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After a long wait, club football across Europe officially kicked-off last weekend.
The English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga, and the German Bundesliga all produced incredible action on the opening day, following in the coattails of the French Ligue 1, which started the week prior.
Fans witnessed so many thrilling goals, stellar individual performances and some shocking results too as the return of top-flight football lived up to its billing.
Before we turn our attention towards the upcoming schedule of games, let's look at the
5 players who impressed the most in the past gameweek across Europe's top leagues:
#5 Erik Lamela (Sevilla)
After eight years of mixed results at Tottenham Hotspur, Erik Lamela joined Sevilla this summer and on Sunday, he officially started his career in La Liga with a bang.
The Argentine midfielder came on at half-time for Oussama Idrissi to make his debut, and he opened his account in the Spanish top-flight just nine minutes later.
Following some one-twos, Lamela connected with a loose ball inside the area and lashed home as the ball took a huge deflection on its way.
Fourteen minutes later, he doubled his tally for the night (and tripled Sevilla's advantage) by connecting with Youssef En-Nesyri's cross with an outstretched boot as the goalkeeper was caught out.
An impressive debut by all measures.
#4 Martin Braithwaite (Barcelona)
Barcelona officially kick-started their post-Lionel Messi era with a convincing 4-2 win over Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday.
The side were at their usual best, punching holes in La Real's defense with menacing attacking intent, although their defense looked shaky at times.
Martin Braithwaite, whose transfer from Leganes still continues to puzzle a lot of people, scored a brace, suggesting that he's ready to step up in Lionel Messi's absence.
He opened his account for the season with a close-range header off Frenkie de Jong's cross just seconds before half-time, and then doubled his tally after the break with a powerful effort from inside the box.
After just one game, the Danish striker has already scored as many goals as he did in the whole of last season. By doing so, he sent an ominous message to Sergio Aguero that he's here to fight for his place in the XI too.
#3 Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
Manchester United registered the biggest victory of any English side in the Premier League this past gameweek with a 5-1 demolition of Leeds United at Old Trafford.
While three different players got on the scoresheet, the chief architect of the victory was someone who didn't - Paul Pogba. Crucially, he was the influential ringmaster with four assists that day.
The Frenchman was at the peak of his powers, stemming everything good coming from the home side in the attack. His crosses were top notch and passes were absolutely sublime.
Pogba oozed pure class in every bit of his action on Saturday, rolling back the calendar with a vintage performance United will hope to see more of this season.
#2 Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
Interestingly, despite Pogba's heroics, he wasn't the star of the show. Bruno Fernandes stole his thunder with a brilliant hat-trick. And mind you, none of the goals came from the penalty spot!
The Portuguese was in ruthless form that day, turning up at the right place at the right time and tearing the Peacocks apart with his lethal finishing skills.
Fernandes's third goal was the best of the lot, latching onto a brilliant cross from Victor Lindelof and firing it into the roof of the net to bring up his treble.
Social media was bursting at the seams with obituaries of 'Penandes' memes, a moniker used in mockery of his penchant to score a lot of penalties, while his critics fell silent too.
That was some way to get your season off.
#1 Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
Erling Haaland just keeps getting better with every season.
He started the 2021-22 campaign with a hat-trick in the DFB-Pokal Cup last week before netting another brace against Eintracht Frankfurt in the league opener.
Like a true predator, he nicked the ball off his opposite number and sprinted forward to fire past the hapless goalkeeper, before rounding off a counter-attack in the second-half with a nonchalant chip.
The Norwegian fireball looked as sharp as ever and even assisted thrice, starting the league campaign with a wham.
Bundesliga defenses are in for a long 10 months ahead.
