Soccer’s early September weekend has produced major results on both sides of the Atlantic, with Manchester City maintaining a perfect start in England, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid suffering defeats in Spain, Inter Milan producing a dramatic comeback in Italy and Lionel Messi returning to club action with Inter Miami.
Several more major matches are still to come Sunday, including Arsenal against Chelsea in the Premier League, Barcelona’s trip to Valencia and Juventus against AC Milan in Serie A.
Manchester City Remains Perfect
Manchester City moved to three wins from three Premier League matches with a 1-0 victory over newly promoted Coventry City on Saturday.
Erling Haaland provided the decisive goal, reaching 300 career club goals in the process. The Norwegian headed in after new Manchester City midfielder Enzo Fernández helped create the opportunity on his debut.
Fernández arrived from Chelsea in a transfer worth approximately £125 million, matching the British transfer record, and immediately became part of City’s rebuilt midfield.
The final score was much closer than many expected, but Manchester City controlled long stretches of the match and preserved its perfect Premier League record. Coventry remained dangerous enough to prevent City from turning the match into a comfortable victory.
Liverpool Gets Its First Victory
Liverpool also picked up an important result Friday, defeating Ipswich Town 2-0 at Portman Road.
Alexander Isak scored both goals within the opening nine minutes, with Cody Gakpo assisting each one.
The victory was Liverpool’s first league win of the season after opening with two consecutive 2-2 draws. It was also the first victory for new Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola.
Liverpool now has five points from three matches and appears to be settling into the new season after an uneven opening two games.
Tottenham Still Cannot Score
Tottenham’s problems continued Saturday with a 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest.
Spurs have now failed to score in each of their first three Premier League matches.
Nottingham Forest thought it had won the game, but a goal was disallowed following a VAR review. Tottenham escaped with its first point of the season, but the lack of offense is becoming one of the early stories of the Premier League campaign.
Aston Villa is having similar difficulties. Villa played promoted Hull City to a scoreless draw and has managed only one shot on target through its first 270 minutes of league soccer this season.
Hull, meanwhile, has opened its Premier League return with three consecutive clean sheets.
Crystal Palace Wins a Wild One
Crystal Palace earned its first victory of the season with a dramatic 3-2 comeback against Fulham.
Fulham led twice, but Tyrick Mitchell scored two equalizers before Ben Chilwell struck the winning goal late in the match.
Palace’s victory gave new manager Pierre Sage his first Premier League win.
Elsewhere in England, Newcastle and Bournemouth drew 2-2, Brighton and Leeds finished 1-1, and Brentford and Sunderland also drew 1-1.
Arsenal-Chelsea Headlines Sunday
One of the biggest matches of the weekend is still ahead.
Arsenal hosts Chelsea on Sunday in an early-season London showdown between two unbeaten teams.
Manchester City currently has the advantage after winning its first three matches, meaning Arsenal has additional pressure to keep pace near the top.
Everton also hosts Manchester United earlier Sunday.
Those games will help clarify the early Premier League picture before the season begins moving toward its first major stretch of European competition.
Real Madrid Stunned by Real Betis
The biggest result in Spain came Friday when Real Betis defeated Real Madrid 1-0.
Real entered the match with a perfect league record but could not find an equalizer after Troy Parrott scored the decisive goal for Betis.
The defeat opened the door for Barcelona and other La Liga contenders to gain ground.
Real Madrid had won its first three matches of the season before the loss.
Atlético Madrid Crushed in Bilbao
Atlético Madrid experienced an even worse Saturday.
Athletic Bilbao defeated Atlético 3-0 at San Mamés, handing Diego Simeone’s side its first loss of the season.
The defeat was particularly damaging because all three goals exposed Atlético after halftime, turning what had been a competitive match into a comfortable Athletic Club victory.
The result places additional importance on Barcelona’s Sunday match against Valencia.
Barcelona Gets an Opportunity
Barcelona travels to Mestalla on Sunday to face Valencia.
With Real Madrid losing to Betis and Atlético losing in Bilbao, Barcelona has an opportunity to capitalize on mistakes by two of its biggest rivals.
That makes Valencia-Barcelona one of Sunday’s most important European matches.
The early La Liga season is already showing signs that the championship race may be more unpredictable than expected.
Inter Milan Produces Huge Comeback
Italy produced perhaps the most dramatic major-league match of Saturday.
Napoli led Inter Milan 2-0 after Matteo Politano and Rasmus Højlund scored early in the second half.
Inter then completely reversed the match.
Lautaro Martínez pulled one goal back before Marcus Thuram equalized in the 82nd minute.
Martínez scored again in the 91st minute to complete a remarkable 3-2 comeback.
The victory preserved Inter’s perfect start to the Serie A season and demonstrated that the club remains one of the strongest contenders for the Italian championship.
Roma Wins in Stoppage Time
Roma produced its own late comeback against Atalanta.
Atalanta took the lead through Ederson, but Roma equalized through Mario Hermoso before Matías Soulé scored the winner in the 93rd minute.
The 2-1 victory gave Roma three wins from its first three Serie A matches and kept the club alongside Inter at the top of the early standings.
Roma and Inter are scheduled to meet after the upcoming round, which could quickly become one of the first major matches in the Italian title race.
Juventus and Milan Meet Sunday
Serie A has another major match Sunday when Juventus hosts AC Milan in Turin.
The two clubs remain among the biggest names in Italian soccer, and the result could become important in a season where Inter and Roma have already started strongly.
The match will also attract considerable American interest because Christian Pulisic remains one of Milan’s central attacking players.
Bayern Held by Schalke
Germany produced another surprise Saturday when Bayern Munich was held to a 0-0 draw at Schalke.
Bayern had opportunities to win but could not beat goalkeeper Loris Karius, who repeatedly denied the defending German powerhouse.
Borussia Dortmund had a much more dramatic afternoon.
Dortmund trailed Hoffenheim 2-0 before scoring three times to win 3-2. Serhou Guirassy began the comeback, Fabio Silva equalized and a late own goal completed the turnaround.
Bayer Leverkusen also bounced back strongly, defeating Union Berlin 4-0.
Perhaps the strangest Bundesliga result came at Borussia Mönchengladbach, where newly promoted Elversberg won 4-3 after Maurice Krattenmacher scored a 92nd-minute winner.
Werder Bremen also surprised RB Leipzig 3-1.
PSG Already Under Pressure
Paris Saint-Germain has experienced one of the most surprising starts in Europe.
PSG lost 2-1 at home to Monaco on Friday and remains winless after three Ligue 1 matches, its worst start to a league season in 19 years.
Monaco scored twice in the second half to overturn PSG’s early advantage.
Despite the results, manager Luis Enrique has publicly said he remains confident in his team and believes its performances have been better than the results indicate.
For a club accustomed to dominating French soccer, however, seven points of separation from the early leaders creates an unusual amount of pressure in September.
Messi Returns to Inter Miami
In the United States, Lionel Messi returned to Inter Miami following his retirement from international soccer.
Miami drew Atlanta United 2-2 Saturday night in a match delayed for more than 90 minutes because of severe weather.
Messi supplied the corner that Casemiro converted for Miami’s opening goal.
Atlanta quickly equalized, and Luis Suárez restored Miami’s lead before halftime. Breel Embolo converted a late penalty for Atlanta to produce the 2-2 final.
Messi, now 39, remains among the MLS scoring leaders with 18 goals this season.
MLS Produces an Incredible Night of Scoring
Miami’s draw was hardly the wildest MLS match Saturday.
Portland defeated Minnesota United 5-4 in a nine-goal game.
FC Dallas beat Sporting Kansas City 4-3 after Petar Musa converted a stoppage-time penalty. The goal was Musa’s 18th of the MLS season, placing him among the league’s leading scorers.
Toronto FC and Chicago Fire produced another eight-goal match, finishing 4-4.
Real Salt Lake and LAFC drew 2-2, while the LA Galaxy defeated New England 2-1.
Cavan Sullivan Makes MLS History
One of the best individual stories of the weekend came from 16-year-old Philadelphia Union midfielder Cavan Sullivan.
Sullivan scored in Philadelphia’s 2-0 victory over CF Montréal.
The goal gave him a scoring contribution in five consecutive regular-season matches, making him the youngest player in MLS history to accomplish that feat and the first teenager to do it.
He has also now scored in three consecutive league matches.
Sullivan has been regarded as one of the most promising American players of his generation, and his recent run is beginning to turn that potential into significant production at the professional level.
Women’s Super League Begins
The Women’s Super League also opened its 2026-27 season this weekend.
Defending contender Chelsea began with a surprising 1-1 draw against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.
Lauren James put Chelsea ahead in the 11th minute, but Villa eventually equalized through an own goal.
Chelsea controlled much of the match but struggled to convert its chances, while Aston Villa goalkeeper Akane Okuma produced an impressive debut performance.
Arsenal Women begin their season Sunday at Brighton, while several other WSL clubs are also opening their campaigns this weekend.
A Busy September Is Taking Shape
The European season is still only a few weeks old, but several major storylines are already developing.
Manchester City looks strong again in England, while Tottenham and Aston Villa are struggling badly for goals.
Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid both stumbled during the same La Liga weekend, giving Barcelona an immediate opportunity.
Inter and Roma are perfect in Italy.
Bayern has already dropped points in Germany.
PSG is unexpectedly winless in France.
And in Major League Soccer, the playoff race is approaching its decisive stages while Messi continues producing at age 39 and teenagers such as Cavan Sullivan are beginning to create their own headlines.
Sunday could change the picture again.
Arsenal-Chelsea, Valencia-Barcelona and Juventus-Milan give soccer fans three major European matches to follow, making this one of the busiest club-football weekends since the 2026 World Cup ended.
IMAGE: Soccer Weekend Roundup: Big Scores, Major Upsets and Messi’s Return DNR Art Department