German Bundesliga Weekly Review

Schalke recovered from two goals down to claim a 4-2 victory over Mainz on Sunday as the hosts suffered their first defeat of the Bundesliga season.

It all looked so easy for Mainz in the first half at the Mainz Arena, with goals from Andreas Ivanschitz and Elkin Soto putting them within reach of a third straight win from three games

However, Schalke were transformed in the second half with goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Benedikt Howedes, Joel Matip and Christian Fuchs earning Ralf Rangnick's side a win that nobody would have imagined possible at half-time.

Following Mainz's slip-up, Hannover went joint top of the fledgling table alongside Borussia Monchengladbach on seven points although they were denied victory as Hertha Berlin struck late for a 1-1 draw.

Pierre-Michel Lasogga's tap-in seven minutes from time rescued a point for newly-promoted Hertha after Sergio Pinto's free-kick had given Hannover the lead in the first half.

Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund bounced back from last weekend's defeat at Hoffenheim with an efficient 2-0 home victory over Nurnberg on Saturday.

Robert Lewandowski put Jurgen Klopp's side ahead four minutes into the second half and Kevin Grosskreutz made the points safe with a second goal - courtesy of a wicked deflection off Phillipp Wollscheid - 10 minutes from time.

The result moved Dortmund to within a point of leaders Borussia Monchengladbach in the fledgling league standings, while Nurnberg remains in the bottom half.

Hoffenheim made it back-to-back wins to leave Augsburg still searching for a first victory since their promotion as they ran out 2-0 victors.

Ryan Babel gave the visitors an early lead with Sejad Salihovic scoring from the spot in the second half as Holger Stanislawski's men built on last weekend's success over champions Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern Munich swept aside woeful Hamburg 5-0 at the Allianz Arena.

Daniel van Buyten gave the home side an early lead before Franck Ribery swiftly added a second.

Arjen Robben put the result beyond doubt before the interval and Mario Gomez and Ivica Olic were on target in the second half.

Werder Bremen scored twice in the final four minutes to claim a thrilling 5-3 home win over Freiburg.

The visitors twice came from behind to draw level at 3-3, but Aaron Hunt's 87th-minute penalty and a last-gasp Beltrame Wesley strike won it for Bremen.

Papiss Cisse netted twice for Freiburg, opening the scoring in the seventh minute and making it 2-2 shortly after the break after Clemens Fritz and Claudio Pizarro had turned the game in the hosts' favour.

Marko Arnautovic put Bremen back in front in the 65th minute, but Stefan Reisinger looked like he had rescued a point when he made it 3-3 six minutes from time.

Stefan Kiessling took advantage of an error by Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich to steer Bayer Leverkusen to back-to-back Bundesliga wins with a 1-0 victory.

Ivo Ilicevic opened the scoring for Kaiserslautern after 17 minutes away to Cologne but Mato Jajalo netted two minutes later to ensure the spoils were shared.

Borussia Monchengladbach claimed an impressive come-from-behind 4-1 victory over Wolfsburg on Friday.

The visitors took a 12th-minute lead at Borussia-Park when Makoto Hasebe rounded off a fine team move by lashing into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the area.

But Monchengladbach were level less than three minutes later when Raul Bobadilla capitalized on a defensive error from Simon Kjaer to set up Marco Reus, and went ahead through a Filip Daems penalty just after the half-hour before Bobadilla nodded home a third on the stroke of half-time.

Reus then sealed an emphatic victory by netting a fourth goal midway through the second half.

French League Weekly Review

Big-spending Paris St Germain picked up their first win of the new Ligue 1 season with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Valenciennes at the Parc des Princes on Sunday evening.

Marquee signing Javier Pastore featured in the PSG squad in a league match for the first time, albeit on the bench, but it was fellow new signing Kevin Gameiro who put the hosts ahead late in the first half.

Valenciennes are yet to pick up a win this season but struck back on the stroke of half-time through Remi Gomis before a Nene penalty secured Antoine Kombouare's side their first three points of the season.

Marseille played out their third successive draw - 0-0 at home to St Etienne.

Didier Deschamps' men edged the first half and came close to taking the lead when Loic Remy hit the post.

Les Verts also hit the woodwork after the break, Bakary Sako volleying against the bar after 56 minutes.

St Etienne played with 10 men for the final five minutes after Jean-Pascal Mignot was given a second yellow card for a crude tackle on Alou Diarra.

Montpellier's dream start to the Ligue 1 season got better as they smashed four goals past Rennes without reply to maintain their perfect record.

After Younnes Belhanda's first-half penalty the hosts surged to a comprehensive win after the interval with Geoffrey Dernis on target before a late Souleymane Camara double.

Montpellier have now won their opening three games, including an impressive 1-0 success at champions Lille last weekend, and scored eight goals while conceding just once.

Sochaux overcame the dismissal of Carlao to earn their first win of the Ligue 1 season on Sunday, winning 2-1 against Nancy.

Both teams had come into the fixture with just a single point from their opening two matches, and it was the visitors who took control with goals from Mathieu Peybernes and Sloan Privat.

A red card for Brazilian defender Carlao and a penalty to Nancy, scored by Youssouf Hadji, threatened to undo all the hard work but Sochaux clung on for the victory.

On Saturday, substitute Adrien Regattin grabbed a last-gasp equalizer to earn Ligue 1 leaders Toulouse a 1-1 draw against Nice in a dramatic ending to their match at the Stade Municipal du Ray.

The hosts looked to be heading for their first win of the season thanks to Anthony Mounier's 31st-minute goal.

But Regattin's fine volley rescued a point for TFC, who had substitute Ahmed Soukouna sent off in stoppage time for a second bookable offence.

Eric Mouloungui had the chance to win it for Nice with a 96th-minute penalty but his spot-kick was saved.

Elsewhere on Saturday, champions Lille enjoyed their first league win of the season, 2-1 against Caen to end their opponents' 100% start.

Having taken just a point from their opening two fixtures, the pressure was on Rudi Garcia's side to produce the goods at the Stade Michel d'Ornano.

And they rose to the challenge thanks to second-half goals from Benoit Pedretti and Mathieu Debuchy.

Benjamin Nivet replied from the spot in stoppage time but it was too little too late for the home side.

Promoted Dijon also picked up their first league win of the campaign - 2-0 - at the expense of Lorient.

Gregory Thil gave Patrice Carteron's side the perfect start by opening the scoring in the third minute.

It looked like the game may have swung away from them when Abdoulaye Meite was sent off before half-time for a foul on Julien Quercia, but Lorient could not make the most of their numerical advantage and Brice Jovial added a second goal for the hosts two minutes from time.

Ten-man Lyon came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at Brest as both sides continued their unbeaten starts.

Brest midfielder Benoit Lesoimier gave the hosts an early lead and it looked as though they would hang on for the win when Sidy Kone was dismissed just after the hour.

But Bafetimbi Gomis struck not long after the red card to secure a share of the spoils for Les Gones.

Bordeaux and Auxerre both remained without a win this season after battling out a 1-1 draw at the Stade Chaban Delmas.

In a match played in temperatures that reached 36 degrees at times, Bordeaux went in front midway through the first half through Yoan Gouffran's first goal of the season.

But Auxerre responded at a similar stage of the second half, with Alain Traore ensuring his side returned home with a share of the spoils.

Kevin Berigaud's late equalizer earned Evian a 1-1 draw at Ajaccio after Frederic Sammaritano's early goal had given the hosts the lead in an encounter between two promoted clubs.

Dutch League Weekly Review

Ajax battled back from two goals down to earn a share of the points from their trip to VVV-Venlo on Sunday.

A second-half double from Ahmed Musa put VVV in charge and on course to inflict a first defeat of the season on reigning champions Ajax, but the visitors struck twice inside a minute to salvage a draw.

Theo Janssen pulled a goal back in the 68th minute before Kolbeinn Sigthorsson levelled things up almost immediately.

Ajax now have seven points from their three games while VVV have two points.

Dries Mertens was the star as PSV Eindhoven claimed their first away win of the Eredivisie season, three first-half goals easing them past ADO Den Haag 3-0.

Mertens had a hand in all three goals as he opened the scoring in the 21st minute, before setting up Georgino Wijnaldum (24) and Ola Toivonen (39) to make the points safe before the interval.

With the game over as a contest there were few chances of note in the second half, leaving the hosts still looking for their maiden win of the campaign.

Guyon Fernandez struck a late equalizer on Sunday to earn Feyenoord a point in a 1-1 draw Heracles Almelo and keep intact their unbeaten start to the season.

Fernandez netted 12 minutes from time for the visitors to cancel out Glynor Plet's 63rd-minute opener for Heracles.

The result leaves Feyenoord with seven points from three games, while Heracles have five points to their name.

AZ Alkmaar returned to winning ways by thumping four goals past 10-man NEC Nijmegen at the AFAS Stadion.

All of the goals in the 4-0 win arrived in the second half as Jozy Altidore bagged a brace, either side of a Rasmus Elm penalty, before captain Niklas Moisander completed the rout late on.

NEC's capitulation came after the dismissal of Pavel Cmovs for hacking down Maarten Martens after 63 minutes, which resulted in Elm's successful penalty to make it 2-0.

Victory for AZ helped put the disappointment of back-to-back defeats to one side.

On Saturday, FC Twente maintained their perfect start to the Eredivisie season with a 5-1 rout of Heerenveen.

The Enschede club was 3-0 up at the interval with Luuk de Jong (27), Willem Janssen (29) and Marc Janko (45) all finding the target.

Substitute Emir Bajrami then added a fourth after 66 minutes and, although Luciano Narsingh pulled one back for Heerenveen three minutes from time, Janko scored his second of the match moments later from the penalty spot to make it three wins from three for Twente.

Elsewhere on Saturday, a brace from Wilfried Bony gave Vitesse Arnhem a 2-1 win against 10-man FC Utrecht to maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign.

The hosts were ahead after only six minutes with a penalty from Ivory Coast international Bony, but Jacob Mulenga levelled after 26 minutes.

However, Utrecht were reduced to 10 men when Marcus Nilsson was shown a straight red card for a late foul on Frank van der Struijk and Vitesse made their man advantage count as Bony scored again in the 89th minute.

Excelsior grabbed their first point of the season thanks to a late Leendart van Steensel equaliser at home to De Graafschap.

De Graafschap led through Rydell Poepon's 27th-minute opener, but they were denied a first win of the campaign when Van Steesel struck seven minutes from the end.

NAC Breda battled from two goals down to pick up their first point with a 2-2 draw against FC Groningen.

Leandro Bacuna put the visitors ahead in the seventh minute and Petter Andersson doubled their advantage a minute before the break to seemingly wrap up a second win of the season for Groningen.

However, NAC had other ideas and halved the deficit through Mike Zonneveld three minutes after the restart and then salvaged a draw thanks to Anthony Lurling's 56th-minute equalizer.

RKC Waalwijk recorded their first win back in the Eredivisie as they secured a 2-0 result at Roda JC in the Friday night game.

Having picked up just a point from their first two games following promotion back to the big time, Friday night's assignment in Kerkrade looked a difficult one.

However, goals from Ard van Peppen and Geoffrey Castillion proved to be enough for Ruud Brood's side, who are in the top half of the table.

Inter Make Kuyt Offer

Dirk Kuyt's agent claims Inter Milan have made an offer for the Liverpool forward.

Inter is looking for striking reinforcements with Samuel Eto'o poised to join Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala and Kuyt is on their list of targets.

The Italians have held a long-term interest in the Holland international and they tried to sign Kuyt last summer while former boss Rafa Benitez was still in charge at the San Siro.

Kuyt's representative Rob Jansen admits the 31-year-old needs to think about the offer from Inter.

"Inter Milan has made an attractive offer for Dirk and he has to think about it," Jansen told RTV West. "However, the two clubs have yet to agree a deal."

It is unlikely Liverpool would be willing to sell Kuyt as he enjoyed a strong second half to last season and he was rewarded with a contract extension to keep him at Anfield until 2013.

Kuyt was left out of Liverpool's starting line-up for the opening draw at home to Sunderland, but he returned to the first XI for the weekend win at Arsenal.

Chelsea To Make Final £30m Plus Double Player Swap Offer For Modric

Chelsea are lining up one last offer for Tottenham target Luka Modric as Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas looks to make some final additions before the transfer window slams shut. The West London club will reportedly offer the White Hart Lane side £30m plus midfielder Yossi Benayoun as well as striker Daniel Sturridge, however the England Under 21 star’s move would only be a season long loan deal.

Despite agreeing a deal to bring in Spanish international Juan Mata the West London club are still very much interested in luring Modric to Stamford Bridge and the Croatian international has made it clear he wishes to make the move across London but Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has thus far held firm and turned down reported offers of £22m and £27m this month.

However now that Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has come out and stated that the playmaker would not take part in the club’s opening game of the season at Old Trafford because “his head’s not right” will further add fuel to the speculation that if the right offer is made then it may well be considered.

Thus far Redknapp has spent very little in the transfer market as Levy has stated that players must be sold before funds can be invested in new additions and with a little over a week left of the transfer window clearly sales must occur soon in order for the White Hart Lane boss to bring in signings.

Israeli international Benayoun has stated that he believes he may well be on his way out this month having missed the lions share of last term with a ruptured achilles injury. The adaptable midfielder would welcome a move to any side more likely to offer him regular first team action and would presumably be happy to move to Tottenham.

Villas-Boas has noted that his side has struggled to break down both Stoke City and West Brom in their opening fixtures and is therefore even more determined to snap up schemer Modric and will therefore sanction the loan signing of Daniel Sturridge in order to further tempt Messrs Redknapp and Levy into selling one of their prized assets.

Sturridge has missed the first two games of the season through suspension but given that Didier Drogba has failed to garner a start thus far then the England youngster is seemingly unlikely to either. Having spent a successful loan stint at Bolton the former Man City man will not be happy to waste away on the Blues bench and may also feel a loan move to Tottenham would help his career progression.

Redknapp has spoken about his frustrations with his current crop of strikers, who all failed to make an impact last term, and with Robbie Keane sold to MLS side LA Galaxy and Peter Crouch rumoured to be on his way to Stoke City, the addition of an up coming striking talent may just be tempting enough to consider agreeing a deal with their London rivals.

Real Madrid Superstar Dismisses Arsenal Move

Real Madrid midfielder Kaka has dismissed speculation linking him with a loan move to Arsenal.

The 29-year-old, who has four years left on his contract, insists he wants to stay with the Spanish giants next season.

The Brazil international has failed to establish himself in the starting XI since his then record £56million move from AC Milan in 2009 due to poor form and injury.

He has been linked with moves to Manchester City or Chelsea but, after Cesc Fabregas joined Barcelona last week, there were suggestions Gunners boss Arsene Wenger could ask Kaka to fill the void.

But the playmaker wants to stay and fight for his place at Real Madrid under the guidance of Bernabeu boss Jose Mourinho.

“My plan is to remain with Real Madrid and to obtain the confidence of the coach,” Kaka told Marca.

Wenger will now turn his attention to other targets to help strengthen his depleted squad.

Eden Hazard, Yann M’Villa, Scott Parker, Mauro Zarate, Lucho Gonzalez, Phil Jagielka and Scott Dann have all been linked with a move to the Gunners in recent weeks.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos Leaves Liverpool For Wolfsburg

Liverpool has confirmed that defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos has joined Wolfsburg. The Greece international has signed a two-year contract with the German club although no fee has been announced.

"Liverpool FC this afternoon confirmed that Sotirios Kyrgiakos had left the club and joined Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg," a statement on Liverpool's website read.

Kyrgiakos made 49 appearances for Liverpool after joining the club from AEK Athens in the summer of 2009. The 32-year-old made 28 of those last season although his first-team opportunities were reduced when Kenny Dalglish returned as manager.

Kyrgiakos revealed he was looking forward to returning to Germany after spending two season at Eintracht Frankfurt from 2006 to 2008. "Wolfsburg is a good club. They won the championship in 2009," he told the club's official website. "I'm here to play and I would like to play every game. I am fit and ready, but the coach decides when and if I get to play."

Bayern Munich Eye Up A Move For Liverpool Or Arsenal Strikers

Bayern Munich are contemplating making bids for either Liverpool’s David N’Gog or Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner after striker Ivica Olic injured himself last weekend.

The 31-year-old was sidelined for nine months last season with a knee problem but will now be out for up to two months with a hip injury.

The Croatia international was hurt scoring the final goal in Saturday’s 5-0 win against Hamburg after coming on as a substitute.

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says Olic’s injury has left Bayern with only two healthy strikers and “we will see if we have to do anything.”

The Bundesliga giants will now make inquiries into the Premier League duo, who are both available for the right price.

N’gog, 22, has been a target for both Sunderland and Bolton this summer but neither club has matched Liverpool’s £5million valuation for the Frenchman.

It is a similar story with Bendtner, who has attracted interest from Germany, Portugal and Turkey as well as the Premier League.

No club seems willing to match his £10million price tag as well as high wages, but this will not be a problem for Bayern.

Chelsea Defender Kalas Joins Vitesse Arnhem On Loan

Chelsea defender Tomas Kalas - who has yet to play a game for the club since joining in 2010 - has been sent out on loan to Vitesse Arnhem for the season.

The Czech defender moved to Stamford Bridge last year from Sigma Olomouc for a fee believed to be in the region of £5m.

Chelsea immediately sent him back to the club on loan for the first year of his deal before recalling him from his loan in the second half of last season.

He made his debut for the reserves against Aston Villa in February but has so far not featured for the senior team.

Kalas, 18, can play in the centre of defence or right-back and he will continue his development at Vitesse for a season.

Romero Signs For Sampdoria

AZ Alkmaar have confirmed goalkeeper Sergio Romero has signed for Sampdoria in a deal worth 3.5million euros (£3.1m).

The 24-year-old was said to be looking for a new challenge after four years in Holland and still had two years left on his old contract.

During his time with Alkmaar he helped them to claim the Eredivisie title and the Dutch Cup.

Romero was Argentina's first-choice goalkeeper at the 2010 World Cup and this summer's Copa America.