European football: Ten talking points from the weekend
3. Ronaldo unfamiliarly out of the spotlight
Cristiano Ronaldo thrives upon being in the middle of a blinding limelight which follows him wherever he goes in football. The latest destination is Juventus, and many expected him to become an instant hero in their unconventional away kit in their season opener at Chievo Verona.
The Old Lady were 2-1 down with twenty minutes remaining and it looked increasingly likely they would need a Ronaldo-like presence to pull them out of an unexpected hole.
The champions did manage to complete the turnaround, with a goal in the 93rd minute, however Federico Bernadeschi was the man to catapult himself into the news headlines, rather than Ronaldo.
And for a man at home with making his own history, perhaps the former Real Madrid man was frustrated he wasn’t the one to etch himself into Juventus folklore immediately.
4. Inter Milan hit trouble already
Tipped as the team most likely to challenge Juventus’ seven-year dominance of the Scudetto, Inter Milan headed into their first league game at Sassuolo with high hopes.
Some savvy transfer business including the acquisitions of Stefan de Vrij, Radja Nainggolan, Sime Vrsaljko and Balde Keita added to their already solid core of Samir Handanovic, Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic.
It certainly didn’t go to plan in Sassuolo as they became the first big-name club to fall at the opening hurdle. Napoli, Juventus and Roma all scraped past their opponents, however Inter fell to a humiliating defeat to lose ground on rivals at this infant stage.
AC Milan were caught cold last term despite their extravagant spending. Could their arch-enemies be on the same track?