Barcelona ground Villa, Arsenal break the Anfield curse, and PSG are wiping out records

Barcelona 3-0 Aston Villa: Yamal opens it, Raphinha closes it

Aston Villa's perfect start in the Champions League ended at the Camp Nou. Barcelona won 3-0, and Lamine Yamal set the tone as early as the 7th minute: he cut out a sloppy pass from João Gomes, went past Pau Torres and curled the ball into the far corner. With that goal the 19-year-old forward reached 14 Champions League goals and overtook Kylian Mbappé (13) on the list of top scorers under 20. After the break Raphinha struck twice, first with a deflection off Victor Lindelöf, then from a João Cancelo cross with the outside of his foot - his 19th goal of the season. Villa arrived with six straight wins in the league phase and left with their first defeat and Goretzka's shot off the post as the only consolation. The number that says the most is a different one: this was Barcelona's first clean sheet in 19 Champions League matches. A team with that many stars up front, and that long without a clean sheet at the back?

Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal: the end of the Anfield curse

Arsenal have finally won at Anfield. A single Kai Havertz goal in the 16th minute, from a low Declan Rice cross, was enough for 1-0 and for the end of a 13-game winless run at the ground. Liverpool had enough chances to change the result: Isak twice failed to get a clean strike away, Wirtz hit the frame from a free kick, and Mac Allister headed over from close range. Goalkeeper Raya and a solid defence did the rest. Mikel Arteta celebrates his first win as a manager at Anfield, and Arsenal now lead Manchester City by three points at the top. The champions are defending their title without complexes - and where they stumbled for years, they now take three points.

West Ham sack Nuno: relegation is forgiven, eighth place isn't

When West Ham went down from the Premier League, the board stood behind Nuno Espírito Santo. When the club dropped to eighth in the Championship, the manager was sacked. The final straw was a 1-3 home defeat to West Brom, just a week after losing 2-3 to Southampton. The record after 13 rounds: six wins, four draws and three defeats, six points behind leaders Middlesbrough and four behind second-placed Swansea. Leaving with Nuno are assistant Rui Pedro Silva and goalkeeping coach Rui Barbosa, while former captain Mark Noble, Steve Potts and Gerard Prenderville take temporary charge - as soon as Wednesday against Cardiff. A manager who survived relegation but not eighth place in the second tier - what kind of logic does a board run on?

PSG: four goals in 16 minutes and a record Real had held for 15 years

European champions PSG settled the game away at Villarreal before the crowd had even found their seats. João Neves in the 9th minute, Désiré Doué three minutes later, Senny Mayulu in the 13th and Fabián Ruiz in the 17th - four goals in 16 minutes and two seconds, the fastest four goals in a single match in Champions League history. The previous record belonged to Real Madrid, who scored four in 20 minutes against Dinamo Zagreb in November 2011. The scariest part is that the Parisians travelled to Spain without Ousmane Dembélé, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. If this is PSG without four key players, what do they look like at full strength?

Argentina without Messi: Scaloni clears out his circle too

Argentina's first squad since Lionel Messi retired isn't just a squad without the captain. Coach Lionel Scaloni also left out Rodrigo De Paul, Messi's closest teammate, as well as Giovani Lo Celso and Nico González. Lautaro Martínez and Cristian Romero are out injured, Paredes and Molina suspended, and Nicolás Otamendi has already retired from the national team. In their place - a first call-up for 21-year-old Chelsea centre-back Aarón Anselmino and room for Nico Paz, Mastantuono, Soulé and Prestianni. Messi said goodbye in October, against Benin, as the record holder with 125 goals and 207 appearances for the Albiceleste. On November 13 Uruguay come to La Bombonera, on November 17 Costa Rica in Córdoba - the first test for a team that spent two decades playing around one man.