Second place Gremio are ten points behind and cannot catch them despite a 2-1 home win over Gremio. Atletico Mineiro, who had led for a significant part of the season, are third after drawing 1-1 at home to Vasco de Gama. Corinthians crushed Coritiba 5-1, Flamengo beat Nautico 1-0, Cruzeiro beat Bahia 3-1 and Santos lost 2-1 to Goianense.
In Spain Leo Messi broke Pele’s record of 75 goals in a calendar year as Barcelona continued their superb start to the season. They have still dropped just two points after they beat Real Mallorca 4-2 to remain top, ahead of Atletico Madrid, who overcame city rivals Getafe 2-0. Real Madrid beat Levante 2-1. Malaga slipped to a 2-1 loss at home to Real Sociedad while Valencia drew 1-1 at Real Valladolid.
In England Manchester United strengthened their grip at the top with a trademark come from behind win from 2-0 down to beat Aston Villa 3-2. Manchester City are now second after beating Tottenham 2-1. Chelsea and Liverpool drew 1-1. Arsenal drew 3-3 with Fulham, Everton beat Sunderland 2-1, and West Brom won by the same score at Wigan.
Juventus also tightened their stranglehold of Serie A after they thrashed Pescara 6-1. Inter Milan, in second who beat Juventus to break their unbeaten run last week, were beaten 3-2 by Atalanta. Lazio won by the same score against city rivals Roma while Napoli were 4-2 winners at Genoa. Udinese were held 2-2 by Chievo and AC Milan lost 3-1 at home to Fiorentina to remain struggling in the wrong half of the table.
In Germany Bayern Munich continued their good form with a 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, who are now third in the table. Schalke remain second after a 2-1 win over Werder Bremen, while Borussia Dortmund claimed a 3-1 win over Augsburg.
In France the leading sides all dropped points as Paris St Germain were held 1-1 by champions Montpellier. Marseille drew 2-2 at home to Nice whilst Lyon drew 1-1 at Sochaux. Toulouse lost 4-2 at home to Ajaccio surprisingly, while St Etienne beat Troyes and Lille continued their recovery by beating Brest 1-0.
Olympiakos crushed AEK Athens 4-0 in Greece to remain top of the league, while Panathinaikos play Kerkyra on Monday night. In the Dutch league Twente and Vitesse played out a 0-0 draw, while champions Ajax thrashed Zwolle 4-2. PSV crushed Heerenveen 5-1, and Feyenoord beat Roda JC 5-2. The big two in Portugal continued their good form, Porto winning 2-1 against Academica, while Benfica won 1-0 at Rio Ave.
In Russia CSKA Moscow beat Kuban Krasnodar 3-1 to stay top while Zenit St Petersburg climb into second after the champions beat Nizhny Novgorod 2-1. Anzhi Makhachkala drew 1-1 at Lokomotiv Moscow, Spartak beat Krasnodar 2-0. Shakhtar Donetsk have now won all 15 of their opening games in Ukraine after thrashing Metalist Kharkiv 4-0, continuing a world record run.
