Of the summer's big spenders it was Manchester City in the English Premier League who was tested first. A score of 4-2 against Arsenal shows that Manchester's "other team" will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season. They may not reach the summit this season but are bound for their best season in the Premier League. In Spain, Real Madrid had no problem with bottom-placed Espanyol, winning 3-0 away but will have to wait several weeks for a real test.

An extensive round of World Cup qualifiers last week saw a few more teams through to the finals next year in South Africa. England and Spain joined the Netherlands in qualifying from the European groups with a hundred percent record while Paraguay booked their place winning 1-0 against an Argentinean side that is sliding down the qualification ladder. The English and Spanish win records may not last though as both nations have two matches left in their qualifying groups. Will they feel motivated or start experimenting with their teams?

In the Women's Euros, Germany consolidated their superiority on women's football after a convincing 6-2 defeat of England's women in the final. This was Germany's fifth successive Euro title, seventh overall, and it's looking more like Germany and the USA are going to be the teams to beat if anyone else is going to win an international tournament. For my part, I was quite surprised at the English women's success in this edition of the Euros though they were chanceless against the mighty Germans in the final.

All the best.