The English Premier League season got underway in England with champions Chelsea only managing a 2-2 home draw with Swansea City while in France, Marcelo Bielsa quit as Olympique de Marseille coach following their opening day defeat.
Rediff.com brings you the top highlights of the weekend.
Ten-man Chelsea held amid high drama
Champions Chelsea were held to a 2-2 home draw by Swansea City on the opening weekend of the season and their goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was sent off to complete a disappointing day for manager Jose Mourinho.
New Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech made two errors as his team slumped to a surprise 2-0 home defeat by London rivals West Ham United.
Manchester United needed a Kyle Walker own goal to secure an unconvincing 1-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho scored a stunning late winner to seal a 1-0 victory at Stoke City.
Promoted Watford drew 2-2 at Everton but the other two new arrivals in the top flight lost at home, Bournemouth 1-0 to Aston Villa and Norwich City 3-1 to Crystal Palace.
Champions Bayern Munich kicked off their Cup campaign with win
Hamburg SV crashed out to fourth division Carl Zeiss Jena 3-2 in the German Cup first round.
The former European champions, who won a relegation playoff to stay in the Bundesliga last season, needed a last-gasp equaliser in second-half stoppage time but conceded a third in extra time to slump to a shock loss.
VfL Wolfsburg and champions Bayern Munich kicked off their Cup campaigns with wins, the holders comfortably beating Stuttgarter Kickers 4-1 away and the Bavarians easing past fifth-tier Noettingen 3-1.
Borussia Dortmund also advanced as did Schalke 04.
Marseille coach Bielsa quits over contract dispute
Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa resigned after a 1-0 home defeat against Caen, citing a contract dispute.
French champions Paris St Germain started their Ligue 1 campaign with a 1-0 win at Lille despite being reduced to 10 men.
PSG prevailed thanks to Lucas's goal after Adrien Rabiot was sent off midway through the first half. They were without the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic and new recruit Angel di Maria, who was watching from the stands.
Monaco beat Nice 2-1 away and Olympique Lyonnais were held to a goalless draw by visiting Lorient.
Ajax bounce back after Champions League setback
Ajax Amsterdam put the disappointment of their surprise early elimination from the Champions League behind them as they began the Dutch season with a 3-0 win at AZ Alkmaar.
Feyenoord also opened up with a 3-2 home victory over Utrecht.
The opening weekend of the new league season in the Netherlands has been severely affected by police strike action with five of the scheduled nine games moved to Tuesday and Wednesday.
