Mbappé exposes Barca's high-line weakness

Barcelona's dream start to the LaLiga season came crashing down on home soil as Real Madrid claimed a 2-1 victory at Spotify Camp Nou — ending their hosts' run of nine consecutive league wins. Kylian Mbappé scored both goals for Jose Mourinho's side, raising serious questions about Barcelona's ability to compete at the very highest level.

It is a curious problem given the electric football Hansi Flick's side have produced this season. But ambitions of Champions League glory demand results against the strongest opponents, and two recent tests have exposed a recurring vulnerability.

Having conceded four times to Paris Saint-Germain in their previous Champions League outing, Barcelona again found themselves unable to contain a side willing to attack the space behind their defensive line. Mourinho was unusually candid in explaining how Madrid exploited it.

"It is difficult for any attackers to attack space against Barcelona — the only solution is to do it with your midfielders. The solution is to use midfielders like [Eduardo] Camavinga and [Jude] Bellingham to break that line, and it worked."

In the pair's first Clasico meeting, Mbappé was flagged offside seven times — the most by any player in a major European league in six years — caught repeatedly by Barcelona's high defensive line. This time, when Camavinga burst from deep, Mbappé was in the right place to punish them.

Barcelona remain well clear at the top of LaLiga and will overwhelm the majority of their rivals. But Inter and Atlético Madrid have eliminated them from Europe in the past two seasons. Flick has a tactical puzzle to solve before it truly matters.

Atlético close the gap; Elliott's nightmare cameo

Julián Álvarez, who scored against Barcelona in last season's Champions League quarter-final, got Atlético Madrid's only goal at home to Deportivo A Coruña — his first league strike of the campaign. The Argentine also publicly apologised to fans for comments about a potential "dream" move away, with manager Diego Simeone praising his contrition. Atlético are now two points behind Barcelona in second.

Valencia's woes deepened in a derby defeat to Villarreal. Harvey Elliott arrived as a late substitute, was sent off for dissent, and watched helplessly as Georges Mikautadze punished ten-man Valencia with a stoppage-time winner.

Bundesliga: Bayern and Dortmund set for Der Klassiker

Bayern Munich navigated a difficult trip to Freiburg — who had won all five of their home games this season — to remain top of the Bundesliga table. The victory came despite a challenging week off the pitch: head coach Vincent Kompany was hospitalised with a viral infection, and captain Joshua Kimmich was on compassionate leave following the death of his father.

Borussia Dortmund kept pace with a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, secured by a fine late strike from Maxi Beier. The two clubs are level on points ahead of Der Klassiker next weekend. Bayer Leverkusen, by contrast, lost ground in a 3-0 defeat at Hoffenheim, with Andrej Kramaric scoring from the spot for the 18th consecutive time in the Bundesliga.

Niclas Fullkrug leads the Bundesliga scoring charts with eight goals after a brace from the penalty spot helped Werder Bremen to a 3-2 win at Mainz — moving him clear of Patrik Schick, who failed to score in a Bundesliga game for the first time this season.

Serie A: Inter's stunning stoppage-time comeback

Inter produced their most remarkable comeback of an already dramatic season, overturning a deficit against Fiorentina at San Siro. Marcus Thuram equalised in the 91st minute and won the penalty that Piotr Zielinski converted in the 98th to seal a 2-1 win. Inter have now accumulated 13 points from losing positions this season.

Lazio continue to be the story of the Italian campaign, producing a controlled performance to beat Parma and remaining level on points with Inter. Roma and Milan also kept their unbeaten records: Ruben Amorim's Milan won comfortably at Udinese, while Gian Piero Gasperini's Roma recovered from two goals down to earn a 3-3 draw at Napoli — Leonardo Balerdi scoring twice, matching Scott McTominay's brace for the hosts.

Ligue 1: Archer and Egan-Riley make their mark

With PSG versus Lyon scheduled for Monday — the league leaders heading into the weekend — Rennes took advantage of dropped points elsewhere to move clear of a six-team cluster on 14 points. A 3-0 win over Strasbourg was highlighted by a stunning curled effort from outside the box by Sebastian Szymanski for his second of the night.

Further down the table, a pair of English players caught the eye. CJ Egan-Riley scored his first goal for Marseille since arriving on a free transfer, while Gabriel Archer continued his impressive form for Auxerre.