By AYDIN REYHAN

This weekend brought the return of club soccer after a busy two weeks of an international break and the action provided a series of memorable events and performances.

La Liga action was headlined by Cristiano Ronaldo’s five- goal performance in a 9-1 Real Madrid victory, Barcelona managed to squeak by at Celta Vigo thanks to Jeremy Mathieu heading home for the second La Liga match running.

In England, Arsenal led the way by thrashing Liverpool, all but ending the Reds hopes of Champions League qualification.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich topped Borussia Dortmund thanks to Robert Lewandowski and Paris Saint-Germain reclaimed the top spot in Ligue 1.

Here is a closer look at all of this weekend’s European action

ENGLAND

Arsenal hosted Liverpool in the opening Premier League match of the weekend, winning 4-1 courtesy of a dominant performance from the home side. Mesut Ozil scored a memorable left-footed free kick, Aaron Ramsey notched two assists, Alexis Sanchez scored one while setting up another and Olivier Giroud found the back of the net yet again.

Hector Bellerin commenced the scoring for the Gunners on a night where his team was phenomenal, while Liverpool on the other hand could only score from the spot through Jordan Henderson, while Emre Can was sent off.

Ander Herrera scored a brace in a game where Wayne Rooney hit home a sensational volley in Manchester United’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford. A good team-effort from the hosts bumped them up to third temporarily which means Champions League soccer is possible.

Here are all of the results from the Premier League this weekend:

Arsenal 4-1 Liverpool

Everton 1-0 Southampton

Leicester 2-1 West Ham

Manchester United 31- Aston Villa

Swansea 3-1 Hull

West Brom 1-4 QPR

Chelsea 2-1 Stoke

Burnley 0-0 Tottenham

Sunderland 1-0 Newcastle

Crystal Palace-Manchester City (Monday)

SPAIN

Real Madrid destroyed Granada at home by the score of 9-1. This is the game where 30-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo netted a whopping five goals for the first time in his career. Ronaldo now has 36 goals on the season, more goals than 53 of the 98 teams in Europe’s top leagues.

Atletico Madrid climbed back to third with a 2-0 win at Cordoba as Antoine Griezmann and Saul Niguez hit home first-half goals to decide the matter. Valencia were held scoreless at home against Villarreal in a 0-0 draw, which is why they dropped to fourth with 61 points, one behind Atleti.

David Barral scored a hat-trick of goals for Levante in their 4-1 triumph at Almeria, a club that fired their second coach of the season as they are one point away from jumping out of relegation.

Here are all of the scorelines in La Liga from the weekend:

Eibar 1-2 Rayo

Sevilla 2-0 Bilbao

Cordoba 0-2 Atletico Madrid

Almeria 1-4 Levante

Malaga 1-1 Real Sociedad

Real Madrid 9-1 Granada

Valencia 0-0 Villarreal

Getafe 2-1 Depotivo

Celta Vigo 0-1 Barcelona

Espanyol-Elche (Monday)

GERMANY

Robert Lewandowski was the difference on his first return to the pitch at Borussia Dortmund in Bayern Munich colors. His first-half strike wrapped up the points for the visitors in an entertaining affair at Signal Iduna Park. Coach Jurgen Klopp had to watch his former pride and joy ruin the club where his stardom truly bloomed.

Patrick Herrmann hit a brace in Moenchengladbach’s 4-1 win at Hoffenheim. The 4-4-2 did them wonders as they were able to attack on all cylinders in this one.

Ricardo Rodriguez, Wolfsburg left-back, scored one from the spot and another from open play in their 3-1 home-win against Stuttgart. His price, form and level important continues to rise as each game progresses.

Here is what happened in the Bundesliga this weekend:

Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 Hamburg

Eintracht 2-2 Hannover 96

Freiburg 1-0 Cologne

Hoffenheim 1-4 Moenchengladbach

Weder Bremen 0-0 Mainz

Wolfsburg 3-1 Stuttgart

Dortmund 0-1 Bayern Munich

Augsburg 0-0 Schalke

Hertha Berlin 2-0 Paderborn

ITALY

Juventus managed to stay 14 points clear of second-placed Roma with their 2-0 victory over Empoli in Turin. Carlos Tevez scored again as he is having one of the best years of his career in Italy.

Roma edged past Napoli 1-0, with Miralem Pjanic’s 25th-minute goal awarding them all three points, leaving Napoli in 6th, out of Europe altogether.

Mohamed Salah scored another solo-goal in Fiorentina’s 2-0 victory over Sampdoria to jump ahead of their counterparts into fourth. They are still six behind Lazio.

Here are all of the results form Serie A:

Roma 1-0 Napoli

Atalanta 1-2 Torino

Cagliari 1-3 Lazio

Genoa 1-1 Udinese

Hellas Verona 3-3 Cesena

Inter 1-1 Parma

Palermo 1-2 AC Milan

Sassuolo 1-0 Chievo

Fiorentina 2-0 Sampdoria

Juventus 2-0 Empoli

Parma-Udinese (Monday)

FRANCE

Marseille dropped a 2-1 half-time lead inside the fist six minutes of the second as Marquinhos and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both struck a minute apart to award visiting Paris Saint-Germain the 3-2 win to stay atop the league, increasing to a five-point lead ahead of the third-placed hosts.

Monaco managed to protect their position in third with a 1-1 draw against Saint Etienne. The third-placed side still has a game in-hand.

Lyon are still in second after their 3-1 road-win against Guingamp as other games decided them staying in this position instead of jumping up to first.

Here are all of the Ligue 1 results from this weekend:

Monaco 1-1 Saint Etienne

Guingamp 1-3 Lyon

Lille 3-1 Reims

Lorient 0-3 Rennes

Metz 3-2 Toulouse

Montpellier 3-1 Bastia

Nice 2-2 Evian

Bordeaux 2-1 Lens

Nantes 1-2 Caen

Marseille 2-3 PSG

Monaco-Montpellier (Tuesday)