As we enter the second international break of the season, football fans bore witness to a dazzling weekend of action across the continent.
Here are five things you might have missed.
😯 PSG lose to Rennes without producing a shot on target
Football matches are won on pitches, not paper, and that's why even an attack of Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, Neymar and Leo Messi can fail to find their shooting boots from time to time. PSG had 13 attempts, bossed the ball (68% possession) and had a goal ruled out for offside, but they never really got going in Brittany and their defeat was one of four sizeable shocks across Europe this weekend.
🦁 Iñaki the Iron Lion
Iñaki Williams has now played 203 consecutive games in LaLiga, setting a new competition record. The winger has eclipsed Andoni Larranaga’s previous mark of 202 to become the competition’s all-time consecutive appearance-maker, having not missed a Spanish top-flight assignment since April 2016. What are they feeding this man?
🐐 Zlatan turns 40
29 goals in 48 games since returning to the San Siro is an unbelievable record for any player, let alone a guy who's very much in the twilight phase of his career. He's scored at least a goal every year since 1999 and once in every single minute of a football match least once. It's a day late, but happy birthday you beautiful man!
🦁 He’s older than Joe Cole, Michael Essien, Nemanja Vidić and Mikel Arteta, yet he’s managed 26 goals in his last 38 Serie A matches.
— Futaa.com (@Futaacom) October 3, 2021
🇸🇪 Happy 40th birthday Zlatan! pic.twitter.com/NyL1CMLc0A
🎈 The Vardy party continues
Speaking of experienced goal-scorers who refuse to call it quits and continue to defy belief and logic, Jamie Vardy sits atop the Golden Boot standings in the Premier League and he's 34. After his goal against Crystal Palace, Vardy became only the second player in Premier League history to have scored 90+ goals in the competition after entering his thirties. The other? Ian Wright, who bagged 93 top-flight goals on the wrong side of 30.
👑 Salah's sizzles
Okay, there's no way that you missed this and you probably saw it more than once, but have you see it from every conceivable angle? Mo Salah's miraculous exploits continue to stun and delight supporters around the world but should we even be surprised anymore? There can't be many players in the world right now who are better than Liverpool's number 11.
Current status: watching this on repeat 🔁🤩
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 4, 2021
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 of @MoSalah’s incredible strike, presented by @Sonos 🎥 pic.twitter.com/K2KOuVr0G0
That's that. We'll have to sit around and twiddle our thumbs until club football makes a return. 11 days and counting until PSG looks to get back to winning ways in Ligue 1.
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