, with everyone closer together, we find each other [more easily]," the Spaniard explained. "Kylian did very well today, and the other day too [against Osasuna]. We’re still looking at what to correct, but the feeling is good."
No arguments there, with Mbappe having already scored three times in two Liga outings. Even at this early stage, it would take a brave man to bet against the 26-year-old winning a second consecutive European Golden Shoe.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportLOSER: AC Milan
New era at AC Milan, same old rotten results. However, even by the Rossoneri's rapidly declining standards, Saturday's shock 2-1 loss at home to newly-promoted Cremonese was particularly depressing.
In fairness to Milan, they dominated possession and had 24 shots on goal at San Siro – but it's clear that they still have serious issues all over the field. Another ineffective display from Santiago Gimenez showed why the club's directors are frantically trying to bring in a new forward before the close of the transfer window, while the arrival of a 39-year-old Luka Modric has rather predictably done nothing to make up for the loss of the incredibly influential Tijjani Reijnders.
Returning coach Massimiliano Allegri was obviously meant to immediately shore up the backline, given his notoriously pragmatic approach to football, but he was left disgusted by his defenders' inability to "sense danger".
"We need to improve," the former Juventus boss told , "because we cannot afford to concede two goals in every game. Fortunately, it is only the first round and we have time to work on these details."
And he's right, of course. Milan should benefit from Allegri having a week to prepare for most games, given the absence of European football, but that also means there will be no excuse for a repeat of last season's embarrassing eighth-placed finish in Serie A.
Make no mistake about it: the Rossoneri need reinforcements – and preferably before Friday's trip to Lecce, which is already looking like a must-win game for Allegri.
Getty Images SportWINNER: Bayern Munich
Harry Kane says Bayern Munich have made a "perfect start" to their Bundesliga campaign – and it's impossible to disagree.
For starters, the Bavarians were brilliant in Friday's 6-0 demolition of RB Leipzig at the Allianz Arena. Michael Olise scored twice, Luis Diaz made it two goals in two competitive games after his winner in the DFL-Super Cup the previous weekend, while the ever-reliable Kane netted a 14-minute hat-trick.
However, Bayern would have also taken a significant amount of satisfaction out of the fact that the teams touted as their main title rivals, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund, both dropped points during the opening weekend.
According to reports in Germany, all is not well behind the scenes at Bayern, with sporting director Max Eberl apparently under pressure to strengthen the squad after letting so many players leave during the summer transfer window. It’s fair to say, though, that Vincent Kompany is currently making the absolute most of the several world-class players he still has at his disposal, so no matter what happens between now and deadline day, Bayern at least look very well-placed to win a second-consecutive Bundesliga.
With a little more depth, they should re-emerge as serious Champions League challengers, too.
Getty Images SportLOSER: Erik ten Hag
Erik ten Hag talked up the start of an exciting new era at Bayer Leverkusen ahead of Saturday's Bundesliga opener against Hoffenheim – and it started quite promisingly, with new signing Jarell Quansah heading the Dutchman's team into the lead after just six minutes.
However, Leverkusen created very little thereafter and ended up slumping to a dismal 2-1 defeat in front of fans still coming to terms with the loss of so many key contributors to the historic 2023-24 domestic double, including Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Frimpong and, perhaps most importantly of all, coach Xabi Alonso.
"Clearly, I’m disappointed," Ten Hag told reporters. "It was a game of few opportunities and Hoffenheim were more effective. We did not get into the final third of the pitch often enough. We have a lot of work ahead of us, which is not unexpected."
Ten Hag certainly has a point when he says that Leverkusen are going to need time to gel, after a summer of so many comings and goings at the BayArena. However, he could really do with a more positive performance – and result – in Saturday's meeting with Werder Bremen, given some supporters already had their doubts over whether the much-maligned former Manchester United boss was really the right man to lead the Leverkusen overhaul.
